Nevertheless, I have been contemplating the possibility of kicking the bucket early and whether I will be able to live long enough to enjoy an active retirement. I will be approaching the retirement age in a decade when kids reach college age.
It is an ongoing inside joke with Natalia that I have a thousand and one plans for retirement.
It is true, I have considered many options including a few locations abroad.
One of the obvious locations would be right on my ancestral land in mountains of Poland I wanted to build a small log cabin not unlike the one on Maciejowa mountain nearby. Living in what we call “bacøwka” was always my dream. The place is biking distance (Kajtek did it) from Krakøw, a center of Poland’s culture which is very important. The problems with Poland are multiple; Natalia and kids do not speak the language and would feel out of place there, especialy that country life can be rough around the edges.
Another place, which actually will never happen is Madeira island. I would love to visit Madeira for months at the time. I was joking that if I ever disappear without any sign, I probaby will rent a room in the red terrracota roofed house, eat the best sea and steak food in the world in the nearby restaurant, write books and hike “levadas”.
The third obvious place would be “Up North” in Hudson, Charlevoix county, Michigan. The place is surrounded by the rolling hills covered by maple trees that delight in the fall. The hearby Great Lakes sailing and the wine country are a bonus. Michigan has hundreds of state parks with geat RV parking facilities surrounded by woods and beautiful lakes.
Life in Michigan after the fall deer hunting season is not very romantic, so some warmer location would have to be included.
Finally, living in PNW would be most wonderful with sea and mountains surrounding us, if we can afford buying a place here. Even if we bounght today, there is no way to pay it off by the time we retire. Having morgage while retired would be a financial risk.
As far as what I want to do when I retire is very simple and it does never change, I want to stay active as long as I can, hike mountains, sail, scuba dive and write books.
I think we have an agreement with Natalia that we do not like big stinky cities. We both like culture and I tollerate small cute towns, in fact, even now, instead of being at home, I am sitting in a cafe in Isaquah Highlands, one of my favorite towns in America.
