I’ve Been Retired for a Year (Happy Anniversary to Me)

• Blog author, Cynthia Ross Tustin.
• The end of this month will mark my one-year retirement anniversary, so I thought it might be  a suitable time for me to both reflect on a year of retirement blogging and to look ahead to what’s next for this space.
• Today’s blog is that first year in review and what’s to come for this retired baby boomer.
• Posted Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
• Innisfil, Ontario
• Shout out to Feedspot for naming me #73 on their 2022 Top 100 Retirement Blogs and Websites

Happy Anniversary to Me, A Year in Retirement Review…And What Could Be Next

So, this blog post is equal parts “year in review” and a forecast of intended “coming events.” Since I was born in 1963 that puts me at the tail end of the baby boomer era. As a proud member of this cohort, I was raised with the “work while you’re young when you have lots of energy so that we could retire early and enjoy the fruits of our labors” mantra. I did just that. Just as most of you have done. I was lucky to retire early from a full and active career, fire chiefing was a totally awesome job to have! That being said, I knew intuitively that I couldn’t just retire and sit on the front porch. Hence the blogging.

Why the Blogging?

Why blogging? I like to write. I like to read and research. And I wanted to learn new skills. Blogging has done all that for me, in spades. But it also created an unintentional side benefit. It’s thanks to blogging that I now consider myself a writer or a creator; this allows me to be self-tenured or an entrepreneur of sorts. Why is that important?

It’s important because I learned very quickly, after you retire people look at you differently. Sure, most are happy for you; but other than lifelong friends, acquaintances aren’t really sure if they have a use for me anymore or how I fit into their still working daily life. Not in a mean way. When you’re close to your work colleagues, you have the common bond of the job. But once you retire, that commonality is gone. There’s brilliant advice out there telling baby boomers who are thinking of retiring to make sure to acquire some hobbies and interests before you pull the pin on your day job. There’s extraordinarily little advice out there telling you “Hey, make some new friends,” and even less on how to do that at my age.

Doesn’t Everyone Hang Up On Airduct Cleaning Cold-Callers?

So, the new label blogger/writer/entrepreneur is immensely helpful in making new friends. I use the blog and the writing to meet new and interesting people. It’s a conversation starter. It’s a foot in the door. I like talking to people and find them fascinating. People will give a blogger/writer an “interview.” On the other hand, they’re less likely to be generous with their time if you call and say, “Hi, I’m  this really cool retired lady, will you talk to me?” Seriously, who’d take that call?! They’d hang up faster than I do on an air duct cleaning cold caller!

Since I started the blog, I’ve been truly fortunate to talk to some exceptional people. Frank “Frankie Flowers” Ferragine provided great advice on considerations for retirees and gardening. Sure, he just lives down the road, but it totally counts! Need friends, meet your neighbors.

There’s been great conversations about retirement, and the lifestyle implications of it, with people like Dan Needles. Ontario’s pre-eminent rural life guru. I doubt Dan will ever retire from either writing or farming because he still has so much to say about it.  Then there was my chat with the invincible Kevin Shea. Kevin, an FDNY Firefighter who survived the first World Trade Centre bombing, moved From Manhattan to Montana and now lives an extraordinary life.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat…Across the North Atlantic

During this past year, I made some new friends. Take my new buddy, Dave “Dinger” Bell. He retired early from the British Royal Navy so that he’d “still be fit enough” to cross the North Atlantic in a row boat…solo. Dinger rowed from New York to the UK against the currents, during hurricane season (I think that last part was just for shits and giggles on his part; it’s not like it isn’t hard enough in clear weather); all while raising funds for Veterans with PTSD through Rock to Recovery and the SBSA.

Well guess what…he’s at it again! Not the rowing bit; but raising money for UK veterans’ mental wellness bit. Now, he and his significant other – Georgie (she just impresses the heck out of me); are bicycling from the top of Scandinavia all the way down to the bottom of Turkey. If you don’t already follow him on Instagram, you can find them @ny2uksolorow. And please consider a donation. Also, spoiler alert, I’m hoping to get another chat with both of them at the end of their amazing journey (that’s an under the “coming soon” category).

Making Female Friends

The blog hasn’t just helped with “making new friends” and meeting new people. It’s helped with “making new women friends.” Yes, when you work in a male dominated field for over 35 years, it’s tough to find female friends. But when you’re a baby booming blogger, it can be a bit easier. Consider the conversation that I’ve had with Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s first female Premier. She’s a trailblazer; incredibly intelligent; and has more chutzpah than most people I know. Or how about the intrepid Jill Heinerth, Canada’s first Explorer in Residence, and renown cave and under ice diver. I’ll go in a burning building; but you’ll never catch me diving for miles in unexplored caves. James Cameron once said about her that more people have set foot on the moon than in the places Jill goes to. Who wouldn’t want to talk to her!!!

more people have been to the Moon than to places Jill Heinerth has explored deep inside our watery planet.

Stay tuned for more brilliant women. Earlier this year I interviewed two award winning Canadian authors – Velvet Haney and Rachel Manley. I spoke with these established authors, and asked them the question – What would make an author retire? Afterall, it’s not like the fire service with a mandatory retirement age. Their answer – retire? Who the heck would retire?! I’m paraphrasing of course.

Authorship (authorhood?) is possible at any age; and according to these two hellions, you’re never too old to become an entrepreneur either. Rachel and Velvet didn’t slow down, they sped up; and opened a bathing suit company. Brilliant wordsmithing on the company name Bathing Boomers. The impetus for their swim wear? The ladies themselves. They wanted to feel more comfortable at the beach or on the dock. And when I say “comfortable,” I mean those of us, that are of a certain vintage, would feel more “comfortable” with more bathing suit not less! You can see why I like these two!

This is me, in Costa Rica. Rachel and Velvet’s bathing suits were great for yoga on the beach, and surfing in the green water. My friend Whitney took the photos! Gratitude!!!!

In case you’re wondering, yes that’s a Bathing Boomer bathing suit! Tell them I sent you using code CYNTHIA10

And Speaking Of Costa Rica, Hello Casa Vitality

And speaking of Costa Rica…retirement has made it easy for me to get down to Costa Rica. I’ve travelled south three times in the last year actually. From the “year in review” perspective, definitely a highlight! My curiosity about this part of Central America began when my friend Ryan made the life-changing decision to retire early, sell everything, get married, and move to Nosara Costa Rica (inarguably one of my most popular posts).

I never thought I could make such a life-altering choice, but I’m warming up to it. If there’s one thing that the last year has taught me, it’s that you’re never too old to reinvent yourself. That you’re never too old to take on a new adventure.

So, if you’ve enjoyed my past posts on the Costa Rican Blue Zone, buckle up, because there are definitely more of those to come.

Now For The “Coming Soon”

What else is “to come”? Well, a refreshed blog site for one. For all my regular readers, I hope you like it. And I’d really appreciate your feedback on it. Navigating it, is it better or worse? Do you like more visual space or less? True confession, I was digging around the internet a few weeks ago, trying to make the new website work. It’s just so techie; all that button pushing. Well didn’t the entire Rogers network go down while I was messing around in there. So, it was me, sorry!

I might not be “techie,” but I do enjoy technology. So, stay tuned for a post on all the fun tech toys that me and all the other baby boomers are spending our kids’ inheritance on. Today I did an Instagram post about overcoming my current retirement inertia…I will eventually write a blog post about it. Speaking of writing. Apparently writing trashy werewolf romance novels is a growth industry. Who knew? Perhaps I’ll dip my toe in that weird pond and start penning the post-menopausal werewolf version of the Twilight Saga.

And speaking of post-menopausal, Barbie is 63yrs old this year. She hasn’t aged a day, she’s matured, but she hasn’t aged. She definitely qualifies as a baby boomer; but she hasn’t retired yet. Will she? I’ve been trying to talk to someone at the Mattel Toy Company about her. If you have a connection, help a blogger out please.

Help a blogger out. That’s actually that last part in my “coming soon” plan. Growing my blog and my Instagram presence is what I plan on doing in year two of my retirement. I’m taking classes, reading everything I can about organic and inorganic growth, and SEOs, CTA, B2B, IaaS, and JSON. OMG!!! And as always, I’m  hunting for new people and fresh topics to write about.

Yes, A Totally Blatant Call To Action

CTA stands for call to action. I’m told blog growth benefits from a more direct call to action. With that acronym in mind, here’s my CTA. If you want to share an adventure you’ve taken, a hobby you have, or a friend that you think I should interview, please send them my way. And I’d very much appreciate it if you would forward this post to anyone that you think might enjoy it. Hopefully, they too will subscribe as all of you have.

Cheers!

Cynthia

I acknowledge that the land on which I live is the traditional territory of the Wendake-ionwl,  Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ , Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee peoples.