[Jeff Higgins]

I have now been retired for just about two years, having done so at the ripe old age of 56. I am blessed in that I retired while still young and healthy enough to still do the things I love. It sounds like you have done even better than that. Congratulations.

I bet your career in IT was stressful, hectic, fast paced, demanding, and more. My career was all of that. One of the hardest things for me, in light of that, was learning to slow down. Throttle back to a "retirement pace". I really had to consciously work at it. The best piece of advice I received was from a good buddy who had retired years before I had - only "do" one thing per day. One chore, one task, one outing, one "adventure", whatever. No need to "finish" something before you go to bed so you can go to work on the morning. Things can be left undone - for a surprisingly long period of time, if you really try.

Other guys here have mentioned picking up something new, like a musical instrument. I did - one of my sons bought me a guitar for Christmas, and I've been happily building the calluses on my fingers ever since.

Revisit those things that you found yourself "too busy" to do. I got back on my bicycles after a 20 year hiatus. I picked dried up fly lines off of all of my reels, replaced them, and hit the streams again. Stuff like that.

Most importantly, don't tie yourself down with any obligations right away. Relax. Breathe. Learn the fine art of doing nothing - it's highly underrated. Walk your dog a lot. If you don't have one, get one or borrow one.

Drive your cars more. Watch out, though, mid morning to early afternoon is the "witching hour" - all the really old folks, who should not be driving at all, are out running their errands. They feel "safe" because of the lack of traffic. They are not - I've had more near misses in two years driving with this crowd than I did in 34 years of commuting on I-5. It's a real thing, one we don't think about and no one mentions.

Oh, and as others have said - don't be too quick to move. My wife and I were going to get out of the Puget Sound area, and its traffic, ASAP. Well, it's different, when you don't have to be out in it when everyone else is. It's nice being in a familiar place as well. We have family locally, maybe grandkids on the way, and that sort of thing. We decided not to "move away from our life". Your situation might be different, but that turned out to be important to us.

Anyway, good luck, and congrats again. Well played.