Financially it would have been a little better for us to wait 6 years to retire, but we pulled the plug 50 days after I was eligible. Great decision for us. The first year we went to Alaska, the next the Atlantic Providences, then Big Bend National Park, then Washington DC, and this year took our oldest Grandson to the Grand Canyon and in two weeks headed out for another weeks.
Also over the 5 years since we retired we have put in 10 months of volunteer work at several of our State Park.
We also have lots of trips planned for the future. Taking a granddaughter to Yellowstone, another to NYC, a trip to Quartzsite, back to Alaska with wife's sister when they retire. We will not run out of places to go.
One of the most saddest stories we heard was from a couple we met camping years ago in Indiana. One of the couples parents had always wanted to make a cross country trip, but kept putting off retirement. They finally decided to make their dream come true. They planned and bought a motorhome. The morning they were set to leave the mom had a heart attack and dies.
My father died when he was 63 and we didn't want one of us to live with a lot of what ifs and if only. Definitely the right decision for us.
