Retirement has been on my mind lately. Our last two hosts are retired, one with a ranch, the most recent with a pastoral, Mediterranean style spread where they can eat some type of fruit they have grown all year. I must admit I find the lifestyle of our current trail angel hosts, Carlos and Mariana de la Fuente, appealing. Their orchard, peacocks and chickens reqHire less work than a ranch, leaving ample time for Carlos to pursue his music as a classical guitarist. He also plans to start writing a book soon.
I know our friend Mike has been much impressed with the retirement homes and lifestyles of both our hosts. He has the possibility of pursuing a similar retirement path because his career as an engineer provided enough disposable income to invest for such an income. Ours has not.
There are no regrets in that. Had Cindy and I been able to share our golden retirement years together we would have done so in our dream house, which is where we live right now. It’s a humble home in a humble, middle class neighborhood near the village center. We yet have everything we need, a loving community and plenty of open space nearby for our respite.
Perhaps I should say we live in Cindy’s dream home. Ironically, we landed there to take care of my Mom who had Alzheimer’s. Since I’ve always lived there from the time of my birth, I’ve never coveted living there. For Cindy this home was an escape from the residential suburbs of her upbringing, she made it clear early on that our home was where she wanted to stay. I made my career decisions accordingly, decisions that could keep us in Norfolk, decisions that limited our retirement options save for staying in our Norfolk home or a similarly humble abode. Cindy’s lasting career as a visiting nurse expanded our retirement options a bit, but that career was cut short and her retirement is being used to best enjoy what time is left for her.
Of course I love living in Norfolk as well, but now that we won’t be spending our golden years together (accept in spirit) I’m considering moving on. My options still are limited by my past career decisions, but they don’t prevent me from doing something similar to what I’m doing right now. With a continued, limited income from writing, music and/or speaking I easily can pursue the life of a modern nomad.
That’s something that has been hard for people to fathom. People who meet us assume, quit naturally, that we are retired. When I reply that I’m a full time caregiver for now and will go back to work when that is possible, they assume we are wealthy. In truth, no wealthy person would pursue this type of lifestyle unless the wealth came from inheritance or investments, they would be sacrificing too much of their earning potential. Yet while the investment of time is substantial with long distance hiking the investment of money is not. When we spent a year hiking across the country we spent a grand total of $12,000, with half of that going to the needs of our support person Ky.
Had we been wealthy I might have found adult daycare options for Cindy, perhaps even assisted living options if I was so committed to my work. Instead we are out here. Granted we are dipping into Cindy’s small retirement funds, but at a very slow rate. One month of assisted living probably costs more than six months of hiking. Fortunately, I’m totally fine with providing Cindy’s assisted living, while she is totally fine with hiking.
Ah, there’s the problem. I apprehend that there may be too much bittersweet nostalgia involved with staying in Norfolk once Cindy is gone, yet how would that be different from me pursuing our other common love after she is gone, that of modern nomad? Perhaps a third option will come to me over time.
