Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

4 Weeks of Retirement. I've Done Nothing Much.

2026-03-23T21:45:43Z

I've been retired now for 4 weeks. Not 4 weeks officially but effectively. The difference is that I submitted notice of resignation with a proposed final work day of Friday, March 6. The company then dismissed me on on Monday, Feb. 23. So, effectively, I haven't been working for 4 weeks. Anyway, enough about official vs. effective; the thing I want to write about here is what I've done and how I've felt in the past 4 weeks.

"What have I done in 4 weeks?" is an easy question to answer. The answer is Not much. 😓 I've long planned that in retirement I'd travel a lot more. Well, in the past 4 weeks I've only taken one trip, and it was a short, weekend-sized trip. Though we took that trip during the week, avoiding the weekend-sized crowds, so there's that. We also did a short scenic drive followed by a hike in the mountains last Thursday. Again, it was the sort of trip we could have done on a Saturday or Sunday— except by doing it on Thursday we avoided weekend crowds.

The fact that my retired life is off to a slow start is disappointing, but I remind myself it's just that— a slow start. It reminds me of summer vacations as a kid.... Knowing there were only 10 weeks of freedom until the next school year started, feeling like I ought to maximize every one of those precious few days, and often just sleeping in and lazing around most of the day until the summer was half over. And you know what? While I felt guilty about that, it was also satisfying. Now, like then, decades ago, it's both satisfying and guilt-making. And I'm confident I'll shift into higher gear eventually.

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Now Officially Retired

2026-03-07T04:34:13Z

Today was my official last day of work / start of retirement. Yeah, it seems like I've been retired for almost two weeks now. That's because after I submitted my notice of resignation exactly two weeks ago, my company walked me the following Monday.

I've been doing a whole lot of... nothing much... to soft-launch my retirement. Yes, I had/have great plans for what to do in retirement, but I'm caught in a slow period right now. Hawk has been working through medical issues that have made her unable to travel and do outdoors adventures. Recently I decided that since she's on the DL (disabled list) I might as well go on the DL, too. Thus my choice to see a dermatologist about removing a lump on the back of my head. No cardio exercise or even going to a pool for me for a few weeks.

One thing I've reflected on at this two-week anniversary is this meme I've shared a few times when discussing retirement:

I'm happy to report that I am no longer feeling like the sad person in this illustration. I'm not yet the happy person recording cell phone video of sunny long-range vistas— though I know that will come eventually. Once we get off the DL together.

What's changed? I figured before a combination of two things were making me feel down. One was unsorted feelings about quitting my job, for good. The other was misgivings about "What if the money in retirement doesn't last?"

Well, the latter's already getting a bit of a test with how markets have been slumping the past two weeks. And it's not bothering me. I built our financial plan to handle bumps like this. Nearly every day I revisit the numbers to remind myself it's working.

That leaves unsettled feelings about quitting as the culprit for my feelings of sadness and anxiety. Two weeks later isn't a hugely different vantage point to revisit this question, but in terms of how I'm feeling about it, it's close to night and day different already. I have no question about whether I was right to leave that job. I am so over it now. Zero regrets.

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February Blogging: Coming Alive Again, or a Swan Song?

2026-03-01T23:28:02Z

It's been a while since I've checked in on my blogging. My last remark on the topic was noting in mid-January that I'd blogged 30 days in a row. Well, good news/bad news in that vein....

Good news: I extended that streak of writing at least once a day to 62 days.
Bad news: The streak ended when I missed a day on Feb. 21. I then had another missed day on the 27th.

Looking at the month of February 2026 in full:

I posted 42 journal entries
That hits my intermediate goal of averaging 1.5 blogs/day.
It's my best month since September '25, before I hit a slump in October.

Am I over my slump of the previous 4 months? Yes and no. The main thing that drove my uptick in blogging this past month was playing D&D. I posted twelve journals about D&D in the month. Without that February would've been as much a slump as October was. Will playing D&D continue? Unclear. I want to, but at the moment the challenge— as always— is finding time that works for everyone. I proposed last week that we play this weekend, and my players quickly drove the negotiation out to whether or not we can play in 3-4 weeks time.

As for what got me into a slump with blogging starting back in October.... Two big factors were the seasonal slowdown in outdoors adventures as winter weather came on, coupled with us having to stand down from travel due to Hawk's two surgeries. Both of those surgeries are in the rear view mirror now, and she's recovering well— though still weeks away from being fully healed. Plus, the weather is getting nicer now. Plus— bonus!— I've just retired, so we have way more free time to do fun things that are worth writing about. This would seem to augur more blogging ahead. But....

...But the other problem I highlighted in October was the DFC problem. I just don't care. The past week as I've stared at my keyboard I've mused to myself, "Do I even care anymore?" I don't know if I do. I hope I'll see my spirits lift when I get more active again.

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My Plan Has Come to Fruition. Why Do I Feel Sad?

2026-02-23T00:10:01Z

I tendered my notice of resignation last week Friday. Before then I was often feeling apprehensive about doing it. Since then I'm just feeling sad.

You might remember me posting this meme a few weeks ago:

It's still a great summary of how I feel. I think of it basically every day. Some days twice or more.

I've been asking myself why. Why do I feel bad when I should feel great because my plan to retire early— a plan I've worked on for decades— has finally come to fruition?

I'll tell you one thing it is not. It is not "Oh, I will miss working." I will not miss working. I will not miss "friends" from work. Work hasn't provided friends for years, just colleagues with whom I have a mutually amiable working relationship. Our common interests end at the end of the workday.

What has me feeling down are the conditions under which I'm retiring. It doesn't feel like a win.

I am not stepping out at the top of my game. (I got virtually none of what I wanted last year.)

I am leaving not with a bang but a whimper.

I am going gentle into the night.

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3 Weeks to D-Day

2026-02-01T06:02:18Z

It's only 3 weeks until D-Day. That's how I think about the day I plan to tender my resignation: it's D-Day.

D-Day is not the end, of course. It's only when I submit my 2 week notice. So, unless something happens to change my planned timeline, I have 5 more weeks of work at this point.

What could change my plans? A few things, none of which I think are particularly likely.

For one, at sales kickoff (SKO) in 2 weeks I could be nominated to Club again. If I make Club, and it's not somewhere we're uninterested in going (Hawk and I are kind of done with Los Cabos, Cancún, and a few Caribbean islands) I will seriously consider staying at the job through, say, May to enjoy the free trip. But I think my chances of making Club again this year are small.

Two, the company could entice me to stay longer by offering me more money. I've already thought about what my demand would be... and it's going to be steep. There's effectively zero chance they'd offer me enough to stay another full year but it's possible they might offer enough to entice me to stay a few months. I think it's still unlikely they'd meet my demand for even the short term, but it's possible.

Meanwhile, with retirement likely just 5 weeks away, I'm still experiencing unexpected anxiety about it. I am feeling a bit more at ease about it now than 4 days ago. Perhaps as I get closer to D-Day it feels more like a fait accompli and thus I sweat it less.

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Retiring Soon. Shouldn't I Be Happier?

2026-01-27T22:16:10Z

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Blogging in Fits and Starts

2025-12-16T23:32:14Z

I've been blogging in fits and starts recently. After posting to my blog nearly every day for years I've had a lot of skip days recently. I skipped 9 days in October, 4 in November, and so far in December— which is only half over— I've already skipped 5 days. When it rains, though, it pours. On days I have blogged I've often posted 2 or even 3 entries.

Seeing that my tempo of blogging has become irregular is a bit of a disappointment. Years ago I set a goal of posting every day. (That blog is from 2021. I know I set the goal a few years before that, 2017 or maybe earlier, though I can't find anywhere I wrote down the goal back then. But in searching for it I did find an interesting perspective from 10 year ago on Why I Write.) After going strong and meeting my goals for years I now feel I'm running out of steam. Or, more precisely, running out of fucks to give.

My sporadic turn to blogging the past few months is attributable to obvious factors. For one, I've been traveling a lot less as Hawk is recovering from foot surgery. I've always focused my blog on the joys and frustrations of travel. With less to do there's less to write. And I haven't wanted to write too much else. ...Which leads into Two: I'm kind of depressed. With not a lot going on right now I've been feeling down. I care less about writing when I'm down.

But hey, maybe I will write about other stuff soon. Just in thinking how I'll frame this journal entry today I've already thought of several other topics I could write about soon. Plus, it's not like nothing's happening just because we're not traveling. I just have to find the motivation, and the focus, to write.

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Ready for Winter to be Over

2025-12-09T17:16:25Z

The past few months feel like they've been the winter of my discontent. For 8 weeks it was cold, dark, and rainy. Several times I've said to myself, "I'm just about ready for winter to be over." The problem is, winter doesn't even start for 2 more weeks! 😨

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Another Visit with Relatives Fizzles

2025-11-29T19:06:26Z

Thanksgiving triplog #16
Camp Hill, PA · Fri, 28 Nov 2025. 12pm.

When I visited my cousin Matt on Monday he mentioned having plans to visit our cousin, Rebecca, on Friday. "Do you think Rebecca would mind if I joined?" I asked him Tuesday morning. I figured it'd be great to see Matt again— a few hours once a year is not enough— and I looked forward to seeing my Rebecca, whom I think I've only seen maybe twice since she was 6 years old... and she's now in her 40s!

Matt and Rebecca both agreed it would be great to see us. And their agreed-up meeting location for today was Frederick, MD, which is only about 1.5 hours from up here near Harrisburg. I figured it'd be an easy day-trip down there for a late lunch today.

Alas, today's visit fizzled. Matt texted just as I was getting ready to leave. "Rebecca's really sorry but something came up," he explained. "She says today's not a good day."

Bummer. And especially bummer because it's not the first time this week a relative nope'd out of visiting with minimal explanation why. Three of my nieces basically ghosted us, leading to us leaving town a day and a half early on Tuesday.

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