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Do you have any drinking habits like this?
“Hon, grab me another cold beer from the fridge, will you? God, it’s hot today and it’s making me thirsty”. It is only 10:00 am and John is ready for his 2nd beer of the day. What else is there to do for John? He will probably be drunk before lunch and fall asleep in his armchair while trying to find another game on TV.
You’ll probably ask yourself “what’s wrong with this guy”? Well, nothing is wrong with John, he’s retired. And he acquired drinking habits after moving to Costa Rica
Most people who are getting ready for retirement, only dream about the day they’re going to be retired. The day they don’t have to go to work at that boring job they had for all those years. Now it’s time to do something different.
“Let’s move to Costa Rica honey, they say it’s beautiful and the sun shines all the time, and it never gets cold there. You know, we can travel to the country, get to know places, and people and enjoy life. Man, just the idea of not having to do anything all day long”.
The plan is a great one; the problem is that the plan becomes even more boring than the job was. At least having that job obliged John to have discipline. Discipline to get up in the morning, get showered, shaved, and dressed, and get in the car on time to get to work. Mary, the wife, was used to taking care of the house, the shopping, the cooking, and taking care of the laundry.
For Mary, there was this dream of change. Her part of the dream was that she wouldn’t have to keep doing all that boring work. And that John would help her in those daily tasks so she could also enjoy retirement in Costa Rica. Just like the dreams John had about his retirement. Now, 6 months later, all the dreams are shattered. John acquired drinking habits and became an alcoholic. Mary is still the slave to her house
The mistake
So where was it that John and Mary made the mistake? John and Mary never thought about what they would do during the days of their retirement and how to organize the tasks at hand. They imagined they would play golf, drink cocktails with their new friends, or go fishing when the mood strikes. They forgot that you can play only so much golf, drink only so many cocktails, and that making new friends is not something you can be doing without the danger of becoming an alcoholic. Most retirees have their expectations of retirement all wrong.
The solution
During your due diligence, you need to ask yourself what you will be doing with the time you will suddenly have on your hands. If you used to make 8 – 10 hour days on the job, plus the travel time to get there and back, you now have all that time to cover, doing something you like. That’s what you wanted, right? So start looking into things you’d like to do, start asking questions on Google and you’d be amazed how long the list of things you can do will get. Make a list and make a backup plan. Make sure that everything on that list can be done in Costa Rica or if you’d need to drive 8 hours to get there.
Work together
Ask your spouse or partner to make his/her own list and don’t interfere. Then you and your spouse can compare and see what you can do together. Discuss the list and see what you have in common on that list. If there is nothing in common, discuss what you’d both like to do after retirement, together, as a team.
After retirement
There are quite a few things you can do about boredom after you have retired, and before you hit the fridge at 10:00 am:
1. Find new challenges
Look for new experiences and things you never thought you would do. Ask the people around you what they do to stay fit, in shape and how they challenge themselves to enjoy their retirement.
2. Build new relationships
But don’t go to the bar to build those new relationships. Find out who shares the same interests as you and your spouse/partner do. Interact with others to avoid retirement burnout.
3. Find new hobbies
Bird watching sounded boring before? You were always a terrible photographer? Maybe now is the time to pick up photography and find out how to be good at it. Bird photography can be an incredible hobby when you see incredible results. If you don’t try, you won’t know.
4. Give back to the community
There are so many local ways you could give back to your community and charities that could use your help. You could volunteer at an orphanage, a childcare community center, a wildlife rescue center, or even at the local elementary school or high school.
5. Stay young at heart
When you stay busy, you’ll stay young at heart. Enjoy life, that’s why you retired in Costa Rica for. Try to include your spouse in staying young at heart. Therefore, do things together. A positive attitude can help you to better cope with the challenges that come with aging.
6. Stay away from the bottle
Don’t make it customary to drink during lunch, dinner, and even worse: breakfast. Only save the corks of your neighbors and friends and not your own, if that’s a hobby that attracts you.
If you have any drinking habits or not, it doesn’t matter to us. Let us help you purchase your Costa Rica property, we are good at what we do and help you along to get going in your community. We cannot help you stay off the bottle, but we have all the connections you need to do so. Contact us now.
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I DO want to remind our readers that we appreciate any referrals you can send us. Also, please remember the GoDutch Realty agents when you talk about your home in Costa Rica, we appreciate it.
