I AM in my mid 60’s and retired from government service five years ago. After my retirement, a few friends, who are also retired, asked me to join them to tutor at a private institution. I had to decline because though I love teaching, I had to come to terms and accept the fact that I had to take life easy. Teaching is a stressful job and it requires a lot of preparation, and with the online classes, it is a whole new ball game. And I was just not into it.
So, I decided to pursue what all retirees would want to do after retirement – travel. I love travelling and even during my working years, I had a group of friends whom I used to travel with to foreign destinations during the school term holidays. We never took our wives because it was a shoestring budget travel tour.
We covered most of the major cities in Southeast Asia like Phnom Penh, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, Yangon, Vientiane, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We even went to Kerala, Ooty, Chennai, Kathmandu and Pokhara.
And the first thing I did after my retirement was make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land – Israel with my wife for 15 days. And just before the Covid-19 pandemic, I made a 12-day trip to New Zealand.
The pandemic put a dent in travelling inside and outside the country. Last year, when interstate travel was allowed, I packed my bags and drove alone to local destinations such as Taiping, Ipoh, Malacca, Lumut, Cameron Highlands and Johor Baru. I also visited two islands – Pangkor and Redang.
It is weird eating alone but I made the most of it enjoying the solitude and scenic holidays. I could do what I wanted during my solo travelling stint. I drew up my own itinerary based on the tourist spots. I love walking and so I walked around the towns on my travel.
My favourite town was Taiping because you can stay at a hotel located near the lake and walk to the Zoo, Maxwell Hill and Taiping town. I even walked from Pangkor jetty to my hotel, which is about two to three kilometres away.
When hotels opened up after the movement control order was lifted, they offered good deals and rates. Now that borders are reopened, I am looking forward to travelling again.
Apart from travelling I am also into church activities. In my pastime, I love to watch movies, read, catch up with friends and play chess online. Retirement is a blessing and as rightfully said, “goodbye to tension, hello to pension”.
My wife retired last month and she is going to be my travelling partner. Retirement is not the end of the road, it is the beginning of a new journey in life. Keep busy, meet up with friends, have long coffee breaks, engage in hobbies, listen to music and go for long walks. Sit back and relax, and do the things you never had the chance to do.
Retire from work, not from life!
Samuel Yesuiah
Seremban
