The Best Stuff, Ideas, and Retirement Articles of 2022
Category: General Retirement Issues
December 27, 2022 — In many ways 2022 was better than 2021, and far superior to the pandemic ruined bust that was 2020. People finally got to take all of their postponed trips from years before, so traveling is back. Fear of dying from Covid relaxed a bit, although all was not joy due to inflation and stock market worries. Here are our favorite things and articles from the past year.
We are hoping is that you will add your favorites from the various categories in the Comments section below. It could be your favorite anything! It is always amazing to see how rich and interesting your suggestions are, and how different people’s tastes are.
Books
I read some very good books this year. It seems like fiction writers are getting more and more creative, and non-fiction authors more interesting. In non-fiction, I just finished listening to the excellent Audiobook, “And There Was Light”, a biography of Lincoln by Jon Meacham. Maybe the best Lincoln book I have read. “Life’s Work”, the autobiography of David Milch, the TV writer, was fascinating to me. If you ever watched Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, or Deadwood, you will love hearing the details on how he made those fantastic TV shows (which made me watch them again!) In nonfiction, “Great Circle” by Maggie Shipstead, about the life of a fictional female pilot in the 30s and 40s, was very gripping. “We Are the Light” by Matthew Quick had an ingenious plot device, I couldn’t read it fast enough.
TV Shows
We just started “George and Tammy” on Showtime. Amazing how the lives of music legends make such good movies and TV shows. “Blackbird” is an acting tour de force, based on a true story. As mentioned above, we got hooked on “NYPD Blue” (Hulu). “Reservation Dogs”(Hulu), about some kids on an Oklahoma Indian reservation, is so original and so underrated, give it a shot. People are talking about “1923” with Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. And I love “Slow Horses”, a complicated spy story with Gary Oldman.
Stuff
Caribu is a very good way to stay in regular contact with your distant young grandchildren. You can play games or read with them. Non-alcholic beer: If you love beer like I do, here is a way to enjoy the taste without adding to your alcohol consumption. The Athletic Brewing Company is the leader in this segment right now; their IPAs taste great and so do the ales. Local breweries are getting in on the act too, as are the major brewers (my opinion is that the locals usually do a better job on taste). I love my electric toothbrush, and my dentist approves, saying it does a better job.
The New York TImes had many great “Best Things” suggestions in its Dec. 24 edition of “The Morning“. Among many surprising suggestions was one for the best scalloped potatoes: “Good and Gather” cheesy scalloped potatoes with chives from Target. Another other things to do better: mulch your leaves with the lawnmower before you rake them, and write down the best things that happen to you and put them in a jar as the year progresses, then read them all at the end of the year.
Trips
What were your favorite trips this year – near or far? Please let us know. We liked ours to the Shetland Islands of Scotland, and had innumberable friends tell us how much they enjoyed their river cruises.
Popular Topretirements articles:
Sometimes we are sure an article will be popular, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Here are the most read and/or most commented upon Topretirements articles from 2022.
20 Most Captivating Places to Retire 2022. 21 Comments
What States Offer the Best Tax Treatment for Retirees. 16 Comments
10 Great Lake Towns for Retirement. 15 Comments
5 Myths About Social Security That Could Wreck Your Retirement. 17 Comments
10 More Great, and Unusual Places to Retire. 3 Comments
There were many more articles that had similar popularity. See our Blog for more (you can sort by Category (Social Security, Best Places to Retire, etc.) and by month.
Bottom line
2022 was a good year. Please tell us how it was for you, and add your best lists in any category to share.
Comments on "The Best Stuff, Ideas, and Retirement Articles of 2022"
Jemmie says:
This article is informative and actually fun to read. It's like one-stop shopping for book and TV ideas. I like all of book recommendations and will go for those, but I find I don't watch much TV any more for some reason, and if I do it's normally a series and it has to light. Right now I am watching Doc Martin which I enjoy both for the entertainment and the beautiful scenery of Port Issac in the UK.
I actually don't have any "new" ideas to add right now and wish I could say that we have recently traveled to a place as special as Scotland, as John did in this article, but we have become creatures of habit, and continue to travel several times a year to Colorado (daughter), Florida (sun) and Pennsylvania (cabin) But we are ready to travel and love the idea of a river cruise as mentioned in this blog, but I had a bout of seasickness on a sailboat years ago, so would a river cruise not be a good idea ? Hoping it's a lot different. A train trip through the Canadian Rockies may also be on the agenda. Has anyone done this and have recommendations?
Barbara says:
When I first read this I didn’t think of anything really new to add because we still haven’t traveled and so have no fun experience to report. But then I thought we do have something new that I am grateful for everyday. We made the decision after several years of exhausting mind changing to “age in place” and have remodeled our home to fit our future needs and we love it. We have newly remodeled kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom and a lovely screened in back sun porch. It all started because we needed a new dishwasher which made us start to think about some of the kitchens we saw in our search for a retirement community and the rest is history. I also got a new iPhone which is fun and my 12-year-old granddaughter is still showing me everything it can do. She of course enjoys it more than I do. A new concept that we got into was “meatless Mondays” which has grown into about 4 meatless days a week. We also were happy to be able to buy season tickets once again to our town’s performing arts series which helps the winter go by and is a fun evening, and the library is back to book clubs and a is fun place to volunteer. So it was a good year, and look forward to the new one. Over Christmas my son-in-law mentioned we may now want a dog to ring in 2023, I did nip that new idea in the bud.
Daryl says:
I know this is ho-hum for some and been-there-done-that for many, but last year we received the gift of a second childhood (in a good way) by babysitting our 3 year old grandson several times a week. It banished the daily dose of doom from pandemic, political wars, war-wars and climate woes to a galaxy far far away. We played on slides, swings, and monkey bars for the first time in 40 years, splished in splash-pads, water slides, hand-fed goats, horses, llamas, and are on a first-name basis with all the animals in our local zoo. Rode roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, over and over subsisting on McNuggets and Mountain Dew. Reveled in the comfort of Little Blue Truck, Toe Truck Joe, and Firebuds where all friends support each other and work together for the benefit of everyone. How refreshing. He loved every second, and my husband and I are now happier and in better shape than a year ago. I know it won’t continue forever, but it was just what we needed this year. Happy New Year indeed.
Alex says:
Well done, Daryl, well done!
John Brady says:
Planet Money just had an article highlighting the booming market for non-alcoholic beer and other drinks. They included mention of my favorite, the beers from Athletic Brewing Co. One of the most interesting observations is that 80% of the people who buy non-alcholic brews also buy alcoholic products. So they view the nons as a complement, rather than a substitute.
Jan Cullinane says:
Well, John, I'd nominate you as the winner in the best retirement blog arena!
Cheers,
Jan Cullinane