# What Do You All Do For FUN?



## Wolf mom

I recently retired and seem to playing catch up with a _lot_ of projects as living alone & working full time didn't give me a lot of time for the "want to's", just the "have to's". Otherwise I have my nose in a book and watch a little TV. That's about it. Went hiking once, to a 4th of July get together and go to lunch about twice a month with various friends. I live too far out (rural) for anyone to drop by. 

Oh, and I signed up for a Kiln Fired Glass Class at the community college. 
I've done the traveling and am burnt out on volunteering
I hear of a lot of retirees that play cards, go to the Senior Center, travel, family get together's, etc. What do you all do? 

I think I need some creativity here as I can see myself getting into a rut.


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## tallpines

We don't have enough time!

Still have not gotten all the closets cleaned out and have not begun to catch up on sewing or a multitude of other craft and reading projects.

These activities may not be an option for you, but it's what I do.

I have a husband ........ There are few things we both enjoy but those couple of things keep us very busy.
They are Grandchildren, and riding the multitude of ATV trails in our area.

And then, I love puttering in the garden.......


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## Horseyrider

I'm lucky to have neighbors who are very generous with their land. So I ride my horses for hours through woods, creeks, pastures, and hayfields, in some of the prettiest country around. I have horses in my brain and blood, and every cell of my body; a day without horses is a day waiting to be with horses. It's where I feel at home.

I find most of the work we need to do here to be fun. I love gardening and putting home grown and locally procured food by. I love combing through the many antique stores in our area for old time things we can still use. We have several state parks and a couple of stunning county parks in our county for riding and hiking. There's a super long bike trail that goes through some of the prettiest woods around, and it wanders for about sixty miles. Sometimes we hop that and let it take us to the little towns along the way, and have a nice lunch at an outdoor restaurant. We cook good food, sleep well, and enjoy a relatively simple life.


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## Ana Bluebird

Good question because I've been wondering the same thing. The grandkids and their parents have moved on to friends and rarely call or come over. Work is beginning to seem like work on the farm, so what is fun? Can't eat out that much anymore. What else? How much can a person read? Movies are awful. Did the volunteer thing, joined groups, all get old after awhile.


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## Ramblin Wreck

Maybe it's perspective, but I look upon chores around the farm as fun. I do what I want when I want and take a day or week or longer off pretty much whenever I want. The biggest first decision of my day is whether to make breakfast or eat out. I enjoy puttering around on the tractor or ATV (try to check on the animals at least once per day). There isn't enough time to do the reading I'd like, and I've yet to learn how to bake a good loaf of wheat bread, a real shortcoming. I enjoy travelling and hiking, and I'm just over half way through visiting all the national parks (keep adding to the darn list...Pinnacles just added recently). There are state parks in Georgia and neighboring states I'd like to see...plus the Natchez Trace...and lots of places in Canada (cross country train trip/Jasper/Newfoundland/Yukon).

And oh yeah, visiting with family and friends is not getting enough time and attention either.


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## jwal10

Just fully retired 2 months ago so I have plenty to do, along with the traveling we have scheduled. Cleaned up the cabin at the coast and a few projects that got put off for years that really needed done. 10 days into a 3 week trip here to the lake cabin. 2 weeks weren't enough to get everything done. Small yard but it needed a lot of work I need/have to walk a lot, so I find interesting places to go. That and woodworking seem to keep me busy right now....James


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## Txsteader

Yep, what many would consider work, we consider to be fun. Doing all the home improvement/renovation projects we never had time for before. DH also does woodworking projects.......he just finished building a mandolin (instrument). I get to indulge more time to my flower gardens. He does the vegetable garden, I do the preserving. 

*Ana Bluebird*------you might see what your local community college has to offer. Ours has lots of activities and courses geared toward seniors/retirees.......everything from swimming/exercise to crafts, dances, etc.


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## Shrek

For me just living my life on my schedule is fun enough for me.


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## Micheal

I think it all depends.........
Depends on the shape you are in, physically.
Depends on what you want to do.
Depends on money available.
Depends on location as in where you live.
Etc.

With me:
I and the dog enjoy leisurely walks in the woods with me sitting on a stump or two just watching her sniffing out here and there.
I enjoy working in the garden, for maybe 5 minutes but then again for maybe 3 hours; depending on how I feel.
I enjoy banging on this keyboard and reading "stuff" on the internet. - limit myself to maybe 3 hours a day though unless it's bad weather. :happy2:
Then there are the projects I want/got to do, advantage of being retired I can do them one at a time and do them right and not just good enough.
There is the spring/summer/fall stuff; fishing, kayaking, fairs, firemen's fielddays, concerts, etc. most of which are free or of little cost.
Then there is the stuff that I don't think of as fun or want to do that need to be completed. :hair
And the list goes on.....


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## Micheal

The wife read my post and said "What bout me and stuff I do"..... sooooo.

She volunteers as in playing taxi for a few that can no longer drive but need to get somewhere.
She belongs to a couple of groups that meet 1-3 times a month dependent on what's happening.
She knits and crochets.
She enjoys eating anything I cook. As well as going out to eat once, maybe twice, a month.
She also goes to the casino once a week and donates $20 to the place.:huh:
She enjoys going on short or not so short drives to see the country-side and to discover where roads go.
And this list can go on.........


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## fordy

.................Checkout parasailing ! It involves a large parachute , attached to a motorized , one or two seat cart . Engine sizes can run from 30hp up to 100hp depending . They cruise around from 500 to ~14,000 feet , at 10 to 35 mph . There always used models available . No license for single seater , and minimal license for two seater . , fordy


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## Wolf mom

fordy said:


> .................Checkout parasailing ! It involves a large parachute , attached to a motorized , one or two seat cart . Engine sizes can run from 30hp up to 100hp depending . They cruise around from 500 to ~14,000 feet , at 10 to 35 mph . There always used models available . No license for single seater , and minimal license for two seater . , fordy


Now that's what I mean!! Love it! I'd be scared to death - but it sure isn't ho hum.

going to the movies, out to dinner, farm chores, gardening, hiking all are good things and I do get satisfaction from them, but they sure don't get my blood racing. 

Do you really do this fordy??


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## fordy

Wolf mom said:


> Now that's what I mean!! Love it! I'd be scared to death - but it sure isn't ho hum.
> 
> going to the movies, out to dinner, farm chores, gardening, hiking all are good things and I do get satisfaction from them, but they sure don't get my blood racing.
> 
> Do you really do this fordy??
> 
> .............Well , I've checked it out and never followed through , yet . The flying machines area little more than than my budget but I'm still very interested . The best thing to do is do a google and locate the nearest club , they will take you for a ride in a two seater with a very experienced pilot . You fly very SLOW , and Only on beautiful days with mild wind conditions . These machines are not meant to chase tornadoes , lol ! My health is not the best right now so I've kinda put everything on hold . But , you should really check it out . , fordy


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## fordy

................Wolfmom , watch the vid !
http://www.flyppc.com/


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## Wolf mom

Wow! Thank you fordy. That's beautiful! That's exactly what I mean. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard on an old body either. 

I reread my posts and I appear to come across as an adrenalin junkie. That's not really what I meant. I believe in keep on trying to extend/challenge myself - physically and mentally. To me, that's my fun and greatest satisfaction. 

You know that old saying about skidding into the grave broadside, totally worn out and proclaiming Wow- What a ride! 

And I'm not sure what I did to the type on the last post - 

Fordy, I hope you get healthy to follow this dream.


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## tallpines

Well, now ------
More along that same line ---- (pun intended)

Have you gone ZIP-Lining?

I went last fall at age 67.
A series of 10 different ZIP Lines.

The most thrilling Zip was 700 feet long ~~~~ and I didn't properly get onto the next tree platform as intended.
Slid back to the middle --- 350 feet.

And thereI_ hung_ over a valley with an abandoned mine about 100 feet below me-----
-----until a good looking college kid zipped out to me and towed me back to safety.

Now that was adrenolin rush FUN!


At age 62 I bought myself a motorcycle ----- and then had to learn to drive it. 
I LOVE it.
Bright red with a side car!

And this summer I bought our second and larger ATV that I mentioned earlier.
Just yesterday we returned home from our first OVERNITE trip with the ATV.
186 miles all on ATV trails ---- mostly through forests lands ---- great fun!

I'd LOVE to try parasailing!


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## Ramblin Wreck

I've not parasailed, but I did paraglide off a mountain in Queenstown. I did a zip line in Belize, but it was just OK. It was a long, rough school bus ride for just a few minutes of zipping. Here's a pic from the jump:


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## tallpines

My zip lining adventure lasted almost 4 hours ~~~(Alaska)
10 separate zip lines
plus 2 long swinging rope bridges
and at the end we needed to rappell back to solid ground.

Of coarse, what made the adventure most memorable was getting stranded mid zip ------ and needing to be rescued.

Which reminds me of yet "other FUN" we've had since retirement.

Vacation tours to:
Hawaii
California
Germany-Austria
Alaska


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## CherieOH

If you're healthy, get out there and do everything you can WHILE YOU STILL CAN! Your health can and probably will change in an instant and then all you'll have are lots of doctor appointments to keep you busy. Ask me how I know. I kept procrastinating until it was too late. BUT I have learned to be content puttering slowly about the house and garden. I don't watch much tv because I'm deaf. Yes I know about captions, but it's still not as enjoyable without sound. I do read (love my kindle) and spend more time than I should on the computer reading forums and blogs. I crochet, bake, have family over for game night once a month (though hubby plays cards at a senior center once or twice a week) and we eat out a couple of times a week. I'm happy enough.


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## soulsurvivor

I second the vote for doing everything while you're still healthy enough to enjoy it. That ship sort of sailed without us. We've spent most of our retirement in having our small home remodeled to accommodate our simplified lifestyle. It's comfortable but also easy to keep clean and organized. And we just recently completed DH's "man cave". He has his own space to putter, cook, and work on "stuff". 

Truth be told, we've both decided we're not going to a nursing home. We're staying home until the end.


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## Debbie in Wa

For us, it depends on the season. In the Winter, we are pretty much indoors so I do a lot of sewing and quilting. We do play some card games and board games. There is always a puzzle on the card table to be put together. In the spring, we try to get out and get ready for the Summer months to come. The gardening starts our on paper, the raised beds are getting prepped. We also are getting the travel trailer cleaned and set to go so when the snow melts, we can take off to our hide away. Summer is camping, gardening, maybe some house project. Fall for us is still camping, canning, getting the garden finished up, and getting ready for Winter. Oh and for us we have grandsons year around so were are always busy with them. During the Summer, they get to come out one at a time, and stay the whole week. We do all kinds of projects. Other wise, we try and take them at least one weekend a month.


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## caroline13

since retiring almost 2 yrs ago, at first had to rest up alot and watch movies til midnight, but once spring was here, started gardening, growing green beans, squash, onions.
Have 5 acre's to mow, and crafts. Grow and finish gourds and make longleaf pineneedle baskets from pine needles in the yard. Lots of cooking, family dinners every few weeks, house is alot cleaner. listen to music for therapy, walk every day for 30 minutes. 
now that fall is coming, planting collards to eat, will start crafting again. don't really go too many places, other than food store. look for best deals, planning to re-do dining table and chairs, rooting roses, and flowers, grape vines for next year. love retirement, slower pace, time for me.


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## sisterpine

Firstly, congratulations on your retirement! May you have many happy healthy years ahead of you!

I never really planned to retire and then go off and do a bunch of stuff. Even my bucket list was full of things like "get a goat" not "get a boat" LOL I ,also, have been dealing with health issues since my untimely retirement LOL. But I expect I will get through them all and then finish this house up, sell it and begin a new small homestead in the desert which I am very excited about. I want to see the stars, smell the flowers and sit on the porch some yet before I am done. Hope you find exactly what you are looking for but dont forget to take a bit to just rest up from all those chores you have been putting off. Blessings, sis


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## Grandmotherbear

Semi retired, but I really can't take the heat and humidity of Floridas' summers anymore. I will probably have to leave home for at least July thru August next year. Thinking about a van trip thru Canada and up the Inland Passage/Maratime Hwy to Alaska.
My mother, a lifelong career woman, told me she didn't know how she had ever the time to work 9-5 once she retired. She did redecorate several times, had nieces and nephews come to visit, gather her up her girlfriends and drive them on both weekend and 10 day trips, as well as gambling every month or so and playing cards and mahjongg and scrabble with groups.
I would like to do some long distance hiking, maybe see Scotland where I spring from. We spend 3 days a week at our future retirement home now and never have enough time to do everything we want to do.


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## frogmammy

I would like to learn to wind-surf. It looks interesting, I like the water, and if I don't do it SOON, it will be one of those things I'm no longer equipped to do. Only NEED to do it a few times...

I would love to do the hot air balloon pilot's ground school...was signed up for it once but had to have major surgery, so that squished my plans. Since then, the community college hasn't offered the course again...yet. No, I have never been up in one, and I AM afraid of heights, but hey, things change!

Mon


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## WildBillTN

Since my retirement in June of 2012 I have been to Guatemala volunteering on construction of a water line that brought fresh water to a village of Mayans who previously had the highest infant mortality rate due to drinking contaminated water. In March I began hiking northward on the Appalachian Trail, and in four months I hiked over 1,000 miles. I intend to pick up where I left off in Pennsylvania and finish the trek to Maine, hopefully next summer.
In the meantime, I work on my homestead garden, bees and chickens; teach and train in tai chi and other martial arts; I pick the stand-up bass in a band; and love to hunt, fish, and camp. There is always plenty to do!
Retirement is great!


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## Bentley

I have been retired for a year now. I don't know when I had time to work. Between the gardening, hunting, fishing, reloading/target shooting, maintenance of vehicles/tractors/home/stuff, and then my wife and I love to go to flea markets, camping with the kids/grandkids, etc...etc... And I love to turkey hunt.
And then there's always windows to wash, de-cluttering 40 years of accumulation and mowing the yards, and maintaining our two rental properties.

Gosh, there's just not enough time in the day. It seems like I wake up in the mornings, drink a big mug of coffee, get started on some of the above, and then it's bedtime.....and the weeks/months are just flying by. It's scary.


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## MichaelZ

Kick boxing - right into my 80's.

Just kiddn' Kidding aside, keep as active as you can, walking, biking, swimming, etc.


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## jwal10

The Oregon coast is our playground since retirement. We drove up the coast yesterday. A friend that dairies on the river wanted us to pick up a couple fish to smoke for him. We drove up to Seaside and back. Stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory and the jerky factory. Picked up some jerky, pepperoni sticks, squeaky cheese and had an ice cream cone. The beach was beautiful and the breeze was warm. Nice trip. Lots of salmon boats in Tillamook bay. Stopped by the friends place, fished for an hour, got 2 nice brights and picked up the 2 the friend had. I only smoke them this late, been spending the morning doing that. May can some. We have everything done, waiting for the rains to come. We will be here for a week or 3 who knows....James


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## Evons hubby

When Yvonne's daddy comes for a visit we go fishing... he fishes, I drive the boat. Short runs on the motorcycles as long as I am still able to get a leg over it. I also play chess with a couple people.... hard to find chess players in these Ky hills though! We also like to get together with various friends and play music. I dont play very well, but the others let me play along anyway. I enjoy cooking and watching the calves play in the meadow.


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## sisterpine

I would love to find a place where i could have a zip line! What a way to travel LOL.


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## pattys214garden

enjoy reading everyone`s post - just about to retire - having a house built in N.C. -probably be busy with a fence a shed - getting raised beds in order - and oh yea sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee - don`t know if anyone on here is BORN AGAIN but i sing GOSPEL MUSIC - i`d love to send you 2 of my C.D.`S - anyone on here fish - i want to get into fishing and here on LONG ISLAND i only went to the ocean and surfcasted - mainly for blue fish - but now fresh water fishing has got my interest - wel guess i`ve said enough -really LOVE THIS SITE -- G O D B L E S S


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