A Few Thoughts About Our New Norm Lifestyle

A few random thoughts about our new-normal retirement lifestyle . . . about the only ones I have these days!

One of the things I've discovered since Shelter In Place began here in California on/around March 17, is that I desperately need both the endorphin deluge of being physically active, and the serenity boost of being outdoors for long periods, to feel like the best version of myself. On those days that I gave in to my lazy self, and don't do either, I pay big time, mentally speaking. So as our state slowly begins to open up just a bit this week, I resolve to continue to do more of both activities each and every week.

Photos from yesterday's nine mile hike along one of our coastal ridge wilderness trails.
We were mostly alone on the trail, the weather was glorious, and I was in my happy place.

The first casualty of this renewed focus on embracing the outdoors will be my 20+ year gym membership. I used the gym extensively during my working years, when my workouts had to be completed early in the cold and dark mornings, but only lightly since retiring in 2011. For the first five years of our retirement my paltry $10 monthly gym fees were a non issue in spite of my usage slipping to just a couple of times a month - I spent my new-found time hiking, biking, and traveling instead. When we relocated here to our new home three years ago, we had to 'up' our membership level to accommodate the new gym's slightly fancier amenities, meaning $20 a month per person instead of $10. Still pretty modest. However, after eight weeks of conducting my workouts primarily outdoors, plus my husband becoming eligible for a Silver Sneakers membership at the gym of his choice come June 1, we're dumping both gym memberships for a savings of $480 annually.

Along those lines, we are really enjoying the process of planning out seven days of outdoor activities each week (wilderness trails? beach walks? urban walks?), usually including a stop for lunch at the halfway point. Sometimes we pack a lunch at home, sometimes we pick up to go, sometimes we stop for to go coffee on the way home at a Peet's Coffee that has some spread apart outdoor tables set up. It's all been 100% satisfying, and has led to us deciding we prefer to be out and about during the day, but back at home for dinner. So, I see a natural reduction in our Restaurant budget of about $100 a month, or $1200 a year.

Which will likely lead to a reduction in our annual clothing budget - we'll be dressing up less because there will be less places to go and be seen. As much as we've been out and about hiking and walking, we have done so with the firm inclusion of social distancing and masks. No matter how quickly areas that allow congregating open up, we won't be joining in for a good long time to come. The coronavirus is still here and spreading, it's just been beaten back temporarily to allow our tracking and treatment processes to try and gear up enough to get ahead of the inevitable increase of cases that will soon be back upon us.

And with less places to go and be seen, our Entertainment budget will likely drop by $2000-$3000 a year. No concerts, symphonies, plays, stage talks, fairs, wine club events, dances, or anything else for a long, long time to come.

Our travel budget will also be minuscule for the next couple of years I imagine, because where can we go with any sort of confidence? Sure, we can probably fly there safely given the many changes airlines are making, but what's going to be open for visitors once we arrive? And what happens if there is a sudden and unexpected return to lockdown in the places we'd be visiting? Nope, just doesn't sound fun whatsoever at the moment.

Instead, as I posted a few days ago, we'll be doing lots of RV'ing, supplemented by trips to visit our family back east. In one lovely silver lining, however, our youngest daughter has just shared that she is desperate for some additional help in dealing with being a single parent during a pandemic, while her navy husband is away on deployment, so she has asked if we might be open to her bringing our granddaughters out for a long summer visit of up to six weeks. 'YES' we tried very hard not to shout loudly in response, bring our girls and come for as long as you care! Our home is ample in size, and there are oodles of activities that should be back on line by then, including play parks aplenty, miles of coastline, plus several HOA swimming pools, and we will divide and conquer to make sure the girls are outside and active for the bulk of each day. Here at home we have the ability to have outdoor campfires, outdoor movie nights, and yard games by the handful. It will be messy, and it will be noisy, but it's going to be fantastic. I am so excited, and I recognize they would never have come for such a long visit were it not for Coronovirus making life so difficult for my daughter currently.

Here in California today, it's Cinco de Mayo, which is practically a national holiday. Our plan for the day is to go on a six mile beach walk along one of our newly re-opened local beaches, then pick up burritos at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants providing takeout, and enjoy them at a park before returning back home in the mid-afternoon. Dinner will be BBQ'd chicken, sweet potatoes, and green beans, which we'll eat outside on what is supposed to be a gorgeous and warm evening.

Where you'll find us tonight.

What about you? Any random thoughts today on how your lifestyle might change going forward as a result of living with a pandemic?