2023 is here! Finally it looks like life is returning to normal, at least here in the UK. We’re finally back to travelling and staying in hotels! First it wasn’t permitted, then even when we were allowed, we were strangely hesitant, it all seemed so hard. We had got lazy, it became far too easy not to bother! In November, we even went to a 40th Birthday party! Our first proper event in ages. Quite strange, but so lovely to see friends and family in a social setting again, having fun, a bit of dancing (Scottish Ceilidh). Even stranger coming home after 11pm… Thanks to the Scottish government, a ..read more

I have just renewed the hosting of the website for another 3 years, so we’ll see how it goes. As I write this, it is mid October 2022. What a roller coaster the last 3 years have been. From an amazing 2 month stay in Athens September/October 2019, through another great 6 weeks in New Zealand Dec 2019/Jan 2020 staying with my son, his wife and my lovely new grandson. Arriving back at the end of January 2020 to the onset of Covid, and all the madness that then ensued, anyone could be forgiven for wanting to reset the clock. But resetting the clock would not be good. We have not yet learned every ..read more

It’s been fun running this blog for the last 5 years, but it is time to move on. To start with, I really enjoyed the novelty of reaching a new audience, writing about my life, but over the last few years, with no opportunity to travel, I have been focussing on other things. This blog will stay for a while until I make my final decision, about its future existence. So there’ll be no new posts for the immediate future. If you want to get in touch email me at crackingretirement@gmail.com who knows what the future will bring?? The post It’s time to move on appeared first on Having Fun Cracking Re ..read more

This year, my husband and I will complete 10 years of retirement. The most important thing is that we both still love our retirement life. The good, the bad and everything in between. As time has gone on, things that seemed very important at the start, seem less important now, and indeed other things have become more important. 2020 has changed us 2020 has indeed changed us, and sadly not for the better. We have become more sedentary, not through choice, but due to lockdown, there have been fewer things to do, and certainly No Slow Travel. Never, before in our more than 40 years of marriage, h ..read more

Life Moves On? What do I mean? What was very important to you a few years ago, may be less important now. Four years ago when I started this blog – early retirement, financial independence was innovative and new. The concept of stopping work, before you got to age 60 or 65, was so different. I remember once speaking to an ex-boss, who had just got an early retirement package, (the first I had ever heard of c1992) and his comment was – I am 58, and I get to spend the next 2 years on the golf course, on effectively a full two-thirds salary pension, instead of at work. What is there to complain a ..read more

Out of total curiosity, I jumped at the chance to take part in a group event, where about 30 of us signed up to use a Continuous Glucose Monitor, and share information on our experiences each day. Jack Black Mindstore kindly negotiated us a very beneficial group rate with NutriSense, who provide an App, and nutritionist support to set you on your way. I’m not diabetic, but I am very interested in how well my body copes with different foods. I am aware that if you eat processed food, or sugary stuff, you get a glucose spike, which translates almost straight into fat if you don’t burn it off imm ..read more

Retirement isn’t static, things move on. It is now 9 years since my husband retired. I was just a few months behind him. I remember his last week at work well, he went round with a huge smile on his face, and a bounce in his step. He was so delighted to be free. He retired 2 years ahead of schedule. Everyone at work was saying why? He just said it was time. His Plans To start with, he only had some short term plans. Have a huge party! Which he did – 120 people, at our home, all catered by yours truly! Fortunately it was good weather…. Be a Tourist in London I was still working away from home ..read more

The impact of Covid-19 has made me realise that a primary need in Retirement is stimulation. I have spoken of what are essentials for retirement before but this time I have particularly used the word Needs, not Wants. The two are quite different. Over 65’s have been dis-proportionally affected by Covid. This figure is skewed, because sadly the vast majority of those who lost their lives in most countries were already in poor health, and indeed often living in Care Homes or supported living facilities. Money becomes less of a differentiator than it might have been earlier in retirement. So in a ..read more

As I write this, the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). As a world, at the beginning of May, we crossed 300,000 deaths, and we have more ahead of us. Our hospitals have been swamped, our medics are working flat out, double shifts in many cases, schools have closed and normal life has been suspended while the world’s governments try to bring it under control. We are in the surreal position, that everyone knows that this is only a temporary respite until a vaccine is available sometime in 2021. I started trying to keep a graph, but I ..read more

By Stephanie Raffelock This book is exactly what it says – a delightful little book on Aging. The author takes you on a journey and you smile as you follow her gentle path through retirement life. It covers how retirement has changed from our parents and grandparents time. It pokes at the establishment, why are there no advertisements for sports clothes for grey haired people – good question…. Some parts are very thought provoking. As I read, I found myself empathising with much the author was saying – sometimes you need to have lived through it to understand. So if you’re heading towards reti ..read more