Exploring the World as a Roving Retiree

The life of the housesitter! It's a strange sort of life, stepping in to a virtual stranger's house and taking care of the pets, the mail, etc. At times I feel like an intruder or imposter: "it's not my dog" is a common answer to questions about the dog's weight and questions about the reason for his name. Most of all, it's a lot of work taking care of a teenaged dog. He needs to get tired out every day and that's a hard task for someone my age. I'm going to get tuckered out way before him. And I'm not going to run with him in tow; I need to be careful with his need for tug of war games that a strong dog like him doesn't yank my arm out of its socket. But it's a lovely house I'm staying in and a lovely place, Bainbridge Island (WA)! I'm getting to know most of the parks. I have a hot tub I can use. I am doing it for free, as is the rule for the website, Housesitters America. But it's a lot to do for free. You better lov...

    Tofino, the boyish brindle boxer, follows me everywhere except when I do a certain thing. No, you people with those dirty minds, I don't mean using the toilet. He is extremely curious when I use the toilet; I can't say the feeling is mutual although I am usually ready with the plastic bag to preserve his output for eternity.     No guesses? You might think it's when I am having sex but then you should know me better than that! The senior celibate years sounds semi-sibilant (look that one up in your Funk and Wagnalls*) but is fitting.     It is when I play the guitar that he runs away in fright. Does the sound torture his poor ears? Is it all music (he was fine with music from Pandora) or just the guitar, or just my guitar playing? It's hard to know. If you have heard me play guitar and sing, maybe you feel some sympathy for the poor dog.     Otherwise, the dog is by my side at all times, often nudging his frayed dog Frisbee into my thigh,...

So my first housesitting gig is going well. It's a lovely house and I got to spend a day with the lovely residents of the house. Bainbridge Island is great, and I can say that after only a day and a half with some rain...but some sun, too. The chickens are great. There are seven of them: the breeds have interesting names as do the chickens themselves. Hint: this family likes Game of Thrones and sci-fi. Sansa is a Heritage welsummer; Trinity is a French black copper maran (" The Marans breed is said to have appealed to the English because it was supposed to be James Bonds’ favorite egg!"); Mrs. is a Golden-laced orpington and quite beautiful (it looked like she was wearing a knitted shawl when I first saw her). The eggs are all different and pretty (prettier than in this photo: the colors are better), as is their handmade chicken coop the lady of the house calls the Coop Mahal.  I just hope none of them escape when I go in to feed them. I can't quite imagine ...

 I will do it when I retire, that's what I used to think but hey! that time is now. I have so many books that I bought or collected that I haven't read and now's the time. A friend gave me a book at my retirement party and asked if I'd read it yet. It's only been 10 days! Give me a break. A friend suggested I regard all this free time as being a sabbatical to help me get used to the idea of not working. I've never had a sabbatical so the concept is kind of foreign to me but it might be useful.  I thought that I would do some work for a political candidate and tonight I did some phone banking for Elizabeth Warren. I can't say it was incredibly rewarding but I did get four people to sign up to volunteer. Most of the workers and volunteers were quite young; is this the way it will usually be from here on in? 

When asked this common question in response to retirement,  I want to say I plan to talk to myself (more than I already do), fart and nap. Nice short words. Talk more, fart more and nap more. But travel is what people very often do if they are healthy and not broke, and that's what I plan to do.  My former coworkers focused their party decorations on Ireland and it IS my first destination.  But Northern Ireland, Scotland and England are also on my list. And Mexico in the fall. Maybe Morocco and Costa Rica next year. Then there is that former love from Peru now in Germany... But you can't make travel your primary focus in retirement, or can you? I think finding something meaningful to do is the point; travel doesn't seem meaningful in that you aren't giving back. Being a tourist might contribute to the local economy or might not; you might be a SERVAS member and be a sort of ambassador of international good will. Okay, great, but meaningful work (certainly vo...

I've never had much sympathy for people who say they're bored when they retire. Now I have an inkling of what that's about. With our work ethic (crazy Americans who don't even take the meager vacation alloted them or lunch breaks) and being identified with work. It's a time where you really have to recreate yourself, retirement. You have to explore what you want to do for the rest of your life; you have to decide what gives your life meaning, if not paid work. And that's tricky!  For me there so many possibilities that it's kind of hard to think about just a couple. Doing comic book memoirs, guitar playing, studying Spanish, walking dogs, housesitting, and exercise are some of the activities I am thinking about now. To involve other people and build some social time in my often solitary life, I will have to do some volunteer work. Phone banking for Elizabeth Warren? Working for the US Census?