Where do You Want to Retire... and Why?

Discussion in 'Free Zone' started by Mikie, Aug 10, 2016.


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  1. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    Now I'm not talking about 6 feet under, I'm talking about when you get done with the dumb job thang, where do you want to do most your hanging out and riding...
    Have you got a plan?

    I'm thinking Prescott currently because it is relatively in between Flagstaff and Sedona (sort of...)
    Suggestions, comments, snide remarks? :cautious: :)
    prescott.PNG
     
    Maddog, Danmtchl, Cisco Roots and 3 others like this.
  2. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    St George, Utah. That puts me right smack in the middle of everything I want to do. Not just riding, although there is tons of that within a 50 mile radius.
     
    Danmtchl, UPSed and Mikie like this.
  3. UPSed

    UPSed iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Simi Valley
    Name:
    Ed
    Current Bike:
    Niner Jet 9 RDO
    I am totally undecided myself. Bend has been on my mind for awhile now. A buddy of mine was here last weekend from Prescott and now I'm confused. I have family in Bend but Jennifer's family is here so Prescott would be relatively close. I will have to get over there and check it out. He has offered me a place to stay while I'm there. But if Mikie is going to be there then it's a no-brainer. We will be neighbors!
     
  4. UPSed

    UPSed iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Simi Valley
    Name:
    Ed
    Current Bike:
    Niner Jet 9 RDO
    This place totally changed my mind while we were there on our honeymoon in February. Unfortunately there is not a lot going on there. I guess another trip is in order to confirm.
     
  5. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    ^^^Oh! I like the way you think!!!^^^
    Let's go check it out!
     
    Danmtchl and UPSed like this.
  6. Danmtchl

    Danmtchl iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Bakersfield
    Name:
    Dan
    Current Bike:
    2020 Trek Fuel EX 9.7
    i have two places I'd like to retire at. Either Pacific Grove, love those Victorian homes in a small town or Santa Cruz, you can surf in the morning and ride in the afternoon and take in a roller coaster in the evening. Have been looking lately to get in at a better price as opposed to 20 years from now.
     
  7. mike

    mike iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Western US
    Name:
    Mike O
    Current Bike:
    HT, FS
    Where?

    Family has to be a consideration – we owe the ones who raised us. Most of us have an in-law family and a blood family, which usually equals two locations.

    Then there are the places that we, personally, like. Outdoor rec ops and all the rest.

    Then are are places that we can afford to buy.

    Then there's the fact that things change, and the place you thought was Nirvana becomes someplace less suited to needs. Nothing is static, despite our wishes and perception.


    I have eschewed the classic notion of retirement for decades, and still do not recognize it. I enjoy the remote freelance and project-based work I do, so why would I decide to end my generous pay from easy, comfortable work that I'm suited to? At some ripe, old age I simply could not accomplish what I did in my 20s–40s. I've lived 1.5-2 years of my life on rock walls, and many more months on bike rides and other outdoor flings. I need rest time, and may as well make some dough playing with computers and making sh!t up while doing it. DINK, live minimally on cash basis. I'll never be "rich," but I am wealthy now with experience and freedom. I took a year+ off once. 100% time off is just plain effing boring. It leads to overuse injury. Nobody's around to do things because they're all working, and the "retired" are too old and spent to do badass stuff, or they've lost their affinity for the suffering required.

    So, yea...haha. We will continue to have minimal financial commitment to any location. As I wrote elsewhere, just cheap places, fixers, trailers, land-only property, motorhome, van and such. Next year my wife will have a FT transient job that includes living per diem near sites in National Forests, Monuments and Parks. So those locations is where we will be partially "living" for the foreseeable future.

    There are so many great places to spend some time...I can't see picking one and saying that's it, forever. Living in various locales, traveling and riding the Divide opened my eyes to many great areas, burgs and different people across our country. That discovery is a micron of what's actually out there. Picking one or three retirement areas is, to me, saying I will never discover more of those rare, off-grid places. And putting all my coin into one place will ensure that I can't.


    PS: @Danmtchl, PG is nice to vacation for a week or month. I lived there for a summer. To each his own, but it wouldn't rank high on my list for several reasons. Traffic, people, mentality...NB all over again. If you love golf and walks along the Point, it's probably okay.
     
  8. HBkites

    HBkites Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Huntington Beach
    Name:
    Sharone
    Current Bike:
    Why S7, Revel Rascal, Spark RC
    I would like to buy a small ranch (that require no work) by Whitefish Montana for the summer. Something tropical for the winter (Belize come to mind). And a house overlooking the ocean in Montecito for the fall and spring......... Now back to work!
     
    Cisco Roots, mike, Maddog and 2 others like this.
  9. Danmtchl

    Danmtchl iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Bakersfield
    Name:
    Dan
    Current Bike:
    2020 Trek Fuel EX 9.7
    I understand that the aquarium is right there which contribute to the traffic and people, but you can live out of the tourist area and not really have to deal with all that. I just love that small town vibe. I have played many round of golf in the area.
     
    Mikie and mike like this.
  10. kioti

    kioti iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Jim Jennings
    Current Bike:
    ibis ripley
    Now I'm totally confused. I thought I did all my exploring over the last 4+ decades and was ready to burrow.

    Been here in Trabuco for 15 years now and like the neighborhood, families, BBQ's, la la la. Spent a lot of my free time riding and digging. So thoughts of Prescott, Bend, Durango... have been floating around of late. But some location-hopping sounds good, too (ala mike).

    Truth is, retirement has been a life long endeavor, blended in with working to pay the bills. The bills won't stop, but I got lots of big adventures checked off while young enough to survive them. So we're looking for a place on the outskirts of some interesting town, with a big workshop I can build things in, a comfortable house and low enough overhead we can head out once in awhile for some lo-budget travel.
     
    Cisco Roots, HBkites, Mikie and 3 others like this.
  11. blixet

    blixet Well-Known Member

    Location:
    San Gabriel Valley
    Name:
    Tom
    Current Bike:
    Transition Scout, TJ Ti
    Like what we'll be wearing after being retired for a while, "Depends" :coffee:. For every married guy with a dream retirement there's a woman behind him rolling her eyes thinking "yeah right".

    Have been retired for 6 years and wanting to move since day one, no argument from my wife in theory, but family considerations keep us leashed for the time being. 94 y.o. MIL still living largely independently and wife needs to stay in reasonable proximity. Can't really complain as this is probably my long term care insurance as well. So until something changes, no move to the beach or central CA. Just drive to surf like I have been for 50 years. At least I can ride my bike to the hills from home. But those 100 deg + days w/no AC are getting really old.
     
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  12. Danmtchl

    Danmtchl iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Bakersfield
    Name:
    Dan
    Current Bike:
    2020 Trek Fuel EX 9.7
    No AC, I am feeling for you.
     
    Mikie and mike like this.
  13. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    No matter how fit we think we are, advancing age will require reasonable proximity to adequate medical services.

    That's one reason I consider southern Utah to be ideal.
     
    Cisco Roots, Mikie, herzalot and 2 others like this.
  14. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    I love where I'm at! Redlands is really great. Tons of road and MTB riding, always changing it up. A walkable downtown area. Great restaurants. An hour and a quarter to Big Bear. An hour and a quarter to Newport. No traffic obviously for either of those trips. We're thinking of buying a smaller, single story rental that we can move into for retirement. I wouldn't mind a nice place to get away to in summer when it's hot, but we already have three weeks of time-share in San Clemente, so why not travel to Whistler, Marin, Boulder, etc. during the summer!
     
  15. Maddog

    Maddog Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Lancaster
    Name:
    Greg Madison
    Current Bike:
    Intense Tracer 275
    With all the time off we've enjoyed as professional educators :geek: my wife and I have been blessed to travel to lots of cool places with our travel trailer. We have considered full-time rv travel but have settled on choosing a nice area, out of CA and low maintenance so we can go to other nice places with the trailer a few months out of the year. Everything depends on health so we're glad we still have that and pray we keep it for the next 2 or 3 decades! We're going to check out the Couer d'lane area next summer with another pass through Reno and Boise. It is fun looking at different places!
     
  16. dstepper

    dstepper Member

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Dean Stepper
    Current Bike:
    2014 Turner Czar
    I own property in Prescott. My nephew is a general contractor in Prescott. http://capistranohomes.com/ My family owns many properties around Prescott with that said I will retire in Sedona but most likely also keeping a place in Laguna. I could live in Prescott very easy but I would be traveling to Sedona and Flag to ride often.

    Dean
     
    Danmtchl, Cisco Roots, konakc and 4 others like this.
  17. mike

    mike iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Western US
    Name:
    Mike O
    Current Bike:
    HT, FS
    Irrespective of "retirement," (and residents seemingly leaving en mass) SoCal has some good places to live. No place is without down sides. Yes, it's expensive overall, but I'm glad to have family here versus very many places in the US.
     
  18. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    Wow. That's a tough one. I love where I live, but who knows what the economic, health, political, environmental, family, pension, etc. conditions will be in 2028? The equity in my house is my only financial security, but the mortgage is my biggest liability as well. I better get that squared away, otherwise, I will be forced to sell and live somewhere that I can purchase with the proceeds.

    So, like most of my life so far, I have no plans. Yeah, I know - he who fails to plan, plans to fail. I have no intention of failing. I've done well in my personal life evaluating options and making decisions on the fly. Some might call that wisdom - the wisdom to know that there are too many variables outside of my control to make a decision right now. Some might call it procrastination, laziness or denial. I'm OK with any of those judgments.
     
  19. tick

    tick Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    Tick
    Current Bike:
    Process 111
    I'd like to pick somewhere that takes advantage of my 401k deferrals, and stay in the west too. If only I could afford the good part of wyoming.
     
    Danmtchl, Mikie and mike like this.
  20. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    The dream for me is to live somewhere with great high alpine summer riding from say June to October and then somewhere the rest of the year that has great winter riding like SoCal or AZ. I like the idea of a different home base each summer as that would let me really get to know a place and find some of the great lesser known rides.

    I don't need to retire to be able to do this, I could very easily work remotely now from just about anywhere. I just need to convince my boss that this is a good idea. Doesn't have to be a full summer either. Even a couple or three months would scratch the itch and would be like getting an extra month or more of vacation.

    I could fairly easily live anywhere along the west coast year round also. I am not a winter person so if I did live near mountains I would need easy access to somewhere with good winter riding, like Durango to Moab or Salt Lake City to StGeorge. Summer destinations would be places like Durango, Bozeman, Oakridge, Tahoe, Downieville, Flag, lots of other places out west.
     
    Danmtchl, Cisco Roots, mike and 4 others like this.
  21. tick

    tick Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    Tick
    Current Bike:
    Process 111
    a bunch of my extended family has moved up to the Spokane/Idaho region recently, oddly enough all of them teachers/admin, retired or otherwise. Just visit in winter before committing. Summer isn't a good time to decide
     
  22. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    I was gonna say something racist, but they don't even deserve my comment.
     
    Danmtchl likes this.
  23. konakc

    konakc iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    kc
    Hey Dean,
    I know you're a man of few words, and have been to a lot of great trails, w/ knowledge and wisdom from what appears to be a long time of riding different places... (from STR and here...) So all in all, IF you had to pick one area to ride, where would it be?
     
    Danmtchl likes this.
  24. mike

    mike iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Western US
    Name:
    Mike O
    Current Bike:
    HT, FS
    You do have a plan, though. A flexible one that accounts for the unforeseen.

    Some like every detail worked out to the nth degree. They take vacations and bring a daytimer to stay on schedule. I can't bear to live that way, and my better half is probably even less a plan-aheader. Some never quite relish the now; some can barely break out of it. Power to you for keeping options open while raising a child.


    Sorry for the non-geographic diversion... Back to discussing our first-world conundrum :)
     
  25. I think we'll be floating between Mexico and here. Wife gets her dad's house in Monterey. I have my house in Mazatlan. Not much MTBing in Mazatlan though. Guadalajara-Tepic (State of Jalisco) & Oaxaca has some nice MTBing though.
     
    mike, herzalot, Danmtchl and 4 others like this.
  26. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    Who are you and what have you done with @DangerDirtyD ?
    I don't even know what you are talking about here... you used to be such a nice boy...:inlove:
     
    mike, Danmtchl and DangerDirtyD like this.
  27. Cisco Roots

    Cisco Roots Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Maple Valley WA
    Name:
    Cisco
    Current Bike:
    Yeti SB140 LR
    My mom is from Costa Rica. If there is any ideal place I would retire, it would be Costa Rica. Beautiful country, beautiful people, culture, food, quality of life and yes, Mountain Biking.

    upload_2016-8-11_10-35-13.jpeg
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKFlH7Z-MZ8wBmH4V9y2ESgBCNwwNzoUnSpdUmjSdzebVKGUCewg.jpg
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTkkh6ikM-lR2k4jJ0SwAm25Q8LZOEdZBFuEOFhX0pvicqGr7LAIw.jpg
    upload_2016-8-11_10-40-17.jpeg
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRw4ShNp_ugVdFeLN-xhLwyFve8iuecirqY9HxrkfCbswW8aUkA.jpg
     
  28. UPSed

    UPSed iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Simi Valley
    Name:
    Ed
    Current Bike:
    Niner Jet 9 RDO
    Beautiful! I'm guessing my retirement dollar would go pretty far in Costa Rica?
     
    mike, Danmtchl and Mikie like this.
  29. Cisco Roots

    Cisco Roots Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Maple Valley WA
    Name:
    Cisco
    Current Bike:
    Yeti SB140 LR
    Not so much anymore unfortunately, it's gotten pretty pricey as of late. Lot's of American expats. The word got out I guess....
     
    mike, herzalot, Cyclotourist and 3 others like this.
  30. Cornholio

    Cornholio iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    B
    Current Bike:
    Huffy
    Spent a week in Montezuma, Costa Rica a couple of years ago and told my wife that CR is high on my retirement list after that trip.
     
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As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


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