Retirement: enjoying life in the fast lane.

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, when I was about to retire, I asked a friend who just had taken the plunge how his day went in retirement. "Well," he responded, "I took out the garbage this morning and then my wife and I went shopping, and that pretty well blew the day."

Although he was joking, it was with a sense of trepidation that I bailed out of the working world of the university at age 62. Happily, I soon learned the life of retirement as that of a do-nothing existence was shared only by a few. The complaint of the vast majority of retirees is that they never can find enough time to do all the things they want to. There just isn't enough "down" time in the golden years, as most find it is life in the fast lane.

Long ago, I prepared a list of books I always had wanted to read and, even though I have gotten through some of them, that list is longer now than before. What takes up so much of retirees' time? The answer to this varies, depending on one's interests. Travel is the choice of most, whether regional, nationwide, or overseas. With this in mind, many retirees find the recreational vehicle (RV) subculture much to their liking and that of their pocketbooks. The saying has it that "Campers bring the Ten Commandments and a ten dollar bill and don't break either."

At age 62, seniors qualify for "Golden Ager I.D.s" that get them free National Parks entry and reduced camping rates. Some make the RV their permanent home, going north in the summer and south in winter. They pick a postal address near a friend's home for all mail and have it forwarded to various places they will visit. There are no real estate taxes to pay and no fixing up the old homestead. The chief expense is for gasoline. Repairs are few, as good RVs hold up well and easily rack up 100,000 miles and more.

Increasingly, Elderhostel programs have attracted seniors with a yen to combine travel with education. (Most libraries carry updated newspaper listings of them.) For a pittance, one can attend professors' talks and discussions on various topics ranging from geology or flora and fauna of a certain area to interpretations of constitutional law to life among the ancient Indians, such as the Anasazi in the Southwest. Generally, these are sponsored by colleges and one can take the non-credit courses there or in many foreign countries.

Retirees not interested in travel and who are more service-oriented have followed the national surge for volunteerism. They serve as guides for various...