The Joy of Non-Traditional Retirement Activities
According to one recent survey, the average retiree gets bored just one short year after leaving their job behind for the last time. Someone works all their life, saves whatever they can, and just when they’re finally ready to enjoy the lifestyle they put so much effort into achieving… they quickly find that they’re not quite sure what to do with themselves.
The problem is that a lot of the activities and hobbies we enjoy were built around our “old lives” – the ones where we still worked 9-to-5 and put in long hours at the office. Retirement is a different matter altogether. For many, having the free time necessary to do whatever you want, whenever you want, is unconventional by nature. Therefore, it’ll likely take a few unconventional pastimes to help you embrace the joy that this period in your life is supposed to be all about.
1. Stargazing
Many of us look up at the stars and take it all for granted. But the beauty of stargazing as a non-traditional retirement hobby is that there is a literally endless amount of enjoyment you can get from it.
Think about it like this: barring overcast weather, the sky appears without fail every night. There are more stars than you could possibly identify and learn about in a thousand lifetimes. Plus, thanks to the way the Earth moves throughout the solar system, the positions of the stars and what is visible is constantly changing – meaning there’s always something new to experience.
2. Discover Your Ancestry
Think for a moment about what you actually know about your family. You’ve probably personally met a few of the previous generations… but what came before them? Geographically, where did your family come from? How far back does it date? Where did the current version of it begin and what did it look like 100 or even 200 years ago?
Mapping out your family tree can be a great non-traditional retirement activity because, rather than looking outward at the world around you, you’re looking inward and are discovering more about your place in it. Thanks to genealogy sites like 23andMe, it’s never been easier to get started. Gather all the information you currently know about your family and see how you can definitively expand on it through various online resources. Because you’re tracing each line of your family tree back as far as there are records, it’s something that it can take years to build out – and even then, you’re not truly done. Plus, it’s an invaluable resource that current and especially future generations of your family will appreciate.
3. Acting
Even if you never dreamed of one day becoming an actor, it can still be a great, non-traditional retirement activity to pick up. Acting is great for everything from learning new skills to socializing to taking advantage of a legitimate creative outlet for yourself.
It’s also far from a “young person’s game” as many assume. According to one recent study, there are more than 1,800 regional theaters in the United States. The chances are high that there is one by you and there are more than a few parts for older individuals that they’d love to cast with age-appropriate actors.
4. Write Your Memoir
Some of us dream of using our retirement years to go off and have unforgettable new adventures. Others want to take the opportunity to permanently record the ones we’ve already had. Writing of any kind can be a great, creative outlet during retirement, but it can be especially relevant if you sit down and finally write that memoir you’ve always been thinking about.
We all have a story, many of which are a lot more exciting or noteworthy than we give them credit for. At the very least, it can become a document that will have a special significance to those within your own family.
5. Comic Books
You may have read comic books in your younger years, but have long since given up the hobby to move onto a more “adult” life. What could be better than using your retirement years as an opportunity to return to that which you once loved? All the major heroes like Superman, Batman, Spider-man, and more are still being published, as they have for literally decades.
Do you want to catch up on the last 50 years worth of stories? You can do so easily and inexpensively thanks to subscription services like Marvel Unlimited. Do you want to just jump in and see where all your old favorites are now? You can do that, too.
Plus, you can even turn the hobby into a bit of an investment strategy if you know what you’re looking for. It’s not uncommon for certain “hot” books to hit the shelves on a Wednesday at $3.99 and explode in value in just a few days’ time.
The Freedom You’ve Been Waiting For Has Arrived
In the end, it’s important to remember that while many people use retirement as a chance to finally relax after a lifetime of work, that’s just one small part of a much larger story. If the only thing different about your life is that you essentially do all the things you used to only you’re no longer heading into work every day, you’re overlooking the massive opportunity in front of you.
The biggest luxury that retirement gives you can be summed up in a single word: time. Maybe there was a hobby that you were always interested in but never really had the time to look into it. Now you do. Perhaps there was a creative passion you wanted to develop, but you were always too busy. Now you’re not.
Retirement is, in part, the chance you’ve always wanted to explore new interests. To step outside your comfort zone. To finally embrace the sense of freedom you worked so hard to secure for yourself. That’s why non-traditional retirement hobbies like these are so important, and you’d be doing yourself a major disservice if you didn’t explore every last one that you’re able to.
