Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that you can go by yourself if
Speaker 1: there is something you want to do, from trying a
Speaker 1: new restaurant to traveling, you don't need to have a companion.
Speaker 1: It's usually better to have the experience than not have
Speaker 1: the experience, even if you generally do prefer to have company.
Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, I was quoted in a Baron's
Speaker 1: article about how COVID had stolen time from retirees. The
Speaker 1: article made the point that many folks were realizing that
Speaker 1: they had lost almost two years from their total quantity
Speaker 1: of healthy retired years. Now of us lives forever, and
Speaker 1: many of us will face increasing health challenges in the
Speaker 1: last years of our lives. So if you retire at
Speaker 1: sixty and we'll have a decade to travel and do
Speaker 1: hobbies before those things become harder, losing two years of
Speaker 1: that is a pretty big chunk. So many of the
Speaker 1: affluent readers of Barons are trying to make up for
Speaker 1: lost time. I had some suggestions about accelerating the pace
Speaker 1: of travel and get to gathers. If you would normally
Speaker 1: take two big trips a year, try to take three
Speaker 1: or four. Go visit people over long weekends. Yes, life
Speaker 1: might feel a little busier, but that is balanced by
Speaker 1: the past few years when it was a lot less busy.
Speaker 1: It will be okay. But more importantly, for this episode,
Speaker 1: I also suggested that if these retirees wanted to do
Speaker 1: something but their partner or friends did not, they might
Speaker 1: not want to wait for them to come around. In
Speaker 1: other words, you can go by yourself. That goes for
Speaker 1: all of us. Now, some people listening to this are
Speaker 1: probably thinking, well, of course, you can go places by yourself,
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of folks are a wee
Speaker 1: bit more cautious about solo adventures. I have posted a
Speaker 1: few photos on social media of me eating solo at
Speaker 1: some fancy restaurants, and a few folks have told me
Speaker 1: they would feel really weird doing that. But it isn't
Speaker 1: really that weird because no one cares what you do.
Speaker 1: Bring a book or just scroll around on your phone.
Speaker 1: It will be fine. Really, other people aren't paying attention
Speaker 1: or judging you. I've made some solo trips to gardens
Speaker 1: and farms and such that many people go with their
Speaker 1: kids too, And yes, I've taken my kids there many times,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's fun to go and just do what
Speaker 1: I want to do. So yes, you can be the
Speaker 1: one solo grown up lady at the pick your own farm.
Speaker 1: But if you like doing it and your kids are
Speaker 1: whining about going, well, why not you can buy a
Speaker 1: single ticket to a concert that you would like to see.
Speaker 1: I actually think this is a great approach if you
Speaker 1: are in a relationship where one person is far more
Speaker 1: of a homebody than the other. If you always lean
Speaker 1: towards one person's interest or the others, someone is going
Speaker 1: to be unhappy. But if you recognize that you can
Speaker 1: love each other and can do separate things, sometimes you
Speaker 1: will probably have a happier home life. Now, solo travel
Speaker 1: can be a bit more complicated. If you have never
Speaker 1: traveled solo before, you might want to start small. All
Speaker 1: take a weekend trip to somewhere familiar, book tickets for
Speaker 1: things ahead of time so everything feels straightforward. But if
Speaker 1: it goes well and you have fun, you can try
Speaker 1: something more ambitious. I agree that it might be more
Speaker 1: fun to travel somewhere with a companion. Retired spouses in
Speaker 1: particular probably do want to spend time with each other.
Speaker 1: But if you are trying to make up for lost
Speaker 1: time and you have certain things you want to do
Speaker 1: in your life and your partner or friends don't necessarily
Speaker 1: want to do these things, then eventually you have to
Speaker 1: make a calculation. We only have so much time. The
Speaker 1: older we are, the smaller this number most likely is
Speaker 1: which sounds worse potentially never going to let's say Paris,
Speaker 1: are going Paris on your own. We all have to
Speaker 1: ask what type of life we would like to live. Personally,
Speaker 1: I would rather buy a solo ticket for a show
Speaker 1: and get to see it, then worry about whether I
Speaker 1: can find anyone to go with me. If there are
Speaker 1: things you'd like to do, but coordinating with others becomes complicated,
Speaker 1: then consider just going on your own. My guess is
Speaker 1: that you will have fun and you'll get to share
Speaker 1: the story with others afterwards. That could be fun too.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. At before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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