Keeping yourself busy in retirement

[stevewool]

Well after working all your life the time comes for retirement and nearly everyone is looking forward to it and then it’s here , what shall I do , my daily routine has vanished ,my living by the clock has finished I am free to do what I like when I like within reason and by talking to the wife to see if it’s ok to do nothing.

A few months have gone by and again many who have gone before thinks it’s the best thing since slice bread but there are the few who may hate it , they miss there old routine or they just cannot adjust to the new freedom.

This may be the time to start all those things that you have promised yourself or even try something new in your life .

Myself I am loving the freedom retirement has given me, not having to rush ,not having to go with the flow , do many things when I want and in the time I want too, I do enjoy my camera and photography and that can keep me busy and I was looking into getting a few put onto canvas prints , but many years ago I was ok at drawing and painting so I am thinking of taking that up again and paint onto canvas my own pictures taken with the camera, now it’s been many years since I have picked up a brush but I am going to give it a go.

There are a few times I may sit in the house thinking I am bored or thinking that I should be doing something but its nice to relax too.

Retirement is not for everyone , but for me it’s great but I must add it’s great because I have someone to share it with and that’s very important to me.

[Huggybearman]

I see so many retirees, both here in the Philippines and in Thailand where I lived before for a number or years, resorting to drink to help pass the time. They sit at their regular bars, usually with the same faces. I see them there day after day. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the occasional drink and socialising with fellow expats, as well as the locals, but not every day!

I have a number of interests that keep me occupied and I used to enjoy building models, usually radio controlled scale model aircraft and ships. I have a couple of drones that I enjoy flying and filming places visited on our travels.

I am currently in the early stages of building our house here and I plan to use the huge attic to build a large model railway layout, based in the late 50's era. Over the last few years I have been constructing numerous buildings for the layout, to date probably in excess of a hundred or so. So I plan to be keeping myself very busy well into the future.

[stevewool]

Flying drones, was this hard at first ,then after time you got better, or just natural for you, my grandson had these helicopters that flew around the house, but I could not get use to the controls and just crashed everywhere.

[Huggybearman]

10 minutes ago, stevewool said:

Flying drones, was this hard at first ,then after time you got better, or just natural for you, my grandson had these helicopters that flew around the house, but I could not get use to the controls and just crashed everywhere.

The more sophisticated drones are very easy to fly. In fact they pretty much fly themselves, nothing like the little toy helicopters you can get, which are quite difficult. My drones are a DJI Phantom 2 with a Go-Pro Hero three-axis  gimballed camera and my latest one is a DJI Spark which you can control just by waving your arms. It has many auto features including facial recognition so will just respond to my commands. That one is really clever and can automatically follow me around like a puppy dog. Modern tech is truly amazing!

[Mike J]

12 hours ago, stevewool said:

I was ok at drawing and painting so I am thinking of taking that up again and paint onto canvas my own pictures taken with the camera, now it’s been many years since I have picked up a brush but I am going to give it a go.

My wife decided that when we worked with youth that I would teach them art.  Painting and sketch were all new to me but I find that I enjoy it and love working the kids.  I also do some woodworking and enjoy doing yard work.

 

 

[Tommy T.]

10 minutes ago, Mike J said:

My wife decided that when we worked with youth that I would teach them art.  Painting and sketch were all new to me but I find that I enjoy it and love working the kids.  I also do some woodworking and enjoy doing yard work.

Very nice work, Mike!!! Keep on keeping on!

[Tommy T.]

11 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

The more sophisticated drones are very easy to fly. In fact they pretty much fly themselves, nothing like the little toy helicopters you can get, which are quite difficult. My drones are a DJI Phantom 2 with a Go-Pro Hero three-axis  gimballed camera and my latest one is a DJI Spark which you can control just by waving your arms. It has many auto features including facial recognition so will just respond to my commands. That one is really clever and can automatically follow me around like a puppy dog. Modern tech is truly amazing!

Please, Ken, just don't fly those anywhere near me... I hate when I hear or see any near me... don't like the idea of being spied upon... I know you are not like that, but some people are...

[Tommy T.]

My ex and I semi-retired when we turned 40 and took our yacht and went sailing.

Sure... it was a dream come true, but it was also very weird... When we stopped working it felt like something major was missing. It was akin to when I graduated from university and didn't have to return to school in the fall. For years I felt I needed to go to school in the fall, and later, I felt like I should be going to work on Monday mornings...

But I find now that some days are not long enough to do the things I wish - laundry, shopping, fidgeting with gadgets or repairing things. I cannot imagine now how much I would dislike the work regimen. I work fine on my own and really appreciate setting my own time and pace... Those are, to me, perhaps the best parts of retirement. L still works and hates it, but carries on for at least another couple of years in order to achieve a good retirement. But she loves when I cook for her and do other tasks - even western foods...

When our home is finished, I look forward to messing around in the garden areas to grow veggies and some flowers. Both L and I enjoy playing in the dirt...

Edited November 10, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Huggybearman]

40 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Please, Ken, just don't fly those anywhere near me... I hate when I hear or see any near me... don't like the idea of being spied upon... I know you are not like that, but some people are...

Absolutely Tommy. I wouldn't like it either. I am very conscious of peoples privacy. My drones are very small, especially the Spark, but they are really great for giving long distance, higher altitude shots which adds area perspective to hand held video footage.

If you like travel vlogs there is a guy on YouTube called Finn Snow who makes really excellent videos of his travels around the Philippines. I would highly recommend his channel if you are interested in exploring the Philippines.

I plan to shoot a time lapse video from the drone during our entire house build project from a height of about 20 metres showing the construction from start to finish in just a few minutes. I will post it here when construction is finished. Won't be for a year or so, unfortunately.

Ken

Edited November 10, 2019 by Huggybearman

[Tommy T.]

36 minutes ago, Huggybearman said:

I plan to shoot a time lapse video from the drone during our entire house build project from a height of about 20 metres showing the construction from start to finish in just a few minutes. I will post it here when construction is finished. Won't be for a year or so, unfortunately.

 

I look forward to seeing that, Ken. And I wish you best of luck - and skill - with your house build. These are exciting times for us oldies now, right???