Time Goes Quicker Than
You Think in Retirement
I remember how good Friday afternoons felt when I was working. Sometimes the weekend couldn’t come soon enough. We celebrated every Friday morning with bagels, and everyone seemed to be happier as the hour to leave approached. My wife and I developed a habit of having a Friday night dinner date when the kids went off to college and being able to sleep on Saturday was always the best part of the week. The weekends always went by in a flash and vacations never lasted long enough. One thing I’ve learned is that time goes quicker than you think in retirement. You think things are going to be different once you don’t have a job to go to, but the fact is that time seems to go by quicker than ever. It has made us planners to make sure we don’t waste this wonderful time. We have our next two or three vacations planned because we know that if we don’t plan ahead there may not be availability and, at our age, there aren’t too many more opportunities to see the places we really want to see.
Time goes quicker than you think in retirement. Even quicker than your vacations used to!
It’s actually a good problem to have and it makes you use your time as wisely as possible. We’ve been fortunate enough to travel extensively and hope to be able to do so for many years to come. We have made some changes as we age and try to make the actual travel part of our trips as easy as possible. Direct flights make all the difference in the world if you can get them and, if you can afford it, premium economy seats (or business class if you’ve got the money) is a much more relaxing way to go. Making the most of your time at your destination is also a wise thing to do. If we are taking the time to travel to Europe, we will look at extending our trip to make the most of our air travel. Although time goes quicker than you think in retirement, spending time on a plane is not the most enjoyable part of travel. If you’re going to travel far, make the most of your journey by stringing together multiple destinations. And by all means, get a competent guide. It’s worth every penny and it’s the best way to make the most of your time. You won’t believe what a difference a good guide can make.
We have a few friends who take cruises almost every year and they use them as a way to avoid renting a car and a hotel as they travel to Europe or the Caribbean. That works for a lot of people. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you usually see just the cities and you don’t have a lot of time in each port. One couple we know usually stays in the last port and extends their time by seeing that particular city on their own. They have found that to be a great way to see the world and that is to be commended because we live in a truly magnificent world. As one of our elderly friends has told us, “travel when you can” because there’ll come a time when the difficulty of getting around becomes a little too much to tolerate. Unfortunately, that day may come earlier than you thought possible because time goes quicker than you think in retirement.
Too many people slow down a little bit more than they should when they don’t have to work anymore. They put off some of the things they really want to do because they think they have all the time in the world. Sadly, none of us know how much time we’ll be given to enjoy what I think are the best days of our life. Time goes quicker than you think in retirement so every day should be lived to the fullest. Make a list of things you want to do, places you want to see, books you want to read, things you want to learn, foods you want to eat or cook and start crossing those things off your list. If you’re like us, you’ll find your lists never gets shorter because, as you do one thing, other things will occur to you and that’s what makes this time of life so exciting. There are always new things to do and places you’ve never seen. You may have a book to write, a business to start or a new hobby to explore. Be open to those ideas because they can make all the difference in the world. I looked forward to retirement ever since I completed my first day of work (I’m serious about that!) and it has exceeded every expectation I ever had. I love filling up my own calendar with things that I want to do and places that I want to go rather than being assigned some task or project that I really could care less about. Retirement never gets boring. Make the most of this time of life that is a true gift. Get busy living the rest of your life because it’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!
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