Pamestique 

What do you do all day**********

Been retired since December 4th... so far, seems like a long vacation. I have lots of projects that need done but can't get in the mindset to start "working" again.

Not complaining... just wonder how you all fill the day.

Cougrrcj

Ummmmm, bicycle maintenance/complete overhaul? Ride more??? Search Craigslist for bike deals???

I'm only semi-retired -- I work 4 days/wk now with weekends free. That in itself is 'retirement' for me!!

After working for USPS for 33 years, I retired three years ago. Do you know how many parties, activities, weddings or family functions I missed because I had to work on Saturdays??? Heck, I had to work the day of my own wedding because I didn't have the seniority to get that day off. You have no idea of how happy I am to actually have weekends off!!

You'll find something to keep you busy, don't worry. In fact, you'll find you are so busy that you are going to wonder how you ever had the time to go to work!!! Enjoy and Congratulations!!!

JohnDThompson 

I'm not completely retired yet, but I volunteer once a week fixing donated bikes for people in our jobs training program:

Earn-A-Bike | Riverview Gardens

10 Wheels

Make List of things that need done or things you want to do..

Check them off when completed.

bargeon

Practice my music , gym bike hike (depending on weather), cook, read.

Jimbo47

It's best to get into a routine. Make time for riding your bike every day, and early is best. I had no problem staying busy with grand kids.

chasm54

I cycle. Play golf. Do some resistance exercise most days. That's the body taken care of.

I enrol on a few MOOCs every year (look for Coursera or FutureLearn) to keep learning. Read all the stuff I didn't get round to while I was working. That's the mind ticking over.

Did I mention cycling? I go on at least one serious bicycle tour every year. This year it's France, so I'm spending a bit of time restoring my French in preparation.

pdlamb

I hear the rain is supposed to be ending in SoCal, so you'll be able to get out and ride Real Soon Now!

John E

MOOCs are great.

I am working an encore career in academia, with a workload that varies from 40% in the summer to 100% most winter quarters, such as now. After 45-to-60-hour work weeks in industry, this feels like a vacation. I am gradually getting caught up on home fixup projects, and my wife and I provide daycare for our little grandson while his parents are at work.

Gerryattrick

Not in any order:

Cycling
Bike building & repair - some paid.
Volunteering
Looking after Dad
Visiting daughter in London
Visiting friends/family
Gym
Reading
Travel & holidays
Hill/coastal path walking
DIY
Pub

As little as possible:

Gardening
Shopping
Daytime TV

I always worked to live, rather than lived to work, so retirement was never a problem.

P.S. Just noticed you own no bikes. Have you given up cycling or are you just "between bikes"?

Biker395 

This is the reason I think I'd rather bow out slowly, a day or two at a time.

My plan is to fill my empty time with touring, taking pictures, and writing about it.

berner

Hiking and backpacking was a big part of my life. A good hike is 10 to 20 miles in New Hampshire mountains. When gas got to $4 per gallon, I began walking locally or cycling. Local walks don't get me fired up although I still take short walks on wooded trails at the local state park. In winter I ski, occasionally downhill but lately more cross country and let me tell you, cross country skiing is hard. I don't watch TV and instead read voraciously. One of the guys I know from skiing makes beer and recently posted about that and showed a beautiful round loaf of artisan bread. I used to bake bread regularly and have been inspired to begin baking again. I expect to gain a few pounds over winter months.

In Rhode Island I'm able to ride most days in winter unless there is snow or ice on the ground. Out bike club schedules rides throughout the winter. Last year we had lots of snow which was bad for cycling but skiing was great. The downside was starting up again when roads finally cleared. I spend time each day in maintenance physical activity of stretching using some yoga moves and strength exercises for knees and lower back. I use some dumb bells for upper body. I'm busy enough to be content but as I live in a harbor town, and as I have been a yacht builder for large portions of my life, I'm entertaining the idea of building a pulling boat to knock around on the water. I avoid lists and just do the first thing that pops into my head each day.

fietsbob

Summer help @ LBS, @ 66 I bought my 1st house , its 115 years old and needs attention ..

havent tried to own a car since 1990, so I like this small town on the mighty river .. moved here at 50.

taken up Activisim to keep the Corporate Exploiters from ruining it, with the help of

Columbia Riverkeeper | Clean Water ? Healthy Rivers ? Our Future

You learn about your community when you see the people on your side of the Barricades, repeatedly.

Astoria has several hang out friendly Pubs too ..

curbtender

Retired this last summer and did some travel. Got a few larger home projects finished. Joined a group of local retirees who ride Tues/Thurs at 10. That works great with my new wake up time of 6:30-7, instead of 3:30. Get to use those free tickets more often when people get too tied up with work to enjoy them. And with this cold wet weather, hand splitting the rounds is good exercise...

Rick@OCRR

Pam has bikes but we both took our bike listings off bikeforums.net during bike theft scare awhile back.

Rick / OCRR

Gerryattrick

A good way to ease into retirement. I was self-employed for the 15 years before I retired and when I set myself a goal of retiring around 64 I deliberately reduced my working days (and my earnings ) by at least 10% per year for the last five years. So full retirement wasn't such a major step.

For contractual reasons I had to keep my client documentation and reports for five years after each contract and it gives me great pleasure to have a bonfire of those reports every year. My last bonfire will be in April.

JanMM

Still working but am sure I will be pulled back into delivering Meals on Wheels when I leave the workforce. Wife and I have alternated/cooperated on a route since about 1987. When I worked weekends for 19 years, it was mostly my gig. Now it's hers because I work M-F and she is semi-retired, "working" part time in a quilt shop.
Most Meals on Wheels organizations are in chronic need of volunteers.

John_V 

My Monday's are for doctor's appointments and anything else that needs to be fixed/done in a day's time. The rest of the week consists of riding in the morning, usually until 11:30-12:00, and I play it by ear the rest of the day. I'm too old to get into projects that take more than a day. If any come up, I get someone to do them. Life is great!

ltxi

I wound down over a couple of years. Billed my last time last Jan 5th. Then did some pro bono work through early August. So, for me it wasn't abrupt. If it had been it would have been difficult. Fill my day with stuff I've been meaning to get to/do for too many years and extending time on what used to be "rushed" vacations.

BluesDawg

My part time job at the bike shop gets me out of the house for part of 3 days a week. I find plenty to keep me occupied the rest of the time.

Riding my bikes
Working on my bikes
Planning and implementing upgrades/changes to my bikes
Researching what will be my next bike and deciding which one(s) I'll need to sell to afford it
Chores/projects around the house
Errands for my wife
Doing stuff with or for my sons and my parents
Meetings related to bike club projects and bike advocacy
Catching up on TV shows/movies/documentaries on DVR and Netflix
Too much time on the internet

ddeand 

I did the total retirement thing for a year - golf, biking, sailing, fishing, skiing. Almost too busy. For a little more organization, I got a part-time jod at REI and work about 15-20 hours a week. I've been doing that for seven years, and it seems to be a great fit for me. I get tremendous deals on bikes and gear, I have a place to commute to, and I make just enough money to support my outdoor addictions.

chasm54

My observation is that the ease with which people make this transition depends to a large extent on where they lie on an extrovert/introvert spectrum. The former are used to looking outside themselves for stimulus and gratification and often found a great deal of that in the working environment. When that is taken away they feel a big gulf, they are looking around for the contact and external stimulus and "meaning" that work gave them.

The introverts tend to live more inside their own heads, what gives their life meaning and purpose is more self-generated. As a result the transition from work to non-work is not a move from purposefulness to purposelessness, and they feel less at a loss about how to fill their time.

For the extroverts I'd strongly recommend getting a part-time job or volunteering or getting heavily involved in a club or something - anything that involves high levels of social interaction and a sense of being useful.

Personally I can be highly gregarious for briefish periods but am generally introverted, and actively prefer solitude for quite a high proportion of the time. As a result I had very little problem adapting, and relish the fact that I make what is close to an unencumbered choice about how to use each day.

OldTryGuy

Give me an island, and I will be fine. Don't even need a bike. Can you guess which type I am**********

I call my mother(almost 90), every day and she asks the SAME question, "what do you have planned for today?" NOTHING!!!!! I am retired and there is not a single need in my life to PLAN something to do every day. That's the great thing about retirement.

Do what feels best for yourself to keep your sanity, after all, that's all that really matters.

bruce19

Whatever I do I do at a MUCH slower pace. You might even call it "mind full." The pace of life allows me to appreciate every activity with a depth I never could while working. It doesn't matter what it is.

chasm54

Except cycling...