A Retirement High-Life

“Your life is made of two dates and a dash. Make the most of the dash.”

Twice a year a client of mine leaves the comforts of home to patrol 26,000 sq. miles in Southeastern Utah for the Department of Interior. He spends two weeks in the Spring and two months in the Fall, September and October. I spoke with him the other day, the first day back from his Spring trip. I asked him what he does out there. He said he is either out on his own for 3-5 days patrolling, or working from the base station going out on day jobs to fix things, do field study, or work on his research at the base station.

His passion is southwestern archeology. It has been his passion since studying it in college, but eventually he had to get a “real” job to pay the bills. After a successful career in corporate America he is back doing what he wants to do in retirement. I asked him where he sleeps on the 3-5 day solo trips. He said outside under the stars. I asked if he ever brings a tent. He said not if he can help it. A tent is heavy.

The Spring trip is nice because the weather can be beautiful. It starts off chilly and gets warmer with each passing day. But the Fall trip starts off warm and by the end of October he said the nights can be brutally cold. He said it’s a good way to lose ten pounds. Not that he needs to a lose an ounce.

His wife is supportive of the trips. I joked, “she may look forward to it more than he does.” He laughed in agreement but in all seriousness said they both get pretty lonesome after a little while. Sounds to me like a healthy relationship and retirement for both of them.

Canyon country.

Typical Anasazi dwelling deep in an obscure canyon. The challenge is getting into it!

Bio
Latest Posts

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.