September | One Place You Love, Or Many?

This is an original article by Phil Marsh, DECADES' Retiree in Residence and the writer behind Rookie Retiree. Phil explores retirement as an opportunity for adventure, learning and reinvention, with a practical, lived perspective on life after work.

What do you do when retirement gives you the freedom to choose where you spend your time?

One of the things I find fascinating about retirement is that there doesn't seem to be a standard answer to anything.

Where you live. How much you travel. How long you stay away. What you do with all that newly available time.

This really came to the fore for me when I recently spoke to Dave and Adrian.

Both retired within the last few years. Both enjoy travel. Both have more freedom than they had when they were working.

But they've used that freedom in very different ways.

Dave found somewhere he loved... and moved there

Dave and his wife were on holiday in Dorset in August 2022 when they decided they didn't just want to keep visiting the area.

They wanted to live there.

A few months later their house in Leicestershire was on the market and, by the following spring, they had moved.

That inevitably changed their travel plans.

They had once talked about following England cricket around the world but instead chose to put down roots somewhere they already knew they loved.

And now the coast is around 15 minutes away.

The beach isn't a destination that requires annual leave, airport queues or careful planning. It's simply somewhere they can pop down to.

More importantly, they haven't just moved to a nice place. They've become part of it.

Dave volunteers on the heritage railway, is treasurer and a trustee of the village hall and gets involved in local activities and community projects, whilst Rachel is involved with at least 5 local clubs at the last count.

They've effectively turned somewhere they once visited into somewhere they now live and contribute to.

Adrian kept his home... and expanded his horizons

Adrian took a different route.

When he retired at 61, he and Audrey stayed where they were.

Rather than relocating, they used the freedom of retirement to make more of the life they already had — including lots more travelling.

They can go away midweek, travel outside the traditional holiday seasons and take longer trips without having to count annual leave days.

Travel sits alongside tennis, padel, golf, running, yoga, cooking, family and time at home with their dog Barney.

There isn't really a typical week. And that's exactly what Adrian likes about retirement.

He hasn't replaced his previous life with something completely different. He's simply gained more freedom to decide what stays, what changes and what gets added.

One place... or many?

The contrast between Dave and Adrian's approach is really interesting.

Dave found somewhere he loved and decided:

"I want to live here."

Adrian looked at the life he already had and decided:

"I want to be able to go more places."

One has chosen to experience one place more deeply.

The other has chosen to keep lots of places within reach.

Neither is a blueprint for the other.

And perhaps that's particularly relevant to retirement travel.

When you're working, travel is often dictated by annual leave. Two weeks here. A long weekend there. A carefully planned itinerary.

Retirement can change all that, if you want.

You can stay somewhere for a month rather than a week.

Return to somewhere you love and get beyond the tourist experience.

Spend several months a year in another country.

Or simply take more frequent trips because you no longer have to ask your boss for the time off.

The important thing is that the choice becomes more yours.

So, what would you choose?

Perhaps the interesting question isn't:

"Where should I travel?"

It's:

"How do I want travel to fit into the life I've got now?"

For Dave, the answer was to make somewhere he loved his home.

For Adrian, it was to keep his home and make more of the world accessible from it.

And for someone else, it might be spending three months in one place, returning to the same destinations every year or moving on every few weeks.

There is no prescribed destination.

Perhaps the real luxury of retirement travel isn't simply having somewhere to go.

It's having the freedom to decide how long you want to stay.

More on Retirement, Travel and Reinvention

This is an original article by Phil Marsh, DECADES' Retiree in Residence and the writer behind Rookie Retiree.

Phil explores retirement as an opportunity for adventure, learning and reinvention, with a practical, lived perspective on life after work.

👉 Read more from Phil here.

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Whilst you’re waiting for your next travel adventure, we asked the Rookie Retiree to put together a few (50) ideas to help with any unplanned days. Get them here.