Im the same age as you OP, but have been retired for more than 10 years already. So glad I retired early. I was fortunate in business ( turkey farm, feed mill, and hatchery) and have so many hobbies and interests that retirement has not been inactive or boring.
Since retiring, we've done a lot of international travel. Some have been adventures and hard work. My wife and I have backpacked across northern Spain three times on pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago. 800 Km from Southern France, over the Pyrenees and across the plains and a couple more mountain ranges to the Atlantic coast. Following the ancient route pilgrims have trod for more than a thousand years.
Also since retiring, we've established a remote bush camp in northern BC, and spend our summers there. Last summer bought a bandsaw lumber mill to turn some of our fire killed trees into our own lumber. Built a sauna to go alongside our log cabin with the boards. We work harder there upgrading that property than we ever did at home!
Have hunted caribou in rugged placed like the Spatzitsi Plateau in BC, Sheep in the Makenzie Mts in Yukon, and antelope and buffalo in exotic places like the Caprivi strip in Nambia and the Savé conservancy in Zimbabwe.
I have a few quarter sections of land in NE Saskatchewan. It's about 1/3 cultivated, 2/3 bush. We rent out the open fields for hay to pay the taxes and use it as as a hunting base, with excellent elk and whitetail hunting every year.
I train by own bird dogs and love long hikes on our great plains after upland birds. Today I made a hundred pound batch of elk, moose and mule deer sausage. So far my body is letting me do these things, and I'm loving it. Don't plan to slow down any time soon.
Last edited by castnblast; 12/19/22.
