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One thing I’ve learned about unretirement since starting to write “The View From Unretirement” column in February 2022: it helps to change your view from time to time if you can. Literally.
My wife Liz and I, both retired journalists who take on freelance gigs, normally live in our house in suburban New Jersey. But during the past two Februarys, we and our rescue dog Joey decamped to an Airbnb in Los Angeles, trading our view of New York City skyscrapers for one of the Hollywood sign. It’s been one of the joys of my unretirement.
Want to check out a new area in retirement? Find inspiration here.
We come to LA partly to escape what we expect will be frigid Northeast weather (more on that shortly). But mostly, it’s to spend precious time with our adult sons Aaron and Will, their wives Leigh Anne and Jen, and Jen’s mom Karen — who are now all Angelenos — and to do things we can’t do back home. Fortunately I’m able to work from here, too.
February in a new place
In the past month, I:
· Spent a weekend visiting Santa Barbara with Liz, Aaron, Will and Leigh Anne and taking in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (our sons are screenwriters and Leigh Anne’s an American Film Institute archivist)
· Attended a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert featuring acclaimed pianist Lang Lang in the spectacular Walt Disney Concert Hall
· Ate at a variety of delicious, unique and sometimes historic, restaurants.
· Met up with LA-based work acquaintances — some leading impressive unretirements (Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez, who recently began writing the Golden State column about aging in California, and Milken Institute Senior Adviser Paul Irving), others not yet retired (executive and career transition coach John Tarnoff and journalist/grief counselor Larry Carlat).
· Joined Liz for lunch in Pasadena with a former colleague of hers and her husband who were also visiting from New Jersey, but here to spend time with their new grandchild.
· Took in the intriguing exhibit about Joan Didion at the Hammer Museum.
· Saw a Writers Guild of America (WGA) screening of the new Ashton Kutcher/Reese Witherspoon rom-com, “Your Place or Mine,” followed by a talkback with its writer/director, Aline Brosh McKenna (courtesy of our WGA-member sons).
· Laughed at The Comedy Store, seeing stand-ups including Tom Papa, Iliza Shlesinger and Pauly Shore (whose mom started the iconic place).
· Went to Karen’s home for a Super Bowl party, cheering on The Philadelphia Eagles, her and Jen’s hometown team.
· Wrote seven articles and began planning the 2023 NYU Summer Publishing Institute Digital Media Strategies program, which I’ll run.
· Relaxed!
It’s cold and it’s damp
The month was invigorating, making me so energized I related to the buzzy new Atlantic article by journalist Jennifer Senior, “The Puzzling Gap Between How Old You Are and How Old You Think You Are.” She’s 53 but writes that she thinks she’s 36.
I couldn’t have asked for a better change of scene, weather excepted. Many nights, mornings and some afternoons were so chilly, I needed to borrow a coat from Aaron (I optimistically didn’t bring one).
A chilly night out in Santa Barbara.
Credit: Richard Eisenberg
During our last weekend, LA got pummeled with days of downpours, leading to flash flood alerts, closed roads and downed trees. All I kept thinking was the great Albert Hammond song, “It Never Rains in Southern California,” whose lyrics say: “It never rains in California, but girl, don’t they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours.”
Nearby mountains had snow and a form of weather I’d never heard about: graupel, which is the name for tiny snowballs and ice pellets. Ventura County, about 70 miles northwest, had a blizzard warning, the first time since 1989.
Soon, I’ll be back in uncharacteristically mild New Jersey, returning to my normal view and facing the coming months of scheduled medical and dental procedures including cataract surgery in both eyes.
Those operations ought to give me a very different view in unretirement.
Do you transplant yourself in unretirement or plan to do so? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Please email me.
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