Life in retirement - fast and furious!

A full year of retirement has passed and at a furious pace!

Maybe, because I retired early on 31 August 2023, I subconsciously wanted to make sure I took advantage of my extra year of freedom in 2024. Or, maybe it was because I am becoming more and more aware of the finite time I have left in this world to do all the things I want to do!

Either way, it was a supercharged year. Fresh back from the Africa trip of Autumn 2023, it wasn’t long before I embarked on lot more travelling and many other activities.

2024 travel destinations

• Washington DC twice in spring and summer to see friends and music (Young Fathers and the Rolling Stones)

• Dunkeld and Kilconquhar in Scotland to stay at our Scottish timeshares for 2 weeks in the March. Such beautiful settings and also time to catch up with my former OECD colleague Maureen and my two brothers on my birthday

• Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland in the US, as part of the Rolling Stones “Hackney Diamonds” tour in June!

• Dinard, Edinburgh and London more than once. In fact, Dinard several times and where I wrote this end-of-year blog. It’s becoming my go-to place whenever I need a break, or when the sea calls me, which is quite often :)

• Antibes in the South of France for a week with my wife Pamela in June. Another seaside location with a romantic old town

• Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna and Prague on a Eurail train pass with Pam visiting a few European capitals in the Autumn

• Tuscany in Italy for a fun birthday weekend with old friends…we go back nearly 40 years now!

• A solo trip to Dieppe in northern France for a fabulous day trip on the beach. Was easy to reach by train and it was stunning.

• To complete the year, we will be going to Cumbria in the north of England for an extended family Christmas. Staying in an amazing castle and then to cap it all off, a traditional New Year in Edinburgh!

A lot of music

• Young Fathers (unique "progressive hip-hop” band from Edinburgh, although I went to Washington DC to see them!)

• Rolling Stones (still touring and still doing great shows). Since Knebworth 1976, I have only missed the 1981/82 tour!

• Rock in the Barn two day festival (our local independent rock festival). It’ always a blast and a great way to discover new music

• Deadletter (the Yorkshire band I did in fact discover at Rock in the Barn this year!) Live video

• Ezra Collective (stars of the hot London jazz scene): Live video

• Bob Dylan (the legend that he is, was on form)

• Honeyglaze (a discovery from the By:larm festival in Olso Norway, where I had gone to see my son Nexcyia perform): I Feel It All (live)

Some big events in 2024

• The birth of our first grandchild, Clémence (congrats Arielle and Nick)

• Our son Adam moved to Berlin - following the likes of Bowie & Iggy :)

• The UK (yeah) and US elections (boo)

• We attended both the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris during the summer and what a great time we had. So well organised and such a good vibe. Maybe LA 2028!

• I got my running shoes back on in the autumn and did the 5k Forth Road Bridge run in Edinburgh with my brother Edwin. Tempted for next year as its an easy fun run!

• Back home we completed major Bathroom and shower room renovations. It went on forever but we are happy with the results. Huge transformations

• I am mentioning Rock in the Barn again because I attended many of the forerunners of this festival, when it was hosted in a field by the Seine. Its gone off on a few tangents since then but now established in Vernon itself, just a 10in walk from home. Meaning I will be there every year until old age stops me!

• The Dinard Film festival Another regular independent festival, this time showcasing independent British and Irish films rather than live music. Its the one time you find me going to see 10 films in a few days!

• Have to mention Blencowe. Our home for a week over Christmas. A fabulous family event comprising 17 family members including new baby Clemence - oh and two dogs - Roxy and Luna. It will be madness of the best kind.

• And while in Blencowe Pam and I will be celebrating our Pearl wedding anniversary - yes 30 years 🥰

The admin overload is still ever present. Property Management work, Taxes, Inheritance, LibDems in France. Just keeping the social media platforms @Jumpy Legs , @chezvous-cheznous , @nextstageblog and my websites chezvous-cheznous and NextStage.life active is a full time job!

There are some downsides

• My ambitions for a healthier life have taken a slide

• I am having problems sleeping at night -2am and 4am arousing’s being quite regular

• It’s been very expensive !

So for 2025, my “real year” of retirement, I plan to calm it down a bit!

• More time in the garden and making the house even more beautiful

• More reading, watching films and going to the theatre

• More prudent discretionary spending!

But the travel and music bug is hard to kick.

• The Stones will tour Europe in 2025, maybe for the last time!

• As mentioned above, our local music festival “Rock in the Barn” in Vernon and the Dinard film festival are annual events and both are must-see!

• I already have tickets for 3 gigs in 2025 booked - Thee Three Souls (Paris), Dennis Bovell (London) and the 1 day Psych Festival (Edinburgh). Nexcyia in Berlin is also on my list, if I get an invite :)

Anyway, that’s my 2024 briefing. Will be seeing some of you in 2025!!

Some Adjustments

Since returning from Africa, there has been a period of adjustment post retirement. I settled into a pile of admin (carte de residence, taxes, inheritance) and other financial matters.

But true to form, I started travelling pretty quickly. First to Braga, Portgual for an electronic music and digital arts festival that my son “Nexcyia” was performing at :)

Then a series of short trips to London, Edinburgh and Dinard to visit family but also take care of Chezvous-Cheznous business. There is always something to be done!

Our faithful and much loved Polish sheepdog Fenix passed not long before Christmas and Luna, a cocker/bichon frisé mix puppy arrived. A very different animal, not least because it’s a girl not a guy!

Christmas came and went fairly quietly for us and I fought off the January blues by starting to work on this website amongst other things. One of those other things was to embark on “Dry January” and radically change my eating habits and exercise regime. I have stuck with the lifestyle changes into February, lost a bunch of weight and started training for a 5k+ run.

Hey retirement and 2024 are suddenly looking quite good! Hope my Doctor thinks the same :)

And so it began

And so it began with a party. My first day of retirement (1/9/2023) was a blow out bash at the Point Éphémère. We probably chose each other - my people and the slightly edgy venue. We couldn’t have been better matched.

We drank, ate, danced and told funny stories until 2am. What a blast. I then spent 2 days in Paris feeling properly READY for the Next Stage.

Next Stop: Cape Town