Retirement 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of Mondays ago I finally did it. I revealed to my closest coworkers and friends my official retirement date. It will be “Leap Day” – 29 February 2024 – a great day to remember for the rest of my life. I’ll actually be reducing my 40-hour-per-week work schedule down to 16 hours per week with the start of the new year. I plan to take (“burn-off”) my remaining annual leave on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and that will give me 4-day weekends in January and February to end my nearly 39-year USAF military and civilian career.

This December will essentially be my final month of full-time work, as I gradually transition into long-awaited retirement. I’ve been dreaming of December 2023 for many years now, and it’s almost here. It’s when I reach my MRA (“minimum retirement age”).

Starting on April 01ST 2024 – the day after Easter Sunday – I’ll begin my 3,000+ mile post-retirement road-trip to and from North Texas. I’ll be visiting family over there – and friends along the way. I’ll also be visiting roadside attractions and historical museums between here and there. I know when the trip starts – but the end of the trip is open. I’ll be retired, so I can spend as much time as I feel like on the road and away from home. It will be my vacation of a lifetime.

Fun Fact: I will be in the Dallas Texas area for the 100% total solar eclipse on April 08TH 2024 at 1:40 PM CDT. Daytime becomes nighttime for 4 minutes !

I’ve often stated that planning a vacation is a lot of fun for me, but once it’s all planned out – now I have to actually do it. I’ve planned many vacations that I never went on. Normally I meticulously plan out a vacation weeks and even months in advance – to the hour – for each day of the trip. That won’t happen for this trip. I probably won’t even know where I’ll be stopping for each night (at a hotel) until it actually happens. It’ll be dependent on the people and the places that I visit during each day. I may drive 50 miles in a single day – or 100 – or 250 – or 500. OK – probably not 500. There’s no rush during this trip. I don’t want to miss cool people or interesting places along the way.

Next #TravelThursday – it won’t happen in September for the first time since January. I’ll explain. Let’s keep traveling together.