Category: Adventurous retirement
By Akaisha Kaderli
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
Recently I have been reading a book called Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. You may have heard of it. The theme of the book is about being vulnerable, taking risks and being willing to expose ourselves to possible failure. It’s an enlightening read - and one that we think has relevance to those of us entering retirement.
I bring this up because what I want to share with you that security has a price. Everyone speaks about how risk is dangerous
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Published on May 22, 2014
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Category: Adventurous retirement
December 17, 2013 -- Ah the life of the RVer, free to move about the countryside in quest of perfect weather, scenery, and ambiance. When you get bored, gas-up and get going. But another, lesser known attribute of the "Turtle Life" is the ability to find seasonal employment. Just this week an Associated Press article, "Campers help Amazon keep up with holiday rush", detailed how Amazon.com in particular relies on its "Camper Force" to bang out millions of Christmas season orders from its far-flung distribution centers. The online behemoth has warehouses in some unlikely places in Kentucky, Kansas, and Nevada - areas that lack sufficient local
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Published on December 17, 2013
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Category: Adventurous retirement
August 25, 2013 -- Visiting the National Parks is high on most baby boomer bucket lists - at least that's what we've learned from our previous surveys (see Further Reading at end). So when your editor rolled into Yellowstone National Park two weeks ago, he not only ticked off a bucket list item, but he also experienced another great thing about getting old enough to retire. As we arrived at the gate in we noticed a sign that said Interagency Senior Pass. Asking about it, we were astonished to find that for a mere $10 anyone who is at least 62 years can enter any National Park or Natural Wildlife Refuge (more than 2,000 sites in all) for the rest of your life. And that's just not you the pass owner who is covered, it's everybody in the car, regardless of age. Discounts on amenities like camping fees are also usually available. (See end of article for how to get one, along with many other resources to help plan your trip).
Now that you are retired you finally have the time to visit the parks. You also have an unbelievably cheap
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Published on August 26, 2013
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Category: Adventurous retirement
February 12, 2013 -- The whale spout erupted in the distance, framed against bluish icebergs and towering white peaks. On the Zodiac boat our guide changed direction slightly and cut the engine to drift into the vicinity. Then, just 30' away the whale surfaced with a deep "poomph", his warm breath shooting skyward. With a distinctive hump near the spout, this was clearly a humpback whale, about 45' long and weighing many tons.
The young whale repeatedly dove, then surfaced suddenly to blow and breathe. As time went on his displays became more and more lavish. Slowly a realization began to dawn on us - we were in the presence of a social being with a brain, using its intelligence to attempt to communicate with us. As in, "Heh funny looking black thing with all the yellow jackets on top, look at me! I can roll, dive, smack my tail flukes, show my tummy, coil and uncoil, swim under you - why are you sitting there like a dumb log in the ocean? What can you do?" The fun lasted at least 45 minutes, until our camera's memory cards were full and batteries
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Published on February 12, 2013
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Category: Adventurous retirement
August 21, 2012 -- You name the activity - from skydiving to learning how to play chess - there is somebody from the Topretirements.com community who wants to do it in their retirement. Ditto for travel - From cruising to Antarctica to taking a train ride across Canada or Europe.
The results are in from last week's poll, with 215 people taking the time to share part or all of their bucket lists with us. We are so excited about your plans - what you folks are planning on doing couldn't be more interesting!
Here in this article we will share
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Published on August 21, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
May 21, 2012 -- So you’ve decided to take a cruise. It’s such a marvelous way to travel, especially once you are retired and have the time to enjoy a great vacation. But, with so many choices, how should one go about deciding a cruise that suits your particular interests? Our first article on cruising provided general tips. Now, we will focus on the myriad of specialty or “theme” cruises that are available. These articles are by Patricia Kennedy who has taken and thoroughly enjoyed many cruises all over the world. If you want to share your cruising experience post a Comment to this article.
Start With Some Advice
Truly, there is a cruise for everyone. Before you zero in on a specific option, consider talking to a travel consultant with real expertise in cruising. Why? According to Steve Tanzer at OurCruiseAgent, a CLIA accredited cruise expert who has taken 60 cruises himself, “You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
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Published on June 1, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
Arthur "Skip" Budge retired from the Plymouth, MA Police Department about five years ago. He now drives cars to vacation homes for his many clients. It's a "sweet life" says Budge. His story is the latest in our series of interesting baby boomer profiles as told to Patricia Kennedy. If you know a boomer retirement we should know about tell us via the Contact Us link.
I retired after twenty-eight years on the Plymouth, MA police force. Being a police officer was a great career, but I started on the force when I was twenty years old and it was all I knew. I really wanted time to travel and take advantage of opportunities to experience how other people live. I never realized just how much my world was going to expand and how much I would love my new freedom.
My wife and I decided that it was going to be OK to take my pension and retire. But I learned pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be satisfied just sitting around with nothing set to do, and that we really needed the extra dollars to supplement my pension. Before the first year was out, I agreed to drive some friends’ cars back and forth to Florida –for something to do and to earn those extra dollars.
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Published on May 3, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
April 30, 2012 -- Wow. There is just so much to learn about taking a cruise that it is hard to know where to start. Here is the first of a series of articles about cruising that we hope will help you sort through the many first-questions you need to address. We start here with general tips, Part 2 covers more specific types of cruises. These articles are by Patricia Kennedy who has taken and thoroughly enjoyed many cruises all over the world. If you want to share your cruising experience, contact us via the Contact Us link, or post a Comment to this article.
One of the first things many folks do when they retire is plan a great vacation. Now that you have time to travel, cruising offers you world-wide options.
Finding a cruise that you will enjoy shouldn’t be difficult, since the cruise industry operates on a simple, but inspired, strategy of offering something for everyone. The harder initial decision is deciding upon the specific itinerary, the type of cruise, and size of the ship that floats your boat – so to speak.
An ocean voyage across the Atlantic? A cruise that circumnavigates New Zealand? A riverboat down the Mississippi? As long as there is
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Published on April 30, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
Mary Anne Johnston is a retired educator who found an outlet for her interest in promoting literacy with Rotary International-- in Colorado and Guatemala. Her story is the latest in our series of interesting baby boomer profiles. Here is her story as told to Patricia Kennedy. If you know a boomer retirement we should know about tell us via the Contact Us link.
As we began to transition into retirement, my husband and I moved to Colorado from Connecticut. An active outdoor life is important to both of us, so Colorado was an ideal location. We both enjoy the beautiful trails, scenery and the many skiing options. I don’t downhill ski anymore
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Published on April 17, 2012
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Category: Adventurous retirement
Tom Nee’s love of riding his horse and getting paid to do so is the latest in our series of interesting baby boomer profiles. Here is his story as told to Patricia Kennedy. If you know a boomer retirement we should know about tell us via the Contact Us link.
I am officially retired now, but still work the calf and yearling sales at the Green City, Missouri Livestock Market. The best thing about this work is that I am paid to use a horse. I have used other horses, but now I use Rooster, a bay roan Quarter Horse that I pasture for a neighbor.
Although I was raised in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, I’ve been working around cattle and horses all my life. My wife Jean and I have ranched in southern Missouri, managed ranches in NW and NC Missouri and in 2006 I retired from the United States Department of Agriculture as the Executive Director of Grundy County, Missouri Farm Service Agency Office. In that job I oversaw USDA agriculture payment programs — grain loans, Conservation Reserve Program payments, low-interest loans to replace essential buildings destroyed in a storm.
Now, with the help of Rooster, I work with a team of other horsemen as we move cattle from one holding-pen to another on sale days. On the day the embedded pictures were taken, the market
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Published on March 24, 2012
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