Retirement duties

Judy. We are really beginning to settle into our lifestyle, and I love the relaxation of a longer period of time in one place.  The ten days at an Airbnb in Athens and the two weeks here are calming after the craziness of being tourists. So far, the combination of crazy travel and settling in is good.  

Here’s life at “our house”:

We usually balance a day of hectic running around with a day of calm. We hike eleven miles (I know Ted told you eight, but if you count the walk to and from the busses we took, it comes out to eleven, trust me) one day, then spend a quiet day at the apartment.

On our quiet days, we begin with a leisurely breakfast. I might head down to my yoga class (found a great deal at Rasa Yoga--$30 for a month of unlimited yoga for first-timers), while Ted does his fitness routine. We sometimes take the Seabus into Vancouver for lunch and a walk around the area, or grab a bite here in North Van. We spend the afternoon reading, studying Spanish, working on logistics for our next stop, catching up on the blog, writing friends, knitting, sketching, etc. 

Ted might walk to the library to catch up on the news, and I’ll prowl thrift and second hand shops. We laugh at little things here—the tiny bear sculptures hidden all up and down Lonsdale Rd. and the signs that read “There is no such thing as a dog poo fairy. Bag it and bin it!” where folks walk their dogs.

We have met up with two Servas hosts; one took us to a park and fish hatchery, the other invited us over for a glass of wine. 

Our Airbnb landlady lives next door, and sometimes we chat with her. On Sundays we attend St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church and talk to some of the parishioners.

All these people, plus friends on Facebook and friends who email, have given us suggestions of things to see here in Vancouver. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t, but we’re grateful for the suggestions.

We had planned to rent a car and drive to Squamish for a mountain hike. Unfortunately, it’s summer in Vancouver, and there is not an available rental car in North Vancouver. The busses don’t work with our schedule, so we just changed our plans. Ted found a Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, a one-hour bus ride away, with lots of paths and views. It’s a reasonable substitute, so tomorrow we’ll head that way. Friday is Food Truck and music on Lonsdale Quay, so we’ll walk the five blocks to enjoy that.

We do a lot of walking--between five and six miles per day--and have become good at navigating the public transport system (thanks, Ted). Vancouver does transport well--we get senior citizen Compass cards which makes the ride cheaper, and they refund the cost of the card and leftover money on it when we leave!

We asked ourselves what would be different if we had retired in Atlanta, still living at our apartment, and realized that it would be just about the same. When we stay for a couple of months somewhere, we may add a class or get involved in a long-term volunteer opportunity.

Ted says there’s a fine line between relaxation and boredom. We fully expect to be bored sometimes. That’s ok. From boredom comes creativity.