The joys of volunteering

If you read my blogs you know that we started on our volunteering journey mid last year - we took a lot of time to decide on the type of volunteering we wanted to do - just like working if you are doing something you love then it is so much more enjoyable.

The view from our office - not bad!

We chose Volunteer Marine Rescue - primarily because we obviously love boating, the environment is great - you can't beat working on a beach front - it makes for an inspiring office, plus it provided a learning environment for us - we could gain new knowledge and being in a learning environment and feel a sense of achievement - but we have gotten a lot more from it than what we expected to.

Learning how to use a life raft -
now there is something I would never
thought I would learn!

Volunteering puts you in contact with like minded people, people who are passionate about what they are doing - lets face it you don't trudge off to volunteering like work unless you truly like it and like being there and you feel it is a worthy environment - so I would say generally you are in a good uplifting space.

You meet some great people along the way - both those you work directly with and those you may well be helping - the appreciation from those you have been assisted by the organisation you volunteer with is generally high and it makes you feel good that you have able to do something of significance.  Those you work with can also inspire you - I know we look around at the people we work closely with and those in other teams and think WOW how great are these people, they go above and beyond nearly everyday, their knowledge about the organisation is fantastic to learn from and many go over and above what is required of them to ensure these volunteer organisations continue to grow and prosper.

Not only can you learn new skills, new information, but it can provide a unique platform for you to practice and enjoy success in areas of business you use to participate in - so you can bring new skills to an organisation as well which is also great and makes you feel like you are contributing.

Getting Sponsors - uses our Sales & Marketing skills

Yes sometimes volunteer environments can look a little disorganised - but that is generally because they don't have the money to spend on the things we all take for granted when working, and yes often you have to do things like clean the office because these are not things that get done by professionals and of course in a lot of cases many volunteer organisation rely on retired people who may not be as quick to respond to an email or be as tech savvie as those in business - but you know everyone is just trying their hardest every day they are there, and each person is contributing something to a worthy cause.

We have more certificates now than we have ever had in our entire working life, and our training in all areas of rescue has been full on, but on the other hand we have been able to provide others with information on things we know as well (and that is the beauty of volunteering - everyone brings something to the table) and we are able to provide the organisation with a skill set from our previous working lives that was not readily available - Sales & Marketing - so it is the coupling of new skills and the well known ones that make volunteering such a valuable thing to do and make you feel like you are contributing to a good cause.  

The Retiring Intern

Yesterday I had the great please to watch The Intern with Robert De Nero and Anne Hathaway - what a joyful movie it was but more importantly it had a powerful message - utilising retirees to mentor business owners, university graduates and teams and generally assist in bringing values back to a company. 

It is a must watch for everyone in business and more especially those who own a business or those who are struggling to understand that while the world is changing - new positions being created, new ways of reaching target markets, new technology etc some things don't change and never will - like work ethics, standards, dress for success (yes look like you are successful and not just gotten out of bed) and how older people within the organisation can bring a sense of calm, stability, values as well as a common sense approach not necessarily learnt in the home or school these days and a life time of experience and support to an office environment in a non-threatening manner.

It made me think how lucky I am - I have 2 daughters - one who at 23 has her own business and one who is 24 and working her way through a large banking organisation, each week I get the joy of experiencing what Robert De Nersos character did in the movie by helping and mentoring both them through their daily business issues, how to overcome them, work with them with new technologies, research things for them to help them in their business lives - it along with my Volunteering keeps me connected with the business world, provides me with a sense of purpose while being able to help the next generation to learn, grow and take on issues in a supportive role.  It is very rewarding and I believe they are more successful because of it and so are their companies.  I believe more companies would prosper from utilising switched on Retirees.

Since I have been retired, I have had many people contact me to help them with their businesses, or with projects that simply don't get done in a busy office environment - I love these projects however it always amazes me that most people seem to think because I am retired I will work for nothing - guess what as a self funded retiree happy to work and keep connected, but I too like to be paid - unless of course I am volunteering.

Living and being around retired people most of the time now, there are so many people out there with so much life left in them, so much experience and so much knowledge like the Robert De Niro character they are busy doing things but could give so much more if only organisations understood the value they could give and not look at them as being old, not expect them to work 90 hour weeks but look at them as being experienced in lifes ups and downs, business up and downs and they have made it through, they have gone through changes in business and life and seen that while often it seems fruitless perseverance, support and people can get your through and they also understand that a good work life balance is important because without friends and love ones around you when you retire you have nothing no matter what you put into building the organisation.

Be bold and find energetic Retirees to help your business or people within your business, provide them with support and mentoring not from the latest speaker of the day or methodology of the day, not from some upmarket counsellor, but with someone who can support them in the office and help guide them in a unique manner (personally and professionally) so your business will thrive and in return maybe some older people will feel that their life experiences are not going to waste and they learn and grow as well.

Food for thought

Looking at life through rose coloured glasses

Many years ago I got sick of wearing glasses - at about the age of 40 I started to have difficulty reading etc, but after a few years of where are my glasses, I decided to get my eye lasered.  I only needed one eye lasered at the time given my long vision was fine.  It was such a fantastic thing to be able to read things again without wearing glasses.

The only problem was all of a sudden I could see things I hadn't seen for ages - like my eyebrows - of course I could see them when I looked in the mirror, and they always seemed to look quite respectable, until I could really see them after having my eye lasered -and realised they really needed a good old fashion pluck,  there were wrinkles I had never seen before as well which was quite disturbing at the time.

So after 7 years of not needing glasses I have realised that the 4 year laser treatment is finally wearing off - so after all these years I needed to head down to the optometrist once again - unfortunately being a self funded retiree I found it hard to justify spending $3000 again, especially given we fork out for private medical insurance of which we very rarely use and laser is not covered so it is back to wearing glasses for me once again.

No doubt when I look in the mirror again and can see I will be shocked and horrified but that's all a part of getting older I suppose, but I have missed reading over the last few months because it really was just too difficult so I had to bite the bullet.  

I just hope when I look around the house with my glasses on I don't see too much dirt this time - that was another thing I noticed when I got my eye lasered, all of a sudden what I had thought was a nice clean house turned out to be not so clean at all.

I always recommend laser eye surgery to anyone who will listen because to me it was such a great thing, to be able to see and read once again without glasses all in under 24 hours if you can afford it - and I suppose I got nearly double the amount of time out of it so I am happy enough with the value for money.

For me being slightly short sighted is like looking at life through rose coloured glasses - yes you can see your face - but not every little wrinkle or facial hair, yes you clean and think you have done a good job because you cannot see everything quite so well. I might even see flaws in you that I had not noticed lately.  So I guess next week when I get to look at myself with glasses on I might be doing a lot of cleaning and quickly making some appointments at the local beautician - hopefully it won't be too much of a shock and at least this time I am prepared for it.

I didn't choose glasses quite like the ones in the photo here, and of course Derek hasn't worn his lasered eye out so he doesn't need glasses yet (given he doesn't read - so maybe that is the secret to a never ending lasered eye - just don't read) but it is going to be strange to need to wear them again and no doubt to begin with they will feel like those in the picture.

Goodbye 2015 - Welcome to 2016

How fast do the years fly by, it just feels like yesterday that I was welcoming in the New Year and here it is all over again, right at the moment days, weeks and months seem to come and go in flurry and I seem to always be trying to catch up.

I generally try not to make New Years Resolutions instead try to give the year a theme for us - but I am not really sure what it is this year because I feel there is something awaiting us, so maybe it the year of surprises.  I also just want to be a better person generally.

We didn't know what 2015 had in store for us but we knew we wanted to just settle down for a while, but it ended up being a truly fantastic year with us finding many new friends from both our new community, and more importantly from our volunteering. As I had written previously one of the things we missed about working was camaraderie and we were hoping to find that by moving into our new home (and we did), but it is the camaraderie of our fellow crew mates that has been fantastic - thank you Purple A team it is great to work around a group of older people who have so much life and such a sense of purpose - these guys are true inspirations of get up and go, get up and move, get up and get things done now - not just when they are at VMR but what they do for the rest of the week, like paint the house, make incredible things like little caravans, write books and the list goes on and on, sometimes I get tired just listening to all the things they each achieved throughout the week when we have our catch up on Monday mornings. They are like a breath of fresh air, and unlike some in our community live life to the fullest everyday, don't complain, never stop and give so much to so many.  So in line with my being a better Mother I am generally trying to be a better person because of them, give more and take less, do more for others and expect less back in return, help those who need help and try harder to make those around me happier.  I learnt that this really is the secret to a great retirement and while living in our new community provides many activities I realised that so many of them are just selfish pursuits, like happy hours, going out to lunches and or dinners - primarily so people feel like they are doing something but they are mindless pursuits generally and don't give a purpose of real achievement.  Yes of course many in here do these things as well and of course they are similar to our wonderful Purple A crew members, but unfortunately many really don't have a lot going on in their lives and somehow seem to expect others to entertain them, and I am still out on if this is the way to retire.  

We also learnt to get rid of things that aggravated us and we learnt to walk away without complaint (well sometimes), and I want to extend that more this year.  Its funny the things that can aggravate you - communications is one of them these days - honestly I don't have a need to answer the phone anymore, I will get around to it, I don't need to be online all day every day, I am participating in life, not watching it through others posts etc.  I rid myself of many of my Facebook friends this year, you know the type those that always seem to know what you have done, but can't seem to bring themselves to like anything, but when they post they expect everyone to comment etc, I like to call them stalkers because in some respects they are - also those who only share other peoples stuff - nothing personal about themselves - these things where annoying me because a)  I missed important posts from people who actually have a life because of all the crap they were posting and b) I got sick of being cut short on a story I might have been telling about something we did only to be told "yes I read that on Facebook" but how would I have known when they make no comments or like anything - now my circle is smaller but way more intimate.

I feel renewed in these last few months - learning new things, studying, exams and being active to the extend of exhaustion and I feel there is something new around the corner for us - not sure what that is, but our selfish life of travel and indulgences which is good when you first retire because you need to have a break and just learn to live again is over for the time being, but after 3 years of its all about me,  its nice to be useful, helping others,and with real purpose, not just making someone rich and I feel there is something new and exciting out there just waiting for us - because our eyes are once again open to new and wonderful things and we are invigorated.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and more importantly I hope you all have a fantastic 2016 and that it gives you everything you are wanting in life - enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Hoping everyone has a beautiful, relaxing and joyous Christmas.

When did we ever get time to work?

This month marks our 3rd anniversary of our retirement journey, when I look back I wonder how did we ever get the time to go to work.

Are we bored yet?  Short and sweet answer to that is NO.  Sorry to all you doubting Thomas's who went you are too young to retire, you will get bored, you will run out of money etc (the list of things everyone said is way too long to put them all here, but I am sure you get the picture).

Anniversaries are a good thing to sit back and reflect on things and if you have spent your time wisely, and achieved the goals you set out to.  I don't know if we had a plan ,in fact I know we really didn't have a plan as such - yes there was travel we wanted to do, yes we knew at some point we would want to downsize, we knew we wanted to do something more meaningful in our lives - not just make the man richer but help the community - although we didn't know in which form that would take, we knew we wanted to be with like minded people - how all of those things transpired was the fine tuning of life the suck it and see type thing, but no real plans as such.

Those 3 years have gone by so fast and outside of the years of having babies and staying home to look after my beautiful little girls,  these last 3 years have probably been the most enjoyable days of my life.  Sure there are days where we are a little bored, but its those days that make you take stock and make you re-evaluate things - without them you may miss something new and exciting to do, see, participate in, but generally these days have been few and far between.

We have been in our new home now for 9 months - this time last year we were still away eagerly awaiting the completion of our home, now we are truly settled in with a long term plan for living here.  We always knew we would sell our last home - it was the when and where would we go that we didn't know so some days it was hard to settle down because you where always looking for the next move opportunity, watching the real estate market etc - so its nice to be somewhere without that cloud over your head.  Its also nice not to have a mortgage and heaps of bucks in the bank - it helps you to really plan ahead better.  We live somewhere where there is always someone to talk to, people to do things with so those days when you have nothing on your plate can be filled in easily by taking a stroll around, sitting in the boat shed and chatting to others.

Buying our caravan provides with a quick, cheap way of holidaying when we feel we need to get out or away and even though we have only had it since April, we have been away 4 times now taking up about 7 weeks of our time - sometimes you just have to get away, but heading off overseas is expensive and we have been lucky enough over our time to have traveled extensively so right now we are happy with the lets go now and travel in our van.  We have had some great times away and our last trip to North and Central Queensland was heaps of fun, very relaxing, we saw things we haven't seen before - like the Undara Lava Tubes (where I had my birthday) what an incredible place, we caught up with friends in Port Douglas, we hired a mini moke at Magnetic Island, and caught up with the Crocs in Cairns - all paid for by Dereks metal detecting, it was a good way of escaping the cold. 

We still look for other holiday options as well, and recently took advantage of a standby rate for a house boat for a week - just like camping but on the water, we hadn't realised how much we had missed a week long boating trip - but with our use of our free boats here, and the standby rates for the houseboat, it is significantly cheaper than owing a boat.  We try to use the boats here at least once a week for a days escape to the beach and we love it.

With our new found freedoms, our new found lifestyle we have also now been able to decide how we volunteer, something we had wanted to do since we retired - give back to the community, do something for others, be less selfish - so we are now Marine Rescue on Monday and Tuesdays from 6am to 6pm, those first days where tiring but now we have gotten our energy back, have learnt to wake up earlier again and its great to be learning new things, getting new skills and being apart of yet another group of like minded people and be a part of team.  Yes it is tiring, yes it really takes it out of you, but it is so rewarding when you rescue someone who is in trouble, and learning true boating skills is exhilarating.  It took us a while to find the exact right thing for us, we don't spend any money on these days, the week just seems to fly by now and we feel like we are being useful in a way that is interesting for us.  Volunteering was always in the long term plan, but the first 2 1/2 years just didn't fit in, now it does in the exact right way for us.

I  now also doing Tai Chi on Wednesday and we both do a walking group on Thursdays so our week is fully booked up and it all goes too fast, so we now have a routine that provides us with a good array of things to do, keep fit physically and mentally as well as enjoying the company of fantastic new found friends.  

Not so long ago someone said to me "You haven't really done much since you retired", and it got me to thinking about what we have done, so with our 3 year anniversary here are our stats (of the things I can think of - no doubt have left something out), but I am not sure if we really could have fitted more in to be honest.

Days Retired:  1095

Days spent travelling:  440 (and they are the ones I can remember) 80 days overseas 14 countries, domestic about 300 days (including our around Australia camping trip) and about 60 days on boating holidays

Moving:  180 days - 90 days moving out, and about the same moving in (by the time you go out and buy new stuff, rearrange things and really settle in) 

Day trips/lunches etc: about 100 from the things I can remember - but probably more

Yes there would have been other things, but that accounts for about 65% of our retired life so far, at some point you have to be home and attend to the mundane as well as recuperate so overall I feel we have not really stopped.  It will change now for us a bit, as we do our volunteering and have set things that are done regularly each week - but that is also good, and a stage we were wanting to get to.  We are already planning our next camping trip for after the school hols and I must admit, I am hanging for a nice cruise holiday so I doubt the next 12 months will be boring as we look forward to some more new adventures.

A camping we will go

Just 3 short years ago if you had said that I would find pleasure in camping, or that as a part of our retirement journey I would be camping I probably would have laughed and said "you have to be joking".  I hadn't had a lot of experience with camping in my life except the school trips and the really cheap tent experience in my late teens, and to be honest I hated each and every one I went on. I had made it my life's ambition never to camp - to me 3 days in a 5 star resort was more of a holiday than 3 weeks camping.

So it's a strange feeling in my mind that here I am less than 3 years into retirement and I find I love the camping experience and now look forward to our next trip and spending money on being able to camp in a better environment.

We did start our retirement with a relocation van (looking for cheaper ways to travel - and this sort of set the ball rolling)  if you missed my blog on that here's the link  The Relocation Van Blog, at first I thought I enjoyed it so much because it provided just so much freedom and given we had only just retired it was such a great feeling to just be on the road, no plans other than to be in Cairns in 7 days and travelling with very little - just shorts, t's and thongs - it felt so good after years of constraints.

Now being settled in the new home and after our big trip around Australia  we started thinking about what we really want to do, yes we love the overseas travel and we love our cruising holidays, but you can't do this type of travel on our sort of self funded retirement money all the time - and we want to be able to pack up and go when the desire strikes, not planning for something in 3 months time, be more spontaneous in our adventures and to be able to do things more regularly.  So you have guessed it, we have bought ourselves a new pop top camper van.

Our first set up - well nearly setup!

Given we have limited space in our new house to store a van we had to be quite succinct in what we wanted ie:  we only have a limited width and a limited height we can go to - in our travels the most common van we saw were the Jayco Pop Tops - more than any other type, brand or style and those that had them seemed to have the best of all worlds - not too big, but with the convenience of internal sinks, beds, lounge areas and dining areas,off the ground, easy to tow and easy to setup.  So a few months ago we started on the journey of looking for our new home away from home.

Like all buying decisions these days, we try hard to take our time and do our homework - looking at as many possible options we can see - to ensure we are getting the best bang for our buck - so given we knew exactly what we were after (we hired one for a weekend first to make sure we did like them) and also to ensure it would fit into the limited space we have, and yes it was for us.  We searched for second hand ones to begin with and then soon found that most of these where of a similar price to a brand new one, so we did elect to buy a newbie (beautiful).

We have spent the last 2 months now just packing and going when the weather appears to be good (although that really hasn't worked out so well given our current weather patterns of late), but this hasn't fazed us at all, because one of the reasons we wanted a pop top caravan was so we were not limited by rain like we were on the soft floor/roof camper and it would appear we could possibly hire ourselves out as drought busters.

So yes we have experienced a lot of rain (in 3 trips over 300mm), but at the same time we have been comfortable when it was raining, we have had the luxury of being able to get inside and keep dry as well as be off the ground (which was a great thing in these types of situations).  We have been learning how to get the van up and down quickly, getting everything in its rightful place and establishing our living while away - so while the weather hasn't always been on our side (although in some places it was perfect), we have learnt about our new van which has been great, and so far we love the thought and of course the doing of just going - lets go!.

Our first trip was to South West Rocks - about half way between Brisbane and Sydney and we had a great camp site on the mouth of the river - it was a fantastic camp site with a ensuite (we always try to get an ensuited site if we can), on large sites and in a beautiful environment.  It took us a bit longer to setup than we originally anticipated that first time as we had to remember how to do everything and of course it was all new - but we got there and the first day was magnificent - sunny and warm and just so lovely to be sitting under our annex in the shade having a chat to people feeling pretty chuffed, but that night the heavens opened to 140mm of rain - but guess what - we didn't care and not one drop of water in the van and the site was still dry around us because of the annex (the things we didn't have before).  Overall it was a great first trip and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We did only have 3 days here though because of the rain - but that is what this is about, we don't have to be away for weeks now, more regular trips for shorter periods of time.  Derek of course continued on his winning way in the metal detecting stakes and had a fantastic time.

Next we decided to head into country NSW at this time of the year the Armidale area is so beautiful with its Autumn leaves and we had another lovely camp spot and after a few lovely days here we headed for Stanthorpe - I love Standthorpe and there is so much to do there at this time of year with the wineries, lovely town center, bush walks etc (check out my Stanthorpe Blog for more info on this area).  We headed to Storm King Dam rather than the town parks because we wanted a more bush camp site and the caravan park here didn't disappoint, with exceptionally large sites complete with fire pits (absolutely necessary in Stanthorpe this time of year as the days are beautiful, but boy can the nights get cold), right on the dam and boats, bikes etc to hire - we will be going back here again.  Once again our trip was cut short by RAIN another 200mm in 2 days so it was a wet pack up which was also good to experience.

A few weeks back home - still getting things in their rightful places in the van so each time we go out the experience gets just that bit better, more organised and easier to setup, then we headed off to Rainbow Beach (I haven't been there for probably 35 years), again the Rainbow Beach caravan park is fabulous with views to die for, the weather was glorious for the 3 days we were here - but unfortunately we had to pack and go because we hadn't booked and on the 4th day we were told they where fully booked - bugger.  Headed up to Bigara Beach just of Bundaberg for a few days there (probably wouldn't go back here again, really not much to do and no beach as such so a little disappointing), but again we got to do the pack up and set up in one day and this is so helpful in learning how to use your van so we were not really all that upset.

We are now getting ready to take off for the Winter though, heading North for the sun and hope to be away for 4-6 weeks (this is sort of what we want to do, short trips during the year and then 1 longer trip in the Winter months).  We feel we now have everything in the right spot in the van, have all the things we need for a comfortable trip and we feel confident in the setup and pack up process.  At this point in time we feel this has provided us with a lot more travelling opportunities at a more affordable price and while we love where we live it is still nice to get away.

We are loving the Jayco Eagle, it suites us to a tee, it has all the comforts of a big van (sink, stove, fridge, lounge, dining and 2 beds - one queen and one double as well as an electric awning - we are hopeless with annex setup so with a push of a button we have our awning up and out with no fuss). Its easy to tow and you can still do the normal speed limits and now we have setup a few times we are doing this in about an hour from pull in to sitting down having a coffee under the annex, we could probably do it faster but we like to get everything out properly first up.  We are enjoying our small jaunts when we get the urge to move which is good, and yes we have been taking Teddy (but he really doesn't enjoy himself all that much - but we can take him if we want to so that is nice as well).