One of the things I’m trying to work on is not putting things off for retirement. If there’s something that I want in retirement – I ask “Is there a way to bring it more into my daily life now?” My main driver for retirement is to spend A LOT MORE time with the people I love. And not just more time, but less distracted, more focused and less tired time.
So I asked myself how I could bring that more into my life. The first way that’s happening this year is my Mom coming to visit me in Seattle for 2 weeks! I absolutely love when I work from her house in Atlanta (and did for a total of 2 weeks last year), but I felt like something was missing: 6 months is a long time to wait to see someone I love. So she agreed to come here!
And this is just the beginning! I have 6 weeks of work from home planned with the people I love including:
Ecuador: I’ll be working from there for a week after taking a week vacation there. It felt too far to just go for 5 days and I’ll have a volcano as my office view!
Portland: I’m working from Portland for 1 week in July to help my Mom pack up my Uncle’s house and just to see her. It’s so great I can do that in my remote work situation.
Atlanta: Last year I was able to work from my Mom’s house for a week in August. It was amazing – we got up early, went walking for miles as the sun rose and then swam in the pool until my workday started at 12pm EST. Being around my Mom helped me manage work stress a lot and make work seem like less of a big deal somehow. This year I’m going for 2 weeks (1 seemed too short) and my partner is going with me! His older brother and wife just moved to Athens and we’ll be visiting them as well.
East Coast Christmas: Last year I worked from the east coast for 2 weeks – one in Atlanta with my Mom and 1 in New York State with my partner’s family. This year I’m going for 3 weeks! 2 in Atlanta and 1 Upstate. I also timed it so that for the first time I’ll be in Seattle for New Years Eve and can watch the fireworks go off from the Space Needle outside our window.
I’m doing my best to incorporate what I want in retirement into my every day life. Maybe I’ll increase my time working from elsewhere next year! So much of my work is remote it really doesn’t make a difference.
re: not putting things off for retirement
Don’t wait on doing those things that can bring you joy today. We never know what life will bring our way, or what may happen to the people we love. Many people say they will travel in retirement, but then are too frail or sickly (or deceased!) to do so.
Completely agree! I’m trying to increase my time with loved ones and travel while still working as much as possible.