Tag: bridge

Activities, Things To Do After Retirement

Posted on by josefa

YOU’RE OFFICIALLY RETIRED! What’s in your bucket list? 

 At last, the most awaited moment of your life has finally arrived. You are now officially retired. Gone are the days of hustling the morning hours to go  to work. No more traffic jam to battle everyday. You won’t see some colleagues anymore that you don’t like. No more programming the alarm clock and rush, rush, rush. 

Did you have a retirement party? Was it held at the job or your family threw a big surprise on you? 

Now that you’re retired, what activities you’ll be engaged in to occupy your time?  

Based from my observations, I gathered a list of activities and  routines that retired people usually engaged in.

 

ACTIVITIES AND THINGS TO DO AFTER YOU RETIRE:

 

    PLAY BINGO/BRIDGE/MAHJONG 2 TO 3 TIMES A WEEK     

You used to work more or less 40 hours a week. Now that you’re retired it will be shocking not to do something. Joining a group of fellow retired people has some kind of an appeal. It could be a group engaged in a weekly game of bingo or bridge. It can be held in a community center or it could be in a member’s house. You may not be familiar with those games but there are volunteers ( or maybe paid ) that will conduct lessons and teach neophytes. You won’t miss going to work if you can schedule a regular activity like this one.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

If taking photos is something new to you, you can invest in a not so cheap camera for a starter. The more you become confident in taking cool and beautiful photos, then you can invest in a more sophisticated camera. What kind of objects appeal to you? You may find nature appealing. What about the wild outdoors? There’s a bunch of subjects you can shoot: flowers, insects, huge trees, mountains, people, cars, selfies, you name it. Taking photographs is one good way to occupy your time as a retired person.

                

 

TAKE A TRIP TWICE A YEAR, LOCALLY AND ABROAD

You have been longing to see the Niagara Falls. The popular Grand Canyon is on top of your list. It doesn’t hurt to target the Appalachian Trail. You have numerous places to choose from. If you are the adventurous type, rent an RV or just drive a car. Being retired you can decide how many days to spend in each place. And depending on your financial capabilities, you can plan to travel overseas. Eyeing on the Eiffel Tower perhaps? Or the London Bridge? Maybe you are into visiting museums. Visit them all.            

 

 

DO VOLUNTEER WORK

If you have it in your heart, you can volunteer to help at mission houses. Maybe you love animals, there are a lot of shelters that would love to accommodate any help. You can choose to join a group visiting nursing homes. Make some lonely souls happy. Join any humanitarian group. This will require a commitment from you without expecting anything in return. No salary, no honorarium, no compensation whatsoever. You are donating your precious time and energy. But you know that you cannot put a price on that wonderful feeling of helping people. 

           

              

 

BABYSIT

Do you plan to spend most of your time at home? You can open your house to your grandchildren! This
is one way to develop deeper relationship with them. Although not every retiree would do this. They are done working in the corporate world. Now it is time to settle down and spend some quiet time at home. But I witnessed some retirees who would love to give their married children a favor by babysitting for them. Most especially if both of them work and they have to rely on nursery homes. This is also one way to rekindle parent/children relationship. Being retired, you have plenty of time for bonding with your grandkids as well as your children. 

JOIN YOGA/PILATES CLASS AND GOLF CLUBS.

Actually you can join any classes or clubs that suit your fancy. You kill 2 birds at a time by doing this. First, it is a way to socialize and meet new people who are retired like yourself. Second, these activities require physical energy. In other words, you exercise at the same time, you are mobile. You don’t store fat in your system. This will be the case if you just stay home and do nothing and never move around. 

VENTURE ON A PROJECT

Do you like old classic cars? How interested are you in a hot rod? Maybe you want to venture into a construction project. How about building a detached garage and call it your headquarter for “dirty odd jobs”? Or you can build an addition to the house, expand the house, add more footage to your property. The lady of the house can venture into crocheting projects or any knitting activity. Quilting is not a bad idea at all. You can make a lot of quilts to hand out as presents to all family members.
     

   WEEKEND FISHING/HUNTING

 I believe this is one of the top activities that retirees enjoy doing. You can’t beat running a boat and fishing your favorite spot. Actually, you can alternate fishing and hunting every weekend. Maybe bring along some grandchildren or the whole clan! The more the merrier. It’s not a bad idea to rent a cabin every weekend. Or you may already have a summer home somewhere near a lake or the ocean. It would be fun and exciting to plan for a fishing/hunting getaway.
 

PLANNING IS THE KEY TO KILL BOREDOM

Prior to retirement, you already knew the itinerary for each day. Now that your done working and stays home everyday, you’ll go crazy if there’s nothing to do to occupy your time. The activities above are something to think about. There are other things that can be added to the list. I just enumerated what I believe most retirees do. Consider gym membership, marathon, trail hiking, part time job, etc., anything to keep you busy.

If you plan to write about your chosen activities, be sure to include lots of pictures. That will keep your readers more engaged. 

This is another article to consider when you’re not sure what to write about. Go to the home page for more raw materials. Fresh topics are added often so be sure to come visit regularly. Till next post!