Congrats!

take up fly fishing........... catch and release, if you must.:D

see you are going to Missoula......... the bitterroot is awesome fishing starting right now.......

Mark the date and come back to this thread in one year for an update. It will be interesting I'm sure. A lot more interesting than "hiking, reading, tinkering, driving, yoga and eating more vegetables." Not that isn't a good plan, but plans laid of mice and men....

Especially the last 2 goals. ;)

Thanks all! This feels pretty weird for sure.

One thing I do plan on doing is mastering the mechanics of my German, Italian and possibly British automobiles.

Time to bust knuckles and get my hands dirty after a career in ethereal "IT".

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.

Congratulations...welcome to the good life.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1553902018.jpg

Congrats on your retirement.
Take a trip over Lolo pass for me. Beautiful country out there.

Congratulations! I'm working on my 10th year of retirement and I don't know how I ever had time for a job. Unlike some, I didn't have a firm plan except to get out of NY State and to the Carolinas, My life has filled out amazingly in the 10 years since. Good luck, stay loose!

Good advice all.

Although, I'm surprised no one suggested I become a Dental Floss tycoon in Montana.

Don’t have surgery.... congrats

Congrats, I've been retired for 4 years (55). I don't miss work plumbing/hvac.
I've done some travelling to the States (damn CDN dollar) take the Z06 for drives in the nice weather.
I run 3 times a week and meet friends for lunch/coffee.
Not getting up at 6 am is a bonus as well.

Raisin' it up, waxin' it down...

That's as far as you should go, now. Recombobulate....before proceeding with decisions.

Montana is nice...if you like the High Plains.

Congratulations! I like your plan. Good balance. You may want to challenge yourself more as you ease into it.
Montana is great!

Congrats I retired a little over a year ago at 60 . I am loving it but if you are like most of us you will be VERY busy . You may ask yourself how did I ever get stuff done when I was working ? Keep your mind and body busy , develop a routine you can stick to but don't be too rigid ............. after all you are retired :D For me and my wife the house and yard have plenty of opportunities to keep us busy . We're adding a small garden so a little more work . Keep up on maintenance on a fleet of vehicles/tractors/boat/RV etc. etc. you will stay very busy . You can volunteer to help others or as we do try and spend as much time with grand kids ( if you have them ) as you can . Our lives are very full and active . Good luck and enjoy you have earned it . SmileWavy

There are (?were?) a few local pelicans in and around Bozeman!

Congratulations on your successfull planning and "early" retirement. I'm 1.5 years away from my retirement; I'll be 52. My wife and I have been planning well, and we have focused on being debt-free too. The freedom found and felt by this is priceless as you know. Hope to see you out there somewhere, sometime. Good luck and have fun!