As I shared yesterday afternoon, although I believe National Save for Retirement Week is important, I find the topic dreadfully dull when stretched out for a week of blog posts. Lesson learned.

Still, I don’t think all retirement discussions have to induce snores or tears. In fact, when you think about it, retirement — especially early retirement — ought to be something to celebrate. When a person has managed to save and make smart choices, they have a chance to opt out of the rat race and pursue the things they really love.

(Note that some people, such as my wife, are fortunate to work at jobs they love in the first place. They’re already doing something they really love.)

Rather than talk more about the numbers or the various types of retirement plans, I thought it would be fun to have a chatty open discussion about our actual plans for the future. Each of us has a different vision of what we’d do if we didn’t have to work, a different reason for saving. I want to know what you intend to do once you’ve reached that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I’ll go first.

I don’t actually envision my retired life being much different than it is right now. I’d still write — I’d just do less of it. For the past few years, I’ve spent 60-80 hours a week writing. That’s too much.

I got to spend most of September writing just 20 hours per week. With the rest of my time, I worked in the yard, walked around the neighborhood, and read comic books. I have to tell you, that’s ideal. That’s what I want daily life to be like in retirement. And I want to be able to spend several weeks per year traveling with Kris, visiting countries all around the world.

That, my friends, is my ideal retirement.

What about you? What do you see yourself doing in retirement? What does retirement mean to you?