From Elana Rabinowitz, Next Avenue

“We call it early retirement,” said one woman as she gushed about her new life in the affluent resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York, with an unmistakable smile on her face.

“Early retirement?” I asked, as if she had made a typo.

She explained that it was a phrase she and her husband coined to describe their new, more relaxed life as immigrants from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan to the idyllic surroundings of upstate New York.

“Sometimes we look at our calendars and if we can, we go kayaking during lunch,” she continued, how dreamy that was compared to my five-day work week on-site, shoveling down my Tupperware lunch between classes.

“We worked in the city for years and are now completely away from work,” she admitted.

Partly gloating, partly apologetic. She gave in.

I also have a house in the north of the state and am beginning the countdown to my actual retirement. In a way, I too was slowly, without knowing it, preparing myself for a kind of early retirement, the transition to a new lifestyle surrounded by more trees than buildings.

I only have a few more years of teaching left, and then I’ll be happy. No more substitutes, no more getting up early. Just hiking and the Hudson. How idyllic, I thought. But could I really just sit back and relax after all these years of hecticness?

This is the dream I’ve turned into a reality, and only now that it’s almost a reality am I starting to wonder if I’m really ready for this radical lifestyle change. Ready to give up teaching? Yes! Ready to really retire? At the moment, I’m not so sure anymore.

With so many new job opportunities, I want to see what’s out there. Maybe I’ll get a new job, reinvent myself, maybe I’ll take up kayaking.

For the first time in over 23 years, I can think about what I actually want to do with my precious life. Part of me is excited, and part of me is filled with dread. When I think about looking for a job, I immediately think of the cocky college graduate who spent endless hours scouring job listings in the New York Times, only to find that the communications degree that seemed so promising in college yielded absolutely no jobs in real life.

Questions about the new working environment

What if I can’t find my way around the new work environment? What does the new work environment actually look like?

I have never been one to let my age limit me. I didn’t learn to ride a bike until I was 24, didn’t publish anything until I was 40, and I’m certainly not going to stop pursuing my dreams when I’m 50. I just need to figure out how to make that work in a new post-Covid-19 society.

What annoys me most is when people say, “This is what I’m going to do when I retire,” whether they mean traveling, relaxing, or learning to play an instrument. As if all of life’s pleasures should be enjoyed in large quantities, rather than in small doses throughout your life. I’ve made sure I’ve lived a life full of these things so far. I want to enjoy them now, not just in my golden years.

To be honest, I never planned to be a teacher. I had more creative goals in mind, but when 9/11 came, I was desperate for work. Since I already had teaching experience from working abroad, I went to an interview at a middle school and to my surprise, I got the job right away.

I didn’t plan on staying. I never thought I’d like it, but I did. But retiring at 50 is financially doable, but I want more. While I’m ready to give up the stress of commuting in the city, I’m not ready to stay home completely. What’s next?

I’m a little nervous about the whole change. Sometimes it’s good to be afraid.

While the thought of what lies ahead fills me with fear, it also gives me hope. I never had the chance to pursue the career I really wanted, and now that there are so many different options, maybe I finally can.

Relaxed entry into early retirement

Maybe I’ll become an entrepreneur, maybe I’ll finally write that novel or screenplay, or maybe I’ll take a break and live abroad again. I’m still thinking about it. In the meantime, I’m going to slowly adjust to my early retirement. I’m going to take a few more courses (even though teachers are the worst students), explore options, and spend time outside in nature; it’s my greatest resource right now.

When you are a child and the teacher is missing, you are happy at first, but then when he is away for a few days, the joy is less great and sometimes you miss him and everyday life even when he is on holiday.

After more than 20 years of teaching, I wonder who I will be when I’m no longer waking up early to motivate kids. When I’m no longer lugging an oversized shopping bag full of school supplies. I’m a little nervous, but excited to find out.

Early retirement, here I come!