Being retired; painful

chriscallender said:
An interesting thread to read for those of us who are slightly too young to be able to comment though ... for me personally, I'm about a decade out from state retirement age, with head still buried firmly in the sand, and the only part of this process that I'm actively looking forward to (or even know anything about) is getting a free bus pass
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I have used my recently acquired bus pass several times to get home from work . But almost all state pension age people I know don't use theirs.
I hope my wife and I will make use of our bus passes at various destinations while we are on boating holidays.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
While health is important, we do wear out, and death is inevitable, I suggest a sense of contentment, satisfaction, equanimity may be more important than health at some point in retirement.

There are a lot of unhealthy retirees who appear to be having a happy time with it all, suggesting, health is not their priority.
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I can see what you mean but there are some kinds of ill health that obviate the enjoyment of life. Chronic pain, obviously, but also significant breathing disorders such as with heart failure. Those with a reasonable degree of symptom tolerance can, however, give the impression of having a normal life with conditions that might concern the rest of us, so I think you are partly right.
 
Momac said:
I have used my recently acquired bus pass several times to get home from work . But almost all state pension age people I know don't use theirs.
I hope my wife and I will make use of our bus passes at various destinations while we are on boating holidays.
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No point even applying for a bus pass here in Norfolk, nearest bus stop 1.5 miles away. Even then, there are only 4 busses each way a day, to do the under 25 miles into Norwich it takes between 3 and 4 hours as it winds its way through many villages and you have to change busses..
The only place I could have used a bus pass is visiting places up where my parents live, but they're in Scotland and bus passes aren't valid across UK borders.
 
I got my bus pass as the qualifying age was just starting to be ramped up from 60. It saved me increased my boat budget by £100 a month. My boss, who was a bit younger than me, had to wait an extra year for his. He was, or pretended to be, quite grumpy about it.
 
The Q said:
No point even applying for a bus pass here in Norfolk, nearest bus stop 1.5 miles away. Even then, there are only 4 busses each way a day, to do the under 25 miles into Norwich it takes between 3 and 4 hours as it winds its way through many villages and you have to change busses..
The only place I could have used a bus pass is visiting places up where my parents live, but they're in Scotland and bus passes aren't valid across UK borders.
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I agree the more rural the location the less likely a reasonable bus service is going to be available.
Once I completely finish working I am probably more likely to use the bus pass when away on holiday rather than at home. I don't really understand why the bus pass is not valid across UK borders.
 
Move to a city on retirement. Lots of public transport for me. My wife stopped using her car then I followed. The idyllic country retirement has too many downsides. We live a 10 minute walk to the doctor, shops all around, and loads of theatre and concerts. Social activities easier. Local boat 20 mins away.

My father lived in rural Caithness and talked about couples moving north, then one dies and the other is totally isolated. I always remembered that - he moved south on retirement.
 
Skylark said:
That and a senior rail card are both a rite of passage.

I never used public transport when I worked for a living but now it’s possibly my preferred mode of transport.

For an extra tenner, I can endorse my bus pass with free, after 09h30 travel throughout Greater Manchester, train and tram.

All part of the rich tapestry of life.

Make the most of it and enjoy every day.
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Same here. Bristol buses were rubbish for many years and I cycled into town (still do) but the live route apps make planning easy. Nowadays my partner will drop me off and I will get a bus back from somewhere we've been climbing, or similar. I love the different views I get from the top deck, country and town.
 
We have a good bus service into Colchester. There is a shelter with seats and in town there are indicator boards with the buses’ expected times. Although I have a bus pass and have sometimes used it, the prospect of sitting out in the cold and then putting up with a bumpy ride in the company of goodness-knows-who is just too depressing and I prefer to pay a couple of quid to come and go as I please in comfort at a temperature of my choice and even with my choice of radio. A bus pass is worth having when cruising round our coasts however, though I don’t think my nerves are up to going round the IOW again on the top deck.
 
When my kids were little we once had a family holiday in a cottage in a Devon village.

An old lady lived next door. She and her husband had sold their flat in London and moved to the village a few years previously.

The husband died after a couple of years. They had had no children.

The poor old lady was very unhappy and lonely because she could not drive, there was no bus service, and the villagers were unfriendly and insular.

Having the house next door let to holidaymakers made her feel insecure.

London property price increases meant she could not afford to move back there, and her elderly London friends could not travel to stay with her.

Her plight taught me a lesson:

When you're old, friends, company, good public transport, nearby health facilities, activities one can easily take part in, are far more important than scenery.
 
Poignard said:
When my kids were little we once had a family holiday in a cottage in a Devon village.

An old lady lived next door. She and her husband had sold their flat in London and moved to the village a few years previously.

The husband died after a couple of years. They had had no children.

The poor old lady was very unhappy and lonely because she could not drive, there was no bus service, and the villagers were unfriendly and insular.

Having the house next door let to holidaymakers made her feel insecure.

London property price increases meant she could not afford to move back there, and her elderly London friends could not travel to stay with her.

Her plight taught me a lesson:

When you're old, friends, company, good public transport, nearby health facilities, activities one can easily take part in, are far more important than scenery.
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I'm staying here in Zone 2 London, where I get free (£20 p.a) public transport, and lots of it, from next week when I hit 60. Not such a great sailing location, but you can't have it all.
 
Lightwave395 said:
We're based in Port Haliguen now, very nice too !
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Lovely place. I delivered a yacht there once. Had a couple of days to look around afterwards. Sailing looks fab. Only downside I reckon is the single road access to the island.....at least that's what our cab driver moaned about a lot on the ride to the station!
 
We bought a boat to try and get away from looking after the grandkids (partly) sort of worked, but still there are not enough hours in the day.
Today wife is away in the big city with one of her friends and my tasks are to sort the recycle and get the pool ready, which I have done.

Think I will blow up the dingy and take it for a row across the pool, should occupy me for a few minutes ;)
 
Alicatt said:
We bought a boat to try and get away from looking after the grandkids (partly) sort of worked, but still there are not enough hours in the day.
Today wife is away in the big city with one of her friends and my tasks are to sort the recycle and get the pool ready, which I have done.

Think I will blow up the dingy and take it for a row across the pool, should occupy me for a few minutes ;)
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https://imgur.com/Cq6yR7J

First time in the water with both the dinghy and the wetsuit :)
 
mjcoon said:
Is the combo a bit squeaky? ;-)
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The only squeaky was evicting the mice that had been in there, dinghy had sat in the sun lounge over winter and this was the first time opening it since we got it last October, had to wash it down before using it. Lucky they had not nibbled at the tubes. our last swimming pool was a bit smaller and it was wrapped up over winter and stored in the garage, the mice had a field day with it chewed holes all through it hence the new bigger pool that does not need to be taken down over winter, this one has been up for 7 years now.
 
newtothis said:
I'm staying here in Zone 2 London, where I get free (£20 p.a) public transport, and lots of it, from next week when I hit 60. Not such a great sailing location, but you can't have it all.
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Why not escape the shit hole move to the coast
 
Seastoke said:
Well you don’t contribute much.
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Not sure if you mean by age or by contribution.
I don't know the average age across the forum but guessing I might be there or a bit under.
I don't feel there is a moral obligation to contribute other than according to each person's desire and judgement.

My point about the forum is that anyone under 40 or so doesn't tend to use 'traditional' forums but people tend to use more current social media. Hence my observation that this forum will run it's course over the next while. I think you can see it already. Particularly, for example the east coast forum. It used to be hugely active in the early 2000s, now much less so.

For me ybw is a fantastic resource for serious sailing stuff, passage planning advice, technical advice and the like. The rest of it is mainly just mild entertainment.
 
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