Plan B

This blog grew out of my previous writings as a daily bike commuter. After I started working from home during the plague and afterwards though, I didn't have anywhere to commute. So, I needed to refocus my efforts at being active and doing fun, non-motorized activities outside. The flexibility of working for my own consulting business also gave me a lot more leeway for taking time off work than I had before and I've developed some new ideas (for me) about the relation of work to play.

In general, I am now taking the "play" much more seriously than I have before. I've always had a plan for my work life. Now I have a plan for my play life too.

I've realized that the things I love to do require a certain amount of preparation: Physical strength, mental confidence, gear, and knowledge. If I treated the demarcation between my working life and my play life as a hard border that occurs somewhere around 65 years old, I might not have the ability to do those things that I love. If, on the other hand, I start doing them now, as much as I can, then I will not only be better prepared for an active retirement, but I'll also be having a lot more fun while I'm still working.

Now, I think of the work-retirement demarcation as a fluid and flexible blending of one into the other. Many people have told me that they don't know what they want to do when they retire, or even that they're planning on doing nothing. The post-work life you get is a reflection of the life you've lived so far. I'm trying to make my work life resemble the post-work life I want. That requires a plan.