There are many advantages to an unplanned retirement in addition to the wonderful memories of  great times you had while not saving money. When you must stay close to home  because of financial constraints, you can explore  your neighborhood in depth. For example, how many 70 year old woman actually get to explore the ups and downs of a neighborhood skateboard park  as I did recently one  morning around 9:00 a.m.?

As Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) wrote about age in his book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

” You were old, Father William, the young man said, ‘And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head–Do you think, at your age it is right?’ ‘In my youth, ‘Father William replied to his son, “I feared it might injure the brain: But now that I’m perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again.”

I may have little brain left and not a lot to say, but as the great director Federico Fellini’s character Guido said in “81/2”, “I have nothing to say, but I want to say it anyway.”

Another advantage to an unplanned retirement  is you have ample time to work on a long-term photography project since you won’t be out shopping or traveling. You can shoot thousands of pictures practically free. I currently work on a project about ranch land being lost to suburban sprawl. The project is slow going, but so am I. With any luck, I’ll be around to take the after photographs when the houses are finished. In October, look for more pictures of building progress on this site.

copyright © M. Hutchison, 2013