In our October blog, we covered five helpful and healthy habits you can cultivate to lead to better mental and physical health in your 60s and beyond. This month, we’re addressing one of the greatest things about retirement: the free time you now have to fill with new life experiences and hobbies. Here are seven activities to consider trying in your retirement.
Join a workout group
In our October blog, we wrote on the importance of staying healthy and active in your 60s and beyond. For our first activity, we’re adding on to that tip. As you age, it’s important to exercise at least 20-30 minutes each day to keep your mind and body healthy. To stay motivated, try working out with a group of friends at a gym, join a group workout class, or get a walking group together.
Some other options can include taking dancing lessons, learning tai chi, practicing yoga, and swimming. Choose a physical activity that brings you joy, whether you’re exercising with friends or by yourself. The most important goal is to stay active!
Travel the world
One of our favorite suggestions to spend free time in retirement is to travel. What’s better than fully immersing yourself in a new culture, with new food, people, traditions, and scenery? Whether you stay in your own country or go abroad, traveling is a great way to re-energize your body and stimulate your mind. You may also find it fun to keep track of the places you’ve visited on a world map, either by pinning or coloring in each country, state, or city.
Volunteer
Offering your time to help others is another great way to spend your free time. An article by Inc.com says when you spend time volunteering, “you get more than you give.” Some examples of this include having the opportunity to widen your network and connections, staying active and healthy, learning new skills, and the overall good feeling volunteering can bring.
If you’re looking for a new volunteer opportunity in the Madison area, here are a few options:
- Dog park clean up
- 1,000 Rain Gardens Program
- Ride the Drive
- Madison Public Library
Start a new hobby
This one is fairly broad, but that’s the beauty of it! There are many different types of hobbies you can try like fishing, photography, painting, drawing, sewing, knitting, or gardening. Starting a new hobby can help stimulate your mind and help you socialize and make new friends. Not sure what hobby you would be interested in trying? Browse this list of 50 low-cost hobby ideas from Lifehack.
Improve your cooking skills
Whether you consider yourself a master chef or an amateur cook, culinary art is a rewarding activity you can practice alone, with a group of friends, or even in a class. Try a new recipe or challenge yourself with an entirely new cuisine. If you’re already great at cooking, try your hand at baking and gift your baked goods to family and friends.
Research your family history
Discovering more about yourself and your family history can be an exciting adventure! There are lots of ways to begin your research; chat with your family, go to your public library, or head online and use a genealogy tool. Just be sure to use a reputable online genealogy tool, as most tools charge you a monthly or yearly fee.
Pre-plan your funeral
Although pre-planning your funeral arrangements isn’t the happiest of activities, it is certainly worth your time. Pre-planning now can help eliminate emotional stress and mitigate unexpected expenses for family members and loved ones grieving down the road. Plus, the arrangements you make will reflect your exact wishes and desires, alleviating any questions, problems or differences, which can occur among family members.
Pre-planning your final wishes doesn’t need to be an intimidating process. You don’t need to think of every detail now. In fact, for some people, it may be easier to only plan a little at a time. Remember, what you plan now, whether you start simple or plan it all, will bring you and your family peace of mind when it’s needed most.
Start here to begin pre-planning your funeral arrangements, and please reach out to our team if you have questions along the way.