Wonderful! I started doing what you're doing in 2002 at age 59. By
that time I had formally retired from 30 years of working at IBM plus
another 7 years at two other companies. Unfortunately, I didn't realize
for another year (of unsuccessful job hunting) that I had actually
retired at 59. :-)
By pure happenstance I ended up working for the next 3 years part time
for a professional photographer. Also by happenstance he used to be an
instructor at the New England School of Photography and was an excellent
teacher. What he taught me was that I knew almost nothing about
photography. :-) He was himself following photography as a passion and
also doing well financially. Before turning to photography full-time he
had had a long career working for Digital Equipment as a PhD chemical
engineer.
So much for that. In 2006 I convinced my wife that she too should
retire and we should move somewhere other than Boston to save money.
With no particular place to go we decided to return to her home town in
upstate New York and where I had first started working for IBM. We did
save money but 7 years later have learned that you can't really go home
again after being gone for 35 years. IBM is jokingly referred to as
"I've Been Moved" and in my case it was true. I had lived in Michigan,
California, Texas, Germany, Texas, New York, Virginia, New York, Florida
and Massachusetts. I had no real roots anywhere.
But, since 2009 we have been spending our winters in a 55+ community in
Florida. What we've learned is that such a place offers opportunities
for far more activities and friendships than we find at home.
Consequently we're negotiating for a new permanent home in a 55+
community in South Carolina. If all goes well we should relocate later
this year. I wish I had known about living in such places 7 years ago.
You might want to check them out if you don't have deep roots where
you are.
If all goes well you should expect one day soon to say: "I'm so busy
being a retiree I don't know how I ever had time to work."
Best of luck,
Chuck Norcutt
On 1/1/2014 10:34 PM, Peter Klein wrote:
> Olympus friends: Today is the first day of the rest of my life. As of
> today, I have retired from my corporate IT job. I recently hit the sixty
> year mark, so I'm a bit younger than the traditional American age. But
> given the many changes that have taken place in the workplace in recent
> years (he said, politely), it's time. Fortunately, we can do it.
>
> I hope to begin a new chapter in my life where I can exercise my true
> passions more fully, namely music, writing and photography. I'm going to
> let the balance between them (and just enjoying myself) work itself out
> over time.
>
> Wish me luck! I'd love to hear from anyone (either here or privately)
> who has been though this transition and has some tips for dealing
> gracefully with the changes.
>
> --Peter
>
--
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