More Money Than Energy . . . A Retirement Shift

More Money Than Energy . . . A Retirement Shift

 

I was perusing our budget this morning, something I do on a fairly regular basis in order to evaluate how each individual category is holding up, and what we might want to do next with the remaining allocations. 

In looking at the remaining fund buckets for several categories - Entertainment, Hobbies, and Travel primarily - it occurred to me that this may be the second year in a row we fall a bit short of utilizing all the allocated funds. Why? Because we simply don't have the intense desire to Go-Go-Go that defined the first dozen or so years of our retirement. We are increasingly happy in our coastal-close home, surrounded as we are by friendly neighbors, friendly people when we're out and about, friendly social clubs, picturesque walking routes, and flavorful places to pick up or sit down and enjoy small and not-so-small bites to eat. 

So is our somewhat diminished desire to pull down our suitcases a result of being genuinely satisfied in our current surroundings, a result of getting older and simply having a bit less energy, or perhaps some combination of the two?

I would like to think it's the former rather than the later. Regardless, I can say that I'm happier and more content than I've been in a few years. Our recent move, prompted by our realtor dangling offers to good to pass by on our former home, plus our desire to move away from an oddly unfriendly neighborhood, has ended up bringing some lovely new aspects into our retirement lives. Because we are now so darn close to the coast (an easy one mile downhill walk), we've joined some coastal-oriented organizations that have brought new friendships into our lives. And we are much enjoying the richness these new friendships are now providing. 

Perhaps I'm still under the glow of back-to-back social engagements yesterday, perhaps I'm simply excited about the fun evening we have scheduled for tonight, but whatever the reason, I woke up this morning feeling warm and fuzzy about our current life here and the years here still to come. And when my thoughts turned to travel, as I perused our 2026 remaining Travel budget funds, I realized I didn't want to travel to the degree that we used to, because doing so would cause us to miss out on a myriad of social events still to come this year.

What a change from prior retirement years, several of which involved traveling over six to eight months a year. (Any of you that might have followed my blog then can attest to the consistency of our Go-Go-Go! mentality and lifestyle.)

So I don't know if the change in my travel desire is a result of age, or simply due to growing location satisfaction.

Travel is our largest budget allocation, followed by Entertainment and Hobbies. We are already pretty occupied by our Hobbies during the week, and our Entertainment options over each weekend, and there is no conceivable way that we have enough residual energy to do more of either.

The only thing I'm currently feeling pulled toward is possibly a home even closer to the coast than we are now. It's not a strong enough feeling for me to feel compelled to take any action, but it's there. We'll see what happens to it in the months and years ahead.  

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Today's Healthy Focus Plan:  Walk seven miles along the beach, prep the house for my daughter and her partner's arrival, dress and depart for a dinner and tribute band event at one of our social clubs.