What to do in retirement

[Retirementsoon]

I am estranged from my large family. I don’t have a lot of friends. I feel like retiring soon. What’s the best way to enjoy this? I have quite a lot of money luckily.

Do you have a local library ? Ours is always after volunteers...

Following with interest .

I thought I might volunteer but it would have to be interesting, not worthy, IE national trust, museum guide rather than charity shop type work.

I've spent my working life doing stuff for other people and now I want something for me.

Holidays, specifically singles holidays - so you will soon make a new friendship group - for even further adventures. (Italy, small boat cruising Croatia)

Also beach/activity holidays - specifically out of season - e.g. September when other singles of similar ages travel. (Neilson/Mark Warner for example)

You hardcore potter.

Do you want to make new friends Retirementsoon?

I've just retired. Not sure how permanent it will be but for this year I have a lot of trips planned, I've also joined a yoga and (separate) Pilates class. I'm determined to get fit so exercise each day. I'm also going to take singing lessons (can't hold a note! Would like to have one tune) and learn Italian. Also lots of theatre.

Am also planning to take a wine qualification and do some cooking courses.

I'm not retired yet but when I do I would like to think I will travel more both overseas and in UK, swim, walk, yoga/Pilates, days out locally and slightly further afield, perhaps outdoor swimming, craft course, read loads more, theatre/cinema, see friends, volunteer ( I used to volunteer at a hospice and I've also volunteered at primary schools before both of which I really loved), cool some more maybe with some courses? Perhaps get an allotment and definitely get my beloved garden up to scratch -

I’m totally with you on the volunteering. Everyone expects retired women (not men, interestingly) to do volunteering. I spent my working life working with young people with disabilities and have cared for two relatives with dementia. I’m done with that now. My retirement is for me.

This is what I do:

U3A: This is brilliant. Currently I’m in a walking group and a book group. In the past, I’ve been in Archeology, Natural History and church visiting groups but there is an enormous range. It’s very social (both the walking group and the church visiting groups finish each meeting with a pub lunch).

Keep Fit: I do a Keep Fit class and a Pilates class. I walk, with friends if they’re free, but by myself too.

Village activities: Gardening club, events to raise funds for church etc.

See friends and family.

On those precious days when I don’t have any other commitments, I loll about with coffee half the morning, stroll down to the village shop, generally stopping for several chats on the way, reluctantly do house-keeping and life-maintenance chores and then settle down for the rest of the afternoon with a book.

You are free to pursue any interest at all that you haven't had time for while working! Arts & crafts, painting, studying, hiking, yoga, dance, travel, charity work, campaigning... the list is literally endless! Look in your local library to see what's going on in your area!

I retired at 57 (OH is 3yrs younger and while working PT now, will give up completely in a couple of years) and luckily we have both the money and health to enjoy (early) retirement.

Love my garden, walk with Ddogs in the countryside everyday and we go away in the moho whenever it takes our fancy. Reading, jigsaws, crafting and a few low key hobbies fill in the rest of our time.

As a PP said, the greatest feeling of all is waking up whenever I like (or when the Ddogs say it is time to get up) with no alarm clock.

I'm retired and here are some things the retired people in my area do:
Loads of holidays (UK & abroad)
Lots of eating out
Golf
U3A
WI
Sea swimming
Yoga, Pilates, meditation
Church activities
Bell ringing
Quiz night at the pub
Local societies/clubs eg history, wine-tasting, books, walking, photography...
Choir
Darts & skittles
Parish council
School governors
Cricket
Walking football
Taking courses eg painting, ceramics, printing...
and much more...

Volunteering could be the league of friends in the local hospital, Macmillan cancer support centre sometimes look for volunteers. This could be for admin work to tea making. Other charities might need admin support. Local theatre groups might need stage hands. Some tourist attractions have volunteer guides and people working in the gift shop. We have a local community farm where people look after the animals and tend the vegetables. Our local park has a group who look after the flower boarders and hedges. We also have a volunteers who drive who that can give lifts to those who need to get to doctors or hospital appointments.

I feel the same. Interesting volunteering maybe not charity shop or library.

Thank you all so much. I love so many of these ideas.

It has made me think of looking at volunteering overseas. Use my work skills for that in some ways

A friend has a five say schedule:

1. Day taking in culture - art galleries, museums, concerts, plays etc.
2. Day visiting friends
3. Day sport/exercise/walking in the countryside
4. Day of study, not necessarily for a qualification but more pursuing intellectual interests
5. Shouldless day where she's not obliged to do anything at all. No cleaning, getting up, paying bills life admin etc. If she wants to do this things she can, but it's more a please herself day.

When I retired, I had in mind to work voluntarily for a charity I had been associated with for a few years but for a number of reasons, this wasn't going to happen.

For the first six months or so, I suppose I felt it was like a long holiday and as it was the spring which lead into summer, I had plenty of gardening activities to keep me going. It was like my "retirement honeymoon" I guess. I am a very keen gardener and by chance, I was talking to somebody who said her charity was looking for a volunteer to maintain their gardens and I have now been doing this for seven years and love it.

It wouldn't have to be gardening of course, but I am sure there is something you are interested in which you could develop further in your retirement. I know you said you haven't considered a voluntary role, but it's a great way of putting a certain amount of structure into your new retired life without it feeling like going back to work.

I also signed up with the Cinnamon Trust which is walking dogs for elderly or disabled people. I love dogs (but don't want one) and walking a dog a couple of times a week gives me my "doggy fix" and ensures I get out and about in the fresh air. In the time I've been retired, I have had about six different dogs to walk, both big and small.

Hope this is of some help.

I used to volunteer at a local historical monument type place and I’d like to do that again when I retire.

Travel definitely if I can afford it
Then I will volunteer - I’m already a trustee for 2 charities and a director of a CIC
There is so much out there that you can help with in your spare time that wil not only benefit others but will keep you active

Not work; work sucks.

I didn't do anything remotely connected with my profession. I wanted a new challenge.

I saw a news report that made me really angry. I decided I needed to Do Something. So I googled. Found a non profit working in that area. Volunteered with them, met lots of interesting people among our service users and my fellow volunteers, learned a huge amount about an area that I'd not been remotely familiar with before, became a trustee.
It's been really stimulating, it's kept me engaged with the world and taken me out of my bubble into a world that few people ever see, it's fired up my brain. I can't recommend it enough. Volunteering doesn't have to mean standing behind a till in a charity shop.

I do that, and a massive amount of travel.

This! I just love a day of hardcore pottering. It's strangely satisfying!

Depends very much on what you enjoy. My interests are in wildlife, so I've found myself an organisation which values my skills. I do lots of plant, fungus and animal surveys, explore new places, learn about new groups, and feel valued for my expertise. Free training in first aid, winch operating, dry stone walling, using a scythe etc.

In another hobby I helped organise a national conference for several years, got to meet lots of people, and felt involved in it in a way that you don’t as a mere participant.

There’s masses of community service type opportunities - JP, prison visitor, school governor, patients’ representatives for GPs, hospitals, Civic Societies, CPRE.

I’d say that anything you enjoy doing, you get a lot more out of it if you get involved in the organisation, better opportunities, steer it the way you want it to go. The key is to do jobs you enjoy and say no to things you don’t fancy (that’s the perk of being a volunteer). I always avoid things that need a regular commitment from me, I like to control my own time. If I organise a fungus foray, it’s a place I want to visit,on a day that suits me, and doesn’t start at silly o’clock in the morning

I’m totally with you on the volunteering. Everyone expects retired women (not men, interestingly) to do volunteering. I spent my working life working with young people with disabilities and have cared for two relatives with dementia. I’m done with that now. My retirement is for me.

You say that @HeddaGarbled , yet you still do voluntary work - fund raising evens for the church.

incidentally, men outnumber women in my fields of volunteering.

If you like sports, a good introduction to volunteering is at parkrun. You can do as much or as little as you like and alternate by running the events when you feel like.

It's one of the most inclusive activities out there and once you get the bug of travelling to all different events there'll be no stopping you!!

Enjoy your retirement 🙂