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Checking in With A Few Friends

I’ve met so many interesting people while writing my blog. I just wanted to catch up with a few of them. Here’s a quick update.

When I first started my blog, I spent a great deal of time coaxing and cajoling my friends to be part of my “project”. Now that I have published over 18 blogs, I thought it was a great time to check in with some of my earlier blog participants. I’m happy to say, they are doing great!

A New Start After Walmart

You might remember that Bert decided that staying home during the pandemic was not working for him. He was spending too much time in his basement eating and drinking too much and wasting a lot of time. After a year at Walmart, Bert decided it was time to move on and started a Human Service Counseling Certificate Program at CCBC last fall. With this certificate from the state, Bert can work as a drug and alcohol counselor.

Being over 60, Bert was able to take advantage of the free tuition at CCBC. “I only pay about $200 a class,” Bert said.

So far, Bert has completed 15 credits which allows him to work as a drug and alcohol counselor trainee and is enrolled during the summer session. He proudly states that he has 4.0 GPA.

Through CCBC, he was able to get an interview at Hope’s Horizon in Parkville. After the interview, he was hired on the spot and will be working there part-time while continuing to go to school.

Hope’s Horizon is a treatment facility offering rehab and intensive outpatient therapy. He will be working with groups of men, approximately 80-100 men in all. He will be responsible for creating treatment programs and mediating group sessions. “I’m excited to get started,” Bert said. “Three years ago, I couldn’t imagine being here.”

Now, Bert feels he is on the right track and is looking forward to finishing up his certificate program in about 2 years.

To read Bert’s post: A New Start After Walmart.

To find out more about his program: Human Services Counseling

Staying Positive While Facing Changes

When Janet Streit entered her supervisor’s office in March 2022, she was told she was being let go. Although it was somewhat unexpected, Janet faced this setback with the same positive attitude she faced everything. After determining she would be ok financially, she started on a plan for her new life.

Janet knew that her new life would include helping others live their best life. During the pandemic, she accomplished her goal of losing 70 pounds with Weight Watchers and wanted to help others.

After being retired for a few months, Janet put in her application to become a coach leading meetings.  Now, she’s happy to announce, she got the job and is ready to help others on their weight loss journey with her amazing talent to take any recipe and make it “points friendly”.

Janet also shared during her blog post that she wanted to take a trip to the Adirondacks with her brother. Well, as you can see by the pictures, she made it. Being 70 pounds less, Janet is finding it easier to walk and hike the trails, but at the end of the day, it’s still exhausting.

To read Janet’s blog

A Picture Perfect Retirement

Geoff and his daughter in Alaska

Geoff Prior was one of my very first blogs.  After a long career in IT, Geoff decided to take to the open road and started traveling around the United States in his van. While traveling, he started taking pictures. His pictures have now won awards and he is getting better every day using his natural talent with new equipment and new techniques.

This summer Geoff wanted to cross something off his bucket list. He is driving to Alaska from Maryland. Along the way, he has had company. His daughter has been his companion for part of the trip. They have been exploring Alaska together since June 17th.

Geoff’s pictures are amazing and his eye for capturing the perfect moment gets better and better. If you want to see more of his pictures go to GRPImagery.com

To read Geoff’s blog, go to: Picture Perfect Retirement

If you know someone that would make a great subject for my blog, please email me at ksparis15@gmail.com.

A Picture Perfect Retirement

From IT professional to a traveling man, Geoff Prior is having the time of his life.

“I made it to the bonus territory,” Geoffrey Prior said. At 57, he had lived longer than his own father and he knew he wanted to do something special with the extra time he had.

Geoff was ready to make a change in his life and decided he needed to transition from his busy lifestyle traveling around the world as an IT executive. He took a job where he worked from home and started to wind down. Then Geoff got hit hard with sciatica and he began to wonder, “Is it too late?” Too late to have the type of retirement he dreamed of filled with hiking, biking and traveling.

He steeled his resolve to get healthy and knew then it was time to retire. In 2019, at the age of 59, he and his wife decided they had sufficient money so he could retire. There was still a question of health care. Geoff said they decided to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act. “I’m loving it,” Geoff said. He admits that initially there were bureaucratic hassles, but now he says, “it’s the best health care I’ve ever had.”

Beginning His Dream Retirement

Geoff knew he wanted to make travel a priority in retirement. As an IT executive, he had spent much of his life traveling around the world for work. He knew his retirement travel would be totally different since he wouldn’t have the finances for planes and hotels, but his priority was more to just see new places.

So, he bought a travel van, not the VW Campervan of our youth. Instead, it was a 2019 Travato Campervan with a bathroom, shower, refrigerator, stove and two beds.   His first trip was a 72-day trip across the country that was a high school graduation present for his son.

Because his own father died when he was 12, he never had experiences like that with him, so spending time with his son was important.  They started down south in the Smokey Mountains and then travelled west through St. Louis, Kansas then up to Lake Superior, Rochester and Cape Cod.  Along the way they took biking trips on “Rails to Trails”. Geoff said, “Miraculously, we got along great”.

This first trip only made him want more and he began planning trips every year. The next summer during 2020 he went on a 3-month trip during which he spent much of his time alone. This trip was difficult because of COVID. Even as a self-described introvert, the lack of interaction with others, even as simple as going into a diner and eating with other people around him, was a challenge. But Geoff said he was always “comfortable with himself” and he spent time exploring and taking pictures.

His five-month 2021 adventure was a little easier and his wife, who lost her job during COVID, was able to join him for part of the trip as well as his son for another part.  They traveled in his van visiting Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona.   As the summer drew to a close, not yet full of travel, Geoff headed north on his own to visit Glacier, Banff, Jasper, the Tetons, and Yellowstone National Parks.     

A New Hobby/Business is Born

An additional benefit of his traveling retirement has been starting a side business, GRP Imagery, where he sells the photos he takes while traveling.

Geoff had been taking pictures for years of the family vacations and important events. But something changed when he started taking pictures to document his travels. He started sharing them on Facebook and Instagram and received great feedback from his family and friends. Then he decided to upgrade to a Sony a7iii full-frame camera and an assortment of lenses.

“I realized they (his pictures) were as good as any picture I had seen on the internet,” Geoff said. In fact, they are so good, he has started entering them in contests and winning! His first win was a photo he entered through the Glacier National Park Conservancy Photo Contest.

Geoff’s Winning Photograph

The photo was an example of Astro-Landscape Photography. This is a type of photography Geoff specializes in. It is exactly what it sounds like, shooting a landscape with the Milky Way in the background. To get these pictures he needs to wake up early and take photos between 2-4 a.m. or stay up late and shoot after 10 p.m. To get the perfect picture he takes multiple pictures. 10-15 and stacks them.

He also selected as a category winner in the Stewardship Network 2021 Nature Photo Contest for his picture of a goat. “I take full advantage of serendipitous moments,” Geoff said. The day he took the goat picture, he wasn’t taking pictures of animals, but a goat jumped down right in front of him and another awarding winning picture was born.

One of his favorite photo stories is about his trip down the Oregon Coast. He describes capturing a sunset at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse

It was so beautiful that he stayed there much longer than he should have and wasn’t sure where he was going to sleep. Luckily, there was a Walmart nearby and he “Wally-Docked”, which means taking your camper and sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. Not only does Walmart allow this, but also you can “Cracker-Dock” at Cracker Barrel.

He was able to stay so close to the lighthouse that he got up in the morning to take sunrise photos as well.

Life At Home

Geoff has 1,000s of photographs and spends hours processing when he’s home. He is also taking classes that can help enhance his career. “I took Adobe Illustrator through CCBC online,” Geoff said. CCBC has a program where people over 60 can take classes tuition-free.

This class will help him with his photography business. “I love having the opportunity to explore new things,” Geoff said.

He considers himself a “rookie retiree” who’s still learning how to manage his time, especially when he is home. He’s been considering getting a part-time job, but doesn’t want it to interfere with his ability travel.

Right now, he’s preparing for his road trip to Alaska (which has been on his bucket list for years), entering more contests and selling his photography through GRP Imagery.

Geoff’s advice for other individuals considering retirement. “Don’t wait until it’s too late.” He said he has never regretted his decision to retire early.

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