Oh, the places you’ll go! …with a nod to Dr. Seuss 4

Tales of Retirement

Donna McCaw
High School Teacher
Author of It’s Your Time

I retired at age 54 because I could.  I was a high school teacher who had started teaching at age 21 and had reached the 85 factor.  I had gone to the retirement planning sessions offered by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, explored – intellectually – the option to retire, and was feeling a bit burned out.  Teaching was a full-tilt, passionate, creative career for me, one that demanded all resources to the fore.

I felt ready.  My son was attending university, I had renovated to have income from an apartment downstairs, lived a simple lifestyle, knew my financial situation, and felt confident.

I have a chronic health condition that started when I was 27 and nearly took my life when I was 38 years old.  A doctor had warned me that I might not make it to retirement.  I wanted to prove that wrong!  Also, my school would be moving to new premises in the fall and I did not want to spend my summer involved with that move. It would be a daunting task.  I felt done and done in, with a health condition hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles.

A colleague in my position decided to work another year to buy a new car.  It was a practical move, one that I ignored.  Ironically, that summer my car died, along with my fridge and dryer.  The money I had set aside for a retirement honeymoon trip was swallowed up in a jiffy.

Oh, the possibilities

I decided to go on two trips anyway.  The first was to Nicaragua to help with a build.  It was a physical, social, and psychological push that boosted my confidence.  One afternoon we passed hundreds of cement blocks to the build site from a truck parked a few blocks away.  The little woman next to me stayed out in the hot sun all afternoon hefting steadily.  When we finally stopped, I learned she was 82 years old.  That stopped me whining about my sore and strained muscles.  She is still a role model!

Then I came home, rented my house, booked the flights, and flew to Auckland, New Zealand, where I bought a car on my credit card.  I spent three months touring the North and South Islands, visiting friends, working on farms, lounging in hot pools, and discovering another country.  Each day was a new adventure and a series of discoveries about the place and about myself.  That was the best retirement honeymoon I could have experienced.  I pushed myself out of my cocoon comfort zone, challenged myself, and treated each day as a new opportunity.

I lived in campgrounds, cooked for myself often, met new people, saw amazing sights, kept a journal, and realized I could handle this new life of possibilities.  I pushed envelopes I had put myself into and increased the space for my experience of a new life full of options, choices, and wonder.

I took a three-week side trip to Bali, Indonesia to meet my sister and her friends.  Another culture, more beauty, and appreciation for the richness of life.  Then, I spent time on my own in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a few days and coped just fine.  My biggest fear was dealing with a health issue on my own, but the sword of Damocles did not fall. I could do it.  I could tackle this new life of whatever retirement had in store.

This four-month trip became the microcosm of the new life I was heading for now.  A bit of this, a bit of that, while following my heart, my curiosity, and sharing with like-minded, positive people.  I would find a great bottle of wine, some cheese and chocolate and have a campground picnic with fellow travelers.  I tried new experiences, like working on organic farms, haunting libraries, museums, and movie theatres on rainy days, hiking, climbing, swimming, and stopping to watch the sea lions – and breathing in ocean air.  Stretching, reaching, relaxing enough to listen to the inner wise voice, and pay attention to the new rhythm of body and mind.  This trip was the coming out of the cocoon of the old life with an inviting vision of the new one.

The waiting place

I got back both pumped and exhausted.  I started looking for a project. How about tutoring?  It turned out to not be as inspiring as I had anticipated.  Teaching abroad?  I did not want to sign a two-year contract.  I took courses, attended lectures, worked in the forlorn garden, started a fitness regime, volunteered for community groups, did storytelling, and waited for the next place for my time and energy.

The next adventure

My sister provided my next adventure by choosing to leave nursing in California to return to Canada, but British Columbia this time.  We bought a house together there.

I flew to Santa Barbara, helped pack her car and rented trailer, and enjoyed goodbye parties and garage sales.  We drove up the stunning coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington to the ferry that took us to Victoria.  We started ripping up carpet the afternoon the property closed.  We sanded, replaced drywall, removed wallpaper, cleaned, painted, hired workmen, started a garden, and tore around to garage and yard sales.  Room by room, we worked our way through the house.

We then rented some rooms to students who were coming to learn English. I cleaned, shopped, and cooked, while my sister went back to work.  The English teacher/cook came in handy for tutoring and conversation.

Like my sister before me, I fell in love with the West Coast.  So when she bought me out of our partnership, I bought a condo.  Although I’ve rented it out for now, I crave the treat of cherry blossoms in February!  I have since read Lyndsay Green’s The Perfect Home for a Long Life and see more of the West Coast in my future.

Reflecting on the journey

That first summer was a long exhale, a sense of liberation, and a growing sense of excitement about new experiences.  The first fall was a string of relaxed Sunday evenings knowing I would not be back at work on Monday.  The long honeymoon trip took me to new realities a long way from my old routines and demands.  The house in B.C. was the reorientation project that got me on a new path in a new place.

On returning to Ontario, I found new purpose in teaching courses, founding a biannual literary event, volunteering, writing a book, and starting a small business.  I found a structure that works for me, and outlets for my interests, passions and values.  I have new communities in both provinces.  I feel blessed and grateful for the experiences I’ve had and look forward to what comes next.

Oh, and the places I’ve been since? Italy, Spain, France, Ireland, Scotland, India three times, Argentina, Chile, Turkey, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Alberta, Washington State, Florida, Mexico, Australia, and back to New Zealand.