The pace of travel
16/04/23 00:52
I think that I had a sense that after we retired we would learn to travel at a slower pace. For a while we did. The first summer after we retired, we tried to drive a few less miles per day and added an extra day here and there. When we drove to South Carolina in the summer of 2020 I think we planned all of the days of driving to be less than 500 miles. Some were as short as 350 miles. It was a nice pace. But on that trip, we didn’t linger in any one place. Every campground was one night and then we moved on. My retirement vision was that we would travel at our own pace and if we wanted to linger, we would do so.
Of course that doesn’t work if you are staying at commercial campgrounds. Virtually all of them require reservations. If you want to stay more than one night, you have to plan to stay more than one night.
One of the ironies of our life right now is that even though we are only working half time, we don’t have the vacation benefits that we had for all of our working career. When we were full time pastors, we had four weeks of vacation each year. In this job we have only two weeks of vacation. As a result since we have been working at this job our days to travel and accomplish things has been limited.
This trip to Montana is an example. Because our vacation days are limited, we decided to take as few as possible for what is essentially a business trip. It is family business, but it is business all the same. Since we work Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, we could get 5 days for this trip by taking only one day off - Sunday. Two days driving to Montana, one day of being there, and two to drive home make five days. Then, in our one day of being here, which was yesterday, we had to take care of things at the property in Big Timber, meet with the realtor, make a trip to Billings to pick up some things we need to leave with the property we are selling at a big box hardware store, and go to Red Lodge to visit Susan’s sister and her family.
Today we wake up in Red Lodge, travel back to Big Timber to deliver the items to the property there, and try to get halfway home - or nearly so. The entire trip feels a bit rushed. It isn’t the pace that I keep imagining might be possible.
Still, in general, my life has a lot less stress than was the case when I was serving as the senior minister of a busy congregation. I only work three days a week. I have time for some of my hobbies. I have time to play with my grandchildren. I have more time for home repair chores and other things that often got deferred when I was working full time. I have no reason to complain. I’m the one who decided to cram this trip into these days. I could have chosen to take one or two more days of vacation. I could have planned differently.
I have friends my age who don’t enjoy road trips the way I do. I don’t mind the driving. I like to go places and there is so much truly beautiful scenery between our Washington Home and this part of Montana that there is always something to look at. Last evening I walked out to the pickup and flushed two whitetail deer who were grazing in the back yard of our family’s house. As I did so, I was reminded how much I miss living in Rapid City where we had deer in the back yard every day. Things are beautiful at our new home, but they are different.
I don’t think I have been missing the snow very much. Spring is coming very late in Montana this year. There is a lot of snow on the ground here in Red Lodge. The snow is making the locals just a but nervous because last year’s run off came suddenly. The weather turned from cold to warm in the high country and then it rained, causing the melt off to happen so quickly that the creeks draining the mountains flooded really bad. Here in Red Lodge the creek left its banks completely and rushed down main street and some of the side streets of town. Bridges where washed out and debris was strewn everywhere. There were several buildings that were destroyed and many others that were damaged. At the house where we are staying, the basement flooded taking out the furnace and hot water heater. They have recovered and replace the items destroyed, but as spring comes, everyone around here will be looking at the creek and estimating how much water is coming down. Prayers around here are for a slow, gentle springtime.
We won’t be waiting around to see how things go. Today we’ll be back in the truck, headed west, trying to make some miles.
Maybe I’ll leave slowing down to a few more months later this year. We finish this interim position at the end of July. Our plan is to take all of August and September off to allow time to go camping with our grandchildren and to visit family in Oregon at a more leisurely pace. After that we may look for another job, but we are able to take our time and consider what we do with care.
Maybe I can learn to slow down just a little bit. I don’t want to stop making trips. I don’t want to become lethargic and always want to stay home. But I think we would enjoy having the luxury of spending a few days in the same location before moving on.
I’ve still got a lot to learn about being retired. I may have to do it more than once before I get the hang of it.
Of course that doesn’t work if you are staying at commercial campgrounds. Virtually all of them require reservations. If you want to stay more than one night, you have to plan to stay more than one night.
One of the ironies of our life right now is that even though we are only working half time, we don’t have the vacation benefits that we had for all of our working career. When we were full time pastors, we had four weeks of vacation each year. In this job we have only two weeks of vacation. As a result since we have been working at this job our days to travel and accomplish things has been limited.
This trip to Montana is an example. Because our vacation days are limited, we decided to take as few as possible for what is essentially a business trip. It is family business, but it is business all the same. Since we work Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, we could get 5 days for this trip by taking only one day off - Sunday. Two days driving to Montana, one day of being there, and two to drive home make five days. Then, in our one day of being here, which was yesterday, we had to take care of things at the property in Big Timber, meet with the realtor, make a trip to Billings to pick up some things we need to leave with the property we are selling at a big box hardware store, and go to Red Lodge to visit Susan’s sister and her family.
Today we wake up in Red Lodge, travel back to Big Timber to deliver the items to the property there, and try to get halfway home - or nearly so. The entire trip feels a bit rushed. It isn’t the pace that I keep imagining might be possible.
Still, in general, my life has a lot less stress than was the case when I was serving as the senior minister of a busy congregation. I only work three days a week. I have time for some of my hobbies. I have time to play with my grandchildren. I have more time for home repair chores and other things that often got deferred when I was working full time. I have no reason to complain. I’m the one who decided to cram this trip into these days. I could have chosen to take one or two more days of vacation. I could have planned differently.
I have friends my age who don’t enjoy road trips the way I do. I don’t mind the driving. I like to go places and there is so much truly beautiful scenery between our Washington Home and this part of Montana that there is always something to look at. Last evening I walked out to the pickup and flushed two whitetail deer who were grazing in the back yard of our family’s house. As I did so, I was reminded how much I miss living in Rapid City where we had deer in the back yard every day. Things are beautiful at our new home, but they are different.
I don’t think I have been missing the snow very much. Spring is coming very late in Montana this year. There is a lot of snow on the ground here in Red Lodge. The snow is making the locals just a but nervous because last year’s run off came suddenly. The weather turned from cold to warm in the high country and then it rained, causing the melt off to happen so quickly that the creeks draining the mountains flooded really bad. Here in Red Lodge the creek left its banks completely and rushed down main street and some of the side streets of town. Bridges where washed out and debris was strewn everywhere. There were several buildings that were destroyed and many others that were damaged. At the house where we are staying, the basement flooded taking out the furnace and hot water heater. They have recovered and replace the items destroyed, but as spring comes, everyone around here will be looking at the creek and estimating how much water is coming down. Prayers around here are for a slow, gentle springtime.
We won’t be waiting around to see how things go. Today we’ll be back in the truck, headed west, trying to make some miles.
Maybe I’ll leave slowing down to a few more months later this year. We finish this interim position at the end of July. Our plan is to take all of August and September off to allow time to go camping with our grandchildren and to visit family in Oregon at a more leisurely pace. After that we may look for another job, but we are able to take our time and consider what we do with care.
Maybe I can learn to slow down just a little bit. I don’t want to stop making trips. I don’t want to become lethargic and always want to stay home. But I think we would enjoy having the luxury of spending a few days in the same location before moving on.
I’ve still got a lot to learn about being retired. I may have to do it more than once before I get the hang of it.
