In my conversations with you, you’ve been telling me about your retirement life and the trips you’re looking forward to taking. It feels like sweater weather here this morning, and it makes me look forward to going hiking in New Hampshire in a week or so.

In one conversation this week, you told me how you visited your son, who lives in the Rockies, and how, along with your cousin, the three of you climbed a 14,000-foot mountain. That’s impressive, especially considering you and she are of the age where you’re required to take a required minimum distribution from an IRA. “Oh, yes,” you said, “She and I did Kilimanjaro ten years ago.”

“OK, you’ve done this before,” I said.

The 10-hour day on the mountain began at 6am. In the dark. It was cold. 26 degrees. And the hiking was slow, even with the aid of headlamps. At the first creek crossing, you told me, you stepped on a big boulder, did not see the black ice, slipped, and fell backwards into the freezing creek water, completely submerged. The next two hours, you were miserable, finally warming up and drying out by hour four, and pushing on.

“No, thank you,” I said.

When asked about provisions, you told me you each carried a gallon and a half of water in your Camelbaks, electrolytes, trail mix, and four tall boy IPAs. “My son carried those,” you said. “It’s a tradition to have a beer when you reach the summit of a 14,000er. We shared the other one with a fellow hiker we met.”

Action Line: You don’t need to climb into the clouds to have the retirement life you deserve. Just getting out there and changing your routine can do wonders for your psyche. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.