Billy in Arizona
Billy and Akaisha's Retire Early Lifestyle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I’m a beach guy in the desert, where this time of year nothing moves fast — if it moves at all. It’s HOT!
This is a huge adjustment for me, being here alone at our Arizona shack without Akaisha. There are only a few people around — maybe five or six — and they have enough sense to stay indoors. It’s been years since we lived here year-round, and even then we always traveled to escape the hottest months. Now it’s just sagebrush, cactus, and bunnies rolling through the complex.
I need the water. I grew up swimming competitively year-round in the Midwest, so I’ve been going to the pool in the afternoons — something Akaisha and I shared — trying to get my rhythm of life back in motion. It seems like I’m having a lot of false starts and making mistakes that just aren’t me.
For weeks I’ve been trying to make sense of this all. What the heck happened? How did I get here? Why? I will never have those answers. I have to make peace with the fact that I did everything I could along the way. I know I certainly gave Akaisha all of me.
Life still feels surreal. How do I unwind all the memories, experiences, and joy of the last decades with her? It’s going to take time. Her passing showed me that I have a limited amount of it.
Each morning I get up ready to take on the day, and then… bam. It hits me.
Hopefully soon I can plan a more extended trip. I’m not trying to run away from anything. I just need the stimulus of new adventures of my own — meeting new people and hearing their stories.
And every person has them, if you listen.
For more on Retirement Topics, click here and here and don’t forget to signup for our free Newsletter.
About the Authors
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.
Billy and Akaisha's Retire Early Lifestyle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.