I am now four months into this experiment and almost exactly one-third of the way to 65 adventures. I’d like to share some of what I am learning along the way.

Most importantly, I realize that if you read this blog without knowing who I am, it might all come across as very materialistic. As if I am pursuing pleasure for it’s own sake in a selfish way. I am not that kind of a person, and I genuinely do not want my self-challenge to feel transactional, either to my companions or you, my reader. To be a bit vulnerable here, one of the difficulties is to fit these activities in with all the other things I do in life, including my dedication to community and quieter time with family and friends. That is in addition to all the necessities of life, paying bills, managing investments, caring for others. If I could frame the way I’d like this experiment to be viewed – as a guy trying to force himself to do more, to be out there, to expand relationships and take on new challenges.

I have worked extremely hard my entire life, dedicating every working moment to work, family and community – trying to find the right way to balance all of these. Yes, we took fantastic vacations! Yes, I walked the girls to school (and ice cream!), Yes, Sherry and I found some quiet time and Yes, I dedicated myself to whatever job I was doing. None of it would have been successful if I did not have Sherry alongside me, as my partner, conscience and spiritual guide.

This journey I am now on is challenging. It requires planning, reaching out to people I may not have seen in a long time. Organizing people who may resist organization. Juggling what is happening this week with what will happen in three months. Being creative. Working around the weather. Being flexible. And it never stops. More than one adventure a week, every week. Take a few days off and I fall behind. It is really a crazy idea, and substantially difficult to do.

So, why do it at all?

There are so many good reasons: 1) I really have no clue about how to retire. So these adventures are really a tool to force me to focus on what possibilities a retired life could have as its components. 2) By nature, I’d rather follow a pattern and do the same things each week. Without work, what is setting the rhythm? Through this process, I am teaching myself to plan and experiment. 3) Sherry and I are reconnecting with people, rekindling old friendships and making new ones to try to discover who might be the players in this next stage of our lives. 4) Sometimes we need challenges to break habits, and to form new ones. 5) Lastly, I am a very private person, and to be this open to the world is way outside my comfort zone. That in itself is a teachable moment.

I hope this helps to explain some of my thinking, and I hope you are enjoying the ride alongside me. Thanks for being my companion. Just forty-three more adventures to go!