What to do with all your time?

Albermarle

Strange that in these kinds of threads, nobody ever seems to mention the supposedly traditional pastimes of the retired ( men anyway) . Such as golf, fishing, bowls, going to the pub etc.
They all seem pretty popular still, and midweek at least  participated in by mainly men of a certain age.
For some mysterious reason, people who inhabit this pension forum, do not seem to fit this more traditional profile !

MallyGirl

My OH wonders what he will do with his time although he does have interests like photography that he never has time for. I think he would also be great getting involved with DofE - maybe as an assessor.
I have a long list of what I would rather be doing - running, reading, gardening, relearning French, other fitness activities (swimming, horse riding, fitness classes, yoga/pilates), volunteering, listening to music/going to gigs, learning to play the big recorder or piano that I bought years ago, travelling to new places in the camper, walking, chilling, walking the dogs somewhere different, seeing distant family more often.

toomuchinfo

I’m retired, I’m 66, and I care for our disabled son, my husband who has been ill recently and my 95 year old mother.

I had a new hip late last year and the physiotherapist suggested going to the gym as rehab, I thought he’d lost his mind but I went along with him and he wrote me a programme. It was odd at first but now I love it, there’s a nice pool too and so I join in the Aqua classes. It’s something just for me and I don’t have to rely on anyone to come with me.

eastcorkram

Albermarle said:

Strange that in these kinds of threads, nobody ever seems to mention the supposedly traditional pastimes of the retired ( men anyway) . Such as golf, fishing, bowls, going to the pub etc.
They all seem pretty popular still, and midweek at least  participated in by mainly men of a certain age.
For some mysterious reason, people who inhabit this pension forum, do not seem to fit this more traditional profile !

I hate the idea of golf, bowls and going in a pub, but thank you for bringing up fishing!
 That's something I used to do a lot of, but stopped about 30 years ago. I think I'd enjoy getting back into that . Thanks.

Albermarle

eastcorkram said:

Albermarle said:

Strange that in these kinds of threads, nobody ever seems to mention the supposedly traditional pastimes of the retired ( men anyway) . Such as golf, fishing, bowls, going to the pub etc.
They all seem pretty popular still, and midweek at least  participated in by mainly men of a certain age.
For some mysterious reason, people who inhabit this pension forum, do not seem to fit this more traditional profile !

I hate the idea of golf, bowls and going in a pub, but thank you for bringing up fishing!
 That's something I used to do a lot of, but stopped about 30 years ago. I think I'd enjoy getting back into that . Thanks.

I stopped fishing as soon as my first offspring appeared, but restarted again a few years ago ( mid Fifties).
I am strictly a leisure fisherman and only go when the weather is OK ( never in the Winter), so being retired now helps, as I can pick and choose my days to go  a lot easier.

garyelder

I retired when I was nearly 60 I just love it I’m past 62 now got 6 gardening jobs just to keep me busy, arrange curry nights for 2 sets of good friends one lot old school mates and mates from my local pub
got a great pub crowd always up for a beer but have at least 3 nights off a week 
just arranging Christmas dinner for roughly 25 guys for Friday 22nd December 
golf not really got a group go out every Friday afternoon they always ask me 
got a caravan in Hemsby go there regularly beers much cheaper there, I do like my cruises got 2 booked just about to book another for next August 
sold a flat got another flat my daughter is moving into all paid for 
I manage the block of 6 flats so always busy 
I’ve just come up to the caravan this afternoon wife coming up by train Friday she got a part time job,  60 this December gets her Lloyds bank pension 
always looking for the best interest accounts done really well luckily enough last and this year plenty of income just keeps me under the tax level 
the only downside my pension is not doing that great but don’t need to touch it for just under 5 years 
so happy days and enjoy life to the full

barnstar2077

mcn99 said:

I am on my last OMY or maybe TMY. And this worries me. I currently have an easy IT job that just pays too much to walk away.

Apart from walking and cycling I don't really do much, I too plan to cycle LEJOG again once I finally pull the pin. But just worried I would be really bored especially when the weather is crap.

I think concern about what to do in the winter months is quite a common worry for people coming up to retirement.

I like the idea of wrapping up warm and taking a flask of hot chocolate out with me for a walk though (assuming it isn't icy under foot.)  Or a long regular walk that finishes at the same café for a chat and a hot meal.

Having a bit of spending money will help a lot I think.  Cinema trips, ten pin bowling, indoor crazy golf, a game of pool or darts etc.  Plus, it would make sense to do my museum visiting over the winter months too.  Basically, trying to get out of the house as much as possible.

Please could people that are already retired share how they cope during the winter months?

sevenhills

I am 60 but not retired yet. I am a parish councilor and political activist, doing good for the local community can be very time-consuming. I would do more, if I didn't work, but I am still poor.

I have a dog, so that is very tying too.

bigfer

Retired 5 years now. Never had a problem filling my day.
Morning classes at the gym. 
Listen to the raving swivel eyed loons who ring into the high priest of swivel eyed loons, Nick Campbell, whilst preparing evening meal.
Afternoon walk if decent weather or bridge class.
A session on the preparation of the homebrew.
A session on the drinking of the homebrew.
At least a good hour planning holidays on the computer.
Bit of crap tellie and bed 

Gardening, shopping and house work get done at some point.

Never feel guilty about sitting down and losing a couple of hours in a book or sudokus. Gotta play the long game in retirement.

otb666

i use the local library a lot.  I do housework once a day never had such a clean house and tended garden so that was a bit of a novelty. Love getting the oven fridge dishwasher washing machine manuals out and finding out how to deep clean them.  Grouting was another project and now all clean.  We find we are the first port of call for family various pet child and elderly parent caring but dont mind really. We  retired last year. I also spend a bit of my time on here.  I find that cooking from scratch takes time as well. I will hopefully get round to doing more walking and our two tortoises take up a surprisingly amount of time daily.  I spend most of my day with hubby and nice as we love each others company which we never had time for each other when working.