New Beginning

[Mike L]

I'd have to go back to work to relax!!

?

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[flatcreek]

Congratulations Toxic. My wife is retiring today as a matter of fact to join me in this wonderful group.We plan to head north in the fall to fish some Tennessee and Kentucky lakes so we might see you on the water somewhere.Good fishing

[Glenn]

[Russ E]

Congratulations.

I was fortunate to retire early 3 years ago. don't miss the grind a bit.

Low stress, healthier, happier and spend a lot of time fishing.

Don't know how I got anything done before. Seems like I am always busy, but in a good way.

[Scott F]

Congrats on your retirement!  Getting used to being retired was the easiest thing I’ve ever had to do. Not a day passes that I don’t thank my lucky stars that I was able to retire 

[Bankbeater]

Congratulations! In about 10 years I'll be there too.

[roadwarrior]

 

 

                                   CONGRATULATIONS!

 

                             

[TOXIC]

Thanks again for all of the well wishes.  So far I just feel like I’m on vacation.  I do have to get over the mental gymnastics from not having to work.  It’s harder than I thought it would be but then again, I have been working since I was 13 and this is foreign territory for me.  I did go out and buy 3 new trolling batteries for the boat and install them.  Group 31 wet cells are heavy by the way!  I cleaned and waxed the boat, stripped some rust on the trailer and recoated with bed liner to try and match the Ranger road armor coating.  The weather has not cooperated at all with over 100 degree heat indexes and pretty much rainy every day.  I don’t need to torture myself just to get out and fish especially with the holiday weekend.  I had my financial planner fly in for 3 days and we went over my finances one last time.  I am going out with a friend on the rappahanock tomorrow.  There was an 11 lb hog caught out of lake Anna, my old stomping grounds, so I might head down there next week.  Hopefully the weather will start to cooperate and I can get out a little more.  My honey-do list is very long as well.  I’ve got some long pulls set up for this summer and I am looking forward to fishing some new water.  I’ll be sure to keep checking in and put up some reports.

[whitwolf]

Congratulations! I have 5 years to go. I can't wait!

 

 The one thing,g my daddy always told me; the first seven years is top notch, the next two you are looking for things to do. The next 4 years( he passed shortly there after) he simply relaxed, did as he pleased, made sure his affairs were in order, and insisted his kids came home as much as they reasonably could. 

[senile1]

On 6/27/2019 at 5:49 AM, Way2slow said:

I still catch myself feeling like there's something I should be doing instead of just taking it easy sometimes, or just doing something I want to do instead of something I need to do. Getting it in my head if I don't get something done today, there's is a tomorrow,  hopefully!  If there's not, it ain't gonna matter noway.

I have had a similar problem.  I pulled the trigger on retirement last year.  I already had a list of things to work on that I had not been able to stay abreast of while I was working.  Other than our vacation in the Canadian Rockies and two or three fishing vacations, I had been working quite steadily on that list.  Then I had a couple of major injuries that hindered my ability to fish and do the things I enjoyed for approximately 7 months.  I just got back on the water about 10 days ago.  

 

The list is not urgent.  Enjoying my life is.  I hope you can breakaway from this because it still sounds like you are programmed to run on the treadmill constantly.  I know I was.

[Brad Reid]

As regards retirement and fishing, one thing I do differently is I fish either early or late, pass on the middle of hot summer days. Not so many years ago, I did long days on the water and I'd always stay out about an hour longer than I should have hitting into the hot afternoon Texas sun, then have another 30 minutes or longer loading my kayak in the heat of the day on hot asphalt. I'd go home exhausted.

 

So, what I do now is wait until around 6 PM and fish into the loss of light and then go home. 2 or 2.5 hours, but much more frequently than before where I'd squeeze all of my fishing into a single weekend day typically. I now often fish up to five times a week.

 

And, I fish much more "minimalist" nowadays. I like going out with either one or two rods in my kayak.

 

A 3.66 lbs. bass caught about a week or so ago . . . fishing late afternoon. See pic below.

 

Oh! And, my wife and I just completed a 4400 mile road trip from Texas (home), to NM, to AZ, to UT, Idaho, Montana, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell UFOs, Gila Indian caves, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Grand Tetons, various locations in Colorado. Gosh, I love road trips!!!

 

If you are retired and have the time to get on the road, the western states are a fabulous destination!

 

Brad

 

 

[TOXIC]

When the time comes that I can no longer handle my 21ft Ranger, I may have to re-evaluate but nothing has changed for me as far as ability and stamina.  The nice thing has been going during the week and avoiding all of the crowds.  I’m heading on a road trip tomorrow to the  Chickahomny River.  The Potomac has been washed out for 2 weeks with heavy rain again today.  I’m off to Wisconsin next month and maybe another trip up to Michigan this summer.  I’ve got plenty to do around the house with getting my baits organized into a fishing room high on the list.  I haven’t totally shook the feeling that I should be working but it is getting better.  I finally figured out it’s almost like a form of guilt that I made it and all of my friends are still chained to the wheel.??