Retired, with teenager at home
Watch this postI retired at a relatively young age, primarily from burn-out with job and was fortunate enough to have saved money to live off of real estate investments. I take care of our teenage son on a daily basis and my wife works full-time. My issue is what to do with the long days. I love the outdoors, but live in a large metropolitan, suburban area in the cold weather climate. Our dog is the best walked dog in the neighborhood. I used to love to ski, but now am not fond of the cold. My desire is to travel and see new places, but I can't travel yet. I read a lot, but need more. Tried painting, found it to be tedious. Most people my age work. Anyone else with similar experience?
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as commented above, i have also joined U3A and hope to take up the ukelele through them. Volunteering is something I'm also looking at, though I'm concerned about getting too involved and putting in too many hours or the role becoming stressful.
I had a similar situation few years ago. There is a simple answer to all of this - travel. In case you have enough budget, I would recommend to visit as many places as you can. Just like you, I am also a huge fan of skiing. Last year we were in a small village in Austria called Flachau - great weather conditions and the ski runs are perfectly fine. You might also try to join hobby clubs depending on your passions. Life after retirement is great, you just need the right attitude.
You could join your local U3A - if you Google it for your area you will be able to see what interest groups they have and see if anything appeals; you would then be meeting up with like-minded people. You could also consider volunteer work - if you like being outdoors quite a lot of National Trust gardens have volunteer gardeners and guides, and charity shops usually need volunteers as well. Sometimes primary schools need volunteers to listen to the children read - many working parents either can't be bothered or don't have the time to do this at home so this is an excellent way to help with literacy and I believe that some charities who work with refugees also need people to help with adult literacy. Hope you find something which helps you and others.