3 of My Retirement Dreams & And How They Changed

Our dreams have a funny way of changing over time. As a kid, you may have dreamed of becoming an astronaut, only to end up crunching numbers. As a young adult, you may have been certain you’d live in a huge house in a nice neighborhood, only to settle for a modest home. Of course, our retirement dreams change throughout our lives, as well. What we end up doing in retirement is often entirely different than our earlier retirement dreams. I know that’s the case for me. Here are 3 of my retirement dreams…and how my actual retirement lifestyle differs.

Beach Retirement Dream

In our 30s, Mary Ann and I loved going to the beach. Naturally, we thought that moving to Florida and living near the beach would be just great. Not to mention, Florida has a number of cities that are well-suited for retirement! I can definitely tell this is a 30-year-old Robert Dream. As much as I love the sand and surf, too much sunlight tuckers this body out. Of course, I live close to Florida, so I can visit whenever the mood hits. I think Past Me would be pleased with where my life ended up.

Farm Retirement Dream

When my wife and I were in our 40s, we bought a 2-acre lot near the lake. Of course, that sparked our imaginations. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get some land, maybe 20 to 50 acres with a farmhouse? A garden or a small fishing lake would be nice. I could split firewood and work the land to stay in shape. My wife could tend to the garden, and we could have fresh fruit and vegetables with every meal. Yes, my brain conjured up images befitting of a Little House on the Prairie episode…minus the bonnets and crying on cue.

RV Retirement Dream

And now, we reach 50-Year-Old Robert’s dream. My wife and I really enjoyed traveling, so much that we thought it’d be nice to buy an RV and travel the country. Going where we wanted, seeing what we wanted. Staying in an RV park with other families also infected with the travel bug. We wouldn’t need much space. We’d just need our bags, our dreams, and a place to park at night. Then we could wake up and carpe some diems. In light of my own dream, it doesn’t surprise me that nearly two-thirds of older adults say that travel is an important retirement goal.

Retirement Dream Come True?

So now, in our 60’s, when the time came for us to really retire, we reevaluated our retirement dreams.

Needless to say, they’d changed over the years.

After trying weekend stays at several Del Webb Communities, we decided this is where we would start our retirement life.

My wife and I loved taking cruises, and it was said that the large Del Webb Communities are like cruise ships. Fortunately, we have found that to be true. There’s always something to do, someone to meet, and some game to play.

We can still vacation at the beach or travel wherever we want, but having so much available right in our backyard is even nicer.

Now that we have living here for one year, we still like our new community. From pickleball and card games with friends to trying out new restaurants in the area, there’s no shortage of fun to be had or memories to be made. A great retirement is having things you like to do, with people you like to do them with. We found that at our retirement community.

I hope that you find that in your retirement, too.

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