How do you fill your days in Retirement?

[Blondiebeachbabe]

Just that really. I'm not quite there yet, but ideas are :

Breakfast
Join Bannatynes and go most mornings for a class, swim & sauna
Get a monthly cinema pass, and watch a few films a week
Lunch/dinner out

How do you fill your typical day?

I’m working again but when I was retired I filled my time with the gym, cinema once a month, meeting up with friends to go walking or at coffee shops, creative hobby at home and faffing around in the house. I couldn’t afford lunches and tea out very often (hence working again) but also did this sometimes.

I go to my local leisure centre for pilates or aqua aeorbics and a swim a couple of days a week. Gardening in the spring/summer/early autumn. Cooking most days (I enjoy trying new recipes). Editing for friends. Reading. Going to the theatre occasionally. Travelling internationally or to Europe a couple of times a year and several short UK-based weekend breaks. I rarely (if ever) go to the cinema and only eat in restaurants when travelling or visiting with friends or family.

I'm not there yet either, but have been giving it some thought!

I'll be retiring to a small coastal town with an OIR (Opportunities in Retirement) group which seems to have a wide range of different classes or activities on most days - was thinking I might learn Spanish and join a walking group. There's also a group of women who meet once or twice a week to swim in the sea, and there's a leisure centre with swimming pool and gym. I like local history and could volunteer maybe one day a week at the small museum in the town.

Currently, I aim to walk at least 7 miles a day and intend to keep that habit going. Also planning to take longer holidays in the places I already visit regularly, and hopefully to explore more new places as and when good deals come up!

Also read, crochet, nap, and relax!

Well I am not retired but recently sold my business so until I decide what to do next my time is my own. I go to the gym 3 times a week, meet friends, have a tidy round the house, go shopping (I live near cheshire oaks so handy for a wander round.) I have been to the cinema and out to lunch, planning holidays. My days are short because I have to get back for kids but it is not hard to fill the time.

I gavev up work for 2 years. Something vwey shit happened and I just needed a life reset....i was fortunate to be able to live off my savings. I didn't set out for X period of time away or any real plans. I just let myself be and evolve a new life. Im now back at work full time and its ok but I can honestly say in 2 years I was never bored lonely or fed up and cant wait for retirement.
In my "temporary" retirement I did.....
Lots of ticking off my to do list of jobs/decor/diy/plans/sorting/decluttering. Stuff i rarely had time for when working full time.
Built a bar and BBQ area in my garden.
Gardening. Love my flowers rhubarb and runner beans.
Gym daily.
Coffee/lunch with friends.
Having time to visit adult kids that live several hours away, sometimes adding extra night or 2 at some town/City nearby or enroute i had never visited before.
Healthy meal planning and prep. Experimenting in the kitchen with baking/cooking.
Pub with friends.
Hikes.
Actually used my English Heritage membership.
Days out. Chelsea Flower Show/Ideal Home exhibition.
Isle of Wight Festival. WychWood Festival.
Lots of holidays and trip planning. Spent 6 weeks travelling around Asia.
Took up a few new hobbies i hadnt done since pre kids...tap dancing, horse riding.
Joined Borrow My Doggy.
Volunteered for a short while in a charity shop.
Daily life just stopped being a rush. My home was always calm.and organised because I had time to do things properly and complete tasks. I would walk to the shop, take a detour, stop and chat to people. I would just take time to be in the moment,for the first time i wasn't thinking...when I get home I need to do xyz before returning back to work on X Day.
I did weirdly keep to some kind of routine but it was on my terms not my employers. No stressing over how much sleep I would get because I could just choose how to spend my time most days.

This sounds amazing, thank you! I like the idea of Bannatynes daily for a class and swim.

I go to the pool for aqua fit classes and swim 3-4 times a week. I do voluntary work which takes up roughly 3 hours or so a week.I play the piano and a few other instruments and do arrangements for ensembles then either conduct the groups or play with them. I help out my elderly but independent DF a few hours a week. I read and garden and knit. I do a type of art which I use to make bespoke home made birthday and special occasion cards. I am also learning a foreign language. Not sure how I ever had time to work to be honest!

Started woodworking and a new textile craft, and have discovered a creative side I never knew I had. Also doing some voluntary work and going to the gym.

Pretty knackered right now as I have had such a busy day.

The retired people I know travel a lot. One divides her time between Ireland and the US. Two have only just given up skiing in their 70s, and they do a lot of hiking. One has done a degree in Fine Arts. One guy spends a lot of time travelling to different opera houses and festivals. One has learned beekeeping and volunteers at a Buddhist retreat centre. One (retired early for health reasons) bought a house somewhere remote in Scotland with her animals and is working as a film and tv extra while taking acting lessons. Others are looking after grandchildren, being on various arts-related boards, doing degrees, writing, being a Samaritan, sea swimming.

I’ve been retired for almost two years and wary of repeating mistakes made by others, planned quite carefully beforehand.
I became a parish councillor.
I’m now a chair of a council committee.
I volunteer steward two sessions a week at a heritage centre.
I’m a member of a community land trust.
I’m social secretary at my DH’s sports club.
Im lucky enough to have no financial concerns in my retirement but do keep a wary eye on spending on too much on just things. Lunch once a month is worthwhile, once a week gets routine in my experience.
Otherwise I garden, I do historical research and sometimes just sit and read.
I spoke above about mistakes seen made by others - that’s allowing yourself to loose purpose, to have no real meaning to life, becoming lonely. However much we might detest work whilst still doing it, it provides structure and that’s something we always need.

I’m a parish councillor and trustee of a charity.
I volunteer in a charity shop.
Go to the gym, aqua fit and play table tennis three times per week.
Am learning Spanish, Latin and refreshing my Chinese.
work as an invigilator during GCSEs.
love to cook and try new recipes.
go away about 10 times per year: mix of premier inn weekend trips, Europe and long haul.

I'm 61 and retired. Muck our 2 ponies and ride. Look after my garden, cats , chickens. Take my Mum out, go cycling with my husband. I absolutely love it

Go for a walk every day ( have appropriate clothing ) quite happy to go on my own , with DH or a friend
Cycle ride with DSis
Crochet club
Gardening
Pilates once or twice a week
Volunteer at our local park run
Read
( Watch crap tv )
Planning a holiday to Japan , wan5 to learn a bit of the language

I retired from fulltime teaching last year. I'm now 57. I do a bit of supply, at the moment I do 2 days a week (if there's work - there isn't always) . My DP is still working but he's self employed so we do have some flexibility with our time.

I swim 2-3 times a week, I'm in the pool by 7.30am which gives me a good start to my day. If I'm not working I may meet a friend for lunch or coffee, I read a lot. Plan meals and cook from scratch. I walk with a Nordic walking group too. My DP and I walk too as we live not far from the Peak District.

We've had a few trips away abroad and in the UK so I enjoy planning and booking those.

Im really content, I've not been bored yet at all. When my DP retires in the next couple of years I will do more stuff at the gym as well as swimming and we're hoping to buy a motorhome too so that will need some researching.

The best advice is for you to consider how many years you are hoping to spend in retirement and how much money you will have to cover those years. Then consider that there are only so many films you can watch or books you can read before boredom and/or loneliness sets in. Like PP have said in this thread, retirement is a time for slowing down, not stopping. It's great not to have to get up each morning to an alarm clock. But it's not so great if you've no motivation to get up at all. So you want to have some interests that will keep you engaged and in contact socially with others, doing something that you consider a worthwhile contribution to your community or society.

I do 3 mornings of voluntary work a week at 3 different charities. I can walk to all of them as all around a 1 to 1.5 miles away in town. I meet a friend also retired for lunch every Thursday. Before DH retired I used to go to a hiking group or U3a classes 2 days a week. Since he retired we bought a Motorhome and we travelled around for close to 7 weeks last year. Would have been 12 weeks but his Mother got cancer so he went and looked after her. We are about to go off for 3 weeks, back for 2 weeks and then off for 6 weeks. Then probably Spain for 4 weeks in November.

Also game and enjoy gardening. Just bought electric bikes. DH has been doing extensive DIY.

I've retired (early retirement due to ill health) 2 years ago. Everyone i know still has 18 years left until they retire. I've had a Stroke and have MS so i take it easy. I go to the gym 5 days a week, I've made some new friends and we go out for lunch one day a week. I go shopping and mooch around at a coffee shop. But mostly I go on one month cruises - in the last 2 years I've been on 8.

I joined our local u3a and do a number of classes with them - arts, crafts, ukelele and line dancing. also on the committee of a charity and make things to sell in aid of charity.