As many of you know, I’m retiring at the end of the school year in June after 30 years of teaching (the paperwork is submitted and everything is now official!). I’m incredibly excited for it, but as it’s fast approaching, and now that I’m having to actually deal with the logistics of retiring, things are getting a bit scary. My wife and I will be selling our individual houses and buying one together. This involves me selling my house of the last 26 years, and everything that comes with that, and moving up to Maryland. It’s a bit overwhelming (26+ years of memories, my kids’ first home, the fact I’ve lived in Virginia for 44 years!), but I’ve got a handle on. It’s made far easier by the fact that my wife and I will finally live together after 10 years of being together and 7 years of marriage!

What I don’t have a handle on and am only now starting to think about is what I’ll do in retirement. I don’t intend to not work at all, I’ll be far too young for that. I definitely want to work. But it will need to be something part time, as I have a special needs step-son that will require me to get him off to and home from school a few days a week for the next few years. And it will be something I do by choice, not out of necessity. But what?

I’m not asking for advice on what to do as a part time job in retirement; what a ridiculous question to pose on a forum. What I’m asking of those who have retired and transitioned into a new phase in life is how did you approach that process to find your new direction? Did you start by taking an extended break before moving onto something new? Did you explore a number of things to see where your interest lay? Did you fall into something by pure chance? Would you suggest a series of questions I might consider so as to establish some guides of some sort as I figure things out?

One thing I’m going to look into is doing some tutoring in history in some capacity. It might also be nice to see if I can work out a gig as a “guest lecturer” of some sort, offering lectures in various history topics to groups. I’ve got a friend who owns a tobacco shop, and I can imagine him organizing a history night at the shop, where people gather for some cigars and whiskey to listen to a lecture on something timely! Wishful thinking on my part, perhaps.

Please share with me any and all experiences as you managed this transition.

i don't have brilliant advice for you, i'm not quite there yet (maybe 6-7 years). but i'm curious, where in Maryland are you moving?

Congratulations!!

I am still a way from retiring but have had a few thoughts on what I want to do when I retire. I don't think I could fully stop and a couple of people I know that have just stopped have been fairly miserable but its horses for courses.

First on the list for me would be puppy walking, not sure if you have it in the USA but you help to train service dogs. You get to choose what part of a trainee puppy's life you want to help with and get stuck in, its mostly socialising while they are young so they aren't scared when the trining starts. It's not paid, just a fun way to spend your time and a reason to get going in the morning.

Second on the list would be delivering / moving cars between dealerships. We have a large number of car dealers near buy and I've met a few guys (late 50's / early 60's) at the local train station on their way to pick up or on there way home from dropping off. Can't imagine it's well paid but would give some freedom and opportunity to see some of the country side but it might not work for you with your son.

Third, probably not for me but one of my retired friends works at the local commercial radio station. He like me travelled overseas for work his whole career and his show is a phone in and ask questions about the world and travel along with taking requests for music. Not sure if it's paid work but he really enjoys it and has got pretty good at it over the last 6 months. Maybe a history phone in show???

Our local book shop has guest speakers come in to talk about their specialist subject but I don't know how well they are attended.

Will your school not have you in to help for a few days a week to cover for sickness or to help the kids study for their exams?

I retired from teaching in 2015. Some people seem to want detailed plans for day 1 onwards: that is not (was not) me.
It took eighteen months to get the teaching mindset removed. Thinking about school, the curriculum, the kids - the whole thing. I nwould pass on one piece of advice: don't rush into anything. I took up voluntary work after two years and thoroughly enjoyed it for six years. I am now a grandfather and we have a dog. These take up a lot of time. I enjoy each and every day and still retain the delight taken in avoiding planning much in any detail. Take your time. It sounds though you already have enough to occupy yourselves for at least a year. You can afford to be a bit selfish- enjoy the freedom.

@Baser Not sure how much of a geographical transition VA to MD is.

@jkbarnes Drew, as you know I’m still transitioning!

As documented elsewhere, I picked a lousy time to retire – July 2020. As you know, the intention was to travel and try my hand at travel writing. I’ve started to do some of that but not quite in the way I envisaged.

At the moment I’m still on a short term contract with the school, teaching a few hours a week. By the end of the year that will be over and I want to cut down my interactions to simply being available for the odd day of emergency supply cover at times to suit me.

At the moment I still do tech for three stage productions a year, but I’m likely to cut back on that because they often coincide with times when it would be propitious to be elsewhere.

Watch this space.

Sounds perfect, Downer. Your point 1 reminded me that the first thing I did was book a holiday to Cuba.

gwells wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:42 pm i don't have brilliant advice for you, i'm not quite there yet (maybe 6-7 years). but i'm curious, where in Maryland are you moving?

My wife lives in Brunswick in Frederick County. We’re looking to find something in Frederick County, preferable in the and around the city of Frederick.

Baser wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:53 pm Congratulations!!…

Will your school not have you in to help for a few days a week to cover for sickness or to help the kids study for their exams?

All interesting suggestions! Concerning the last one, when I walk out the door on the last day, I have no intention of ever walking back in the building. The state of education in my school and the school system has left such a bad taste in my mouth, I want nothing to do with my former school or school system. And from a practical and logistical standpoint, relocating to Maryland will make this impossible anyway.

@Martin, @Amor Vincit Omnia, and @downer, that’s exactly the type of commentary I’m looking for, thank you! I think, @Martin, yours is the most immediate approach in the short term. Take time to adjust and settle in to the “new norm.”

A lot will be happening in the next six months:

• Retiring

• Selling two homes

• Finding, buying, and settling into a new home

• Combining households after years living apart

• For my wife, the summer will also involve establishing guardianship over her son when he turns 18

• And also for my wife, potentially changing schools and grade levels after close to 20 years in the same school

All that will keep me/us pretty busy, so the “don’t rush” approach sounds spot on.

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 5:55 pm

Baser wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:53 pm Congratulations!!…

Will your school not have you in to help for a few days a week to cover for sickness or to help the kids study for their exams?

All interesting suggestions! Concerning the last one, when I walk out the door on the last day, I have no intention of ever walking back in the building. The state of education in my school and the school system has left such a bad taste in my mouth, I want nothing to do with my former school or school system. And from a practical and logistical standpoint, relocating to Maryland will make this impossible anyway.

There was I thinking there might be a bit of pre-school or supply teaching My wife having been a teacher I can well appreciate your frustrations arising out of the current situation so a relocation seems tailor-made for preventing you from "mellowing" in maybe a year's time and offering the school some of your valuable time.

I can only echo that you need something to do just to prevent your brain and body from seizing up through lack of use.

Am I right in thinking this is either the first time that you and your wife will have actually lived together or is it just that for the first time there'll be one family home rather than two? I can well imagine all kinds of space dynamics floating upwards.

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 5:51 pm

gwells wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:42 pm i don't have brilliant advice for you, i'm not quite there yet (maybe 6-7 years). but i'm curious, where in Maryland are you moving?

My wife lives in Brunswick in Frederick County. We’re looking to find something in Frederick County, preferable in the and around the city of Frederick.

ah, so right by harpers ferry. frederick is a nice little town. i like the old downtown area.

tikkathree wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:08 pm I can only echo that you need something to do just to prevent your brain and body from seizing up through lack of use.

Am I right in thinking this is either the first time that you and your wife will have actually lived together or is it just that for the first time there'll be one family home rather than two? I can well imagine all kinds of space dynamics floating upwards.

You are correct. This will be our first time living together. I hold no delusions that there won’t be growing pains when living together full time. There is certainly a big difference be tween “her house” or “my house” and “our house.” We’ve discussed at great length our differences in how we approach living around the house, so to speak. We know what’s important to the other and are well aware of our own particular habits. I think acknowledging those things from the get go, and also coming from previous unhappy marriages, will make the transition relatively bump free.

gwells wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:20 pm ah, so right by harpers ferry. frederick is a nice little town. i like the old downtown area.

Yes, Harper’s Ferry is about a five or ten minute drive away, or a healthy walk along the towpath. We adore Frederick. The downtown is fantastic. The ideal scenario is a place within reasonable walking distance of downtown. We’ve identified a number of older neighborhoods aground the periphery that we really like - homes all built from the late sixties into the mid 70s.

I have found "retirement" to be an interesting and enjoyable journey. Technically, I completely retired when we closed the CW USA showroom in March of 2016.

Well that led to a lot more golf that summer. Since I had also been doing clock repair as a serious hobby for many years, I suddenly found that my mentor had me doing more work for him, since I had the time, and I was now getting paid. This escalated as other service guys in the area found out I had more time. Before I knew it, I had enough work for 6 months at a time. Of course there was the growing grandchildren to spend more time with and my aging mother to care for. And lets not forget home maintenance tasks. Not even mentioning the forum....

All these things just seem to fill up the days. Most of my friends are in the same situation and wonder how we ever found time to work a full time job. We all seem busier than ever and are enjoying it more as we can usually operate at our own pace.

I seriously doubt that you will have anything to be concerned about regarding what to do once you get settled in your new home. Things/events/people etc. will just find you. You can pick and choose to do and try what you enjoy. Look forward to it and enjoy the experience.