Retirement is a Good Time to Explore Trails
I have often been perplexed by those folks who say, “I wouldn’t know what to do if I retired.” Having been retired for six years, I have the opposite problem. There are still too many things to do to fit in a 24 hour day. Finally, I found a quote that appropriately summarizes my feelings on the topic. John Burroughs once wrote, “I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.”
Life on the Trail
Retire to a Trail
That is perfect. I have the exact seem perspective on retirement. Of course, I would also add, “all the trails I want to explore” into the list, but Mr. Burroughs covered that with “… all the walks I want to take…” When I was a working stiff, I always felt too busy. Now that I’m retired, I feel no less busy. The difference is, I do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I call it, “Life on my schedule.” And it suits me to a tee. I happen to enjoy all of the activities mentioned by John Burroughs: thinking (call it meditation or pondering, if you’d like), walking (hiking/bike riding), reading, socializing (morning coffee, afternoon lunch, evening beer). But even if I eliminated all of those activities, I could literally spend every waking moment riding bicycles (or any other Personal Transportation Vehicle/PTV) on trails throughout the world.
The Many Benefits of Trails
Give me a rail trail in Missouri, a canal trail in Maryland, a river trail in Europe, an island trail in Canada, and I’ll be a contented person. Of course it’s way more than just the bike riding. It’s the scenery, the history, the camaradarie, the exercise, the sunshine, the fresh air… Most of life’s greatest treasures and pleasures can be found on a trail. In fact, I’ve been known to ponder, walk, read and socialize with friends (old and new) while on trails. I guess you can say that trails are the ultimate retirement destination. Whether in another country or out your back door, trails provide sanity in a crazy world.
