Work to solve problems. Not on a fixed schedule, but my choosing.

Also, long walks and visiting people I like.

Work on Free Open Source Software. Seriously, I fucking love software engineering and I can’t really imagine doing anything else with my life. In fact, that’s kinda my current plan - work towards financial independence and then work on things that matter to me, on my own terms. I really hope I won’t get burned out somewhere in the process.

I’m a licensed electrician. I do construction for my job.

If I didn’t need to work to support myself and my family, I’d offer my services as a licensed electrician to my community at-cost. I’d charge for materials, but not my own labor. Basically, just use the skills I have to support others in my community who could benefit from those skills.

But I also wouldn’t work anything close to 40 hours/week.

I’d start with gardening, fishing, road tripping, camping, hiking, but I think that might eventually not be stimulating enough. I’d probably pickup a hobby that would enable artistic expression. Maybe pottery, or stained glass?

Get a proper sleep.

Painting, drawing. General arts. Travel. Eating adventures. Fitness. Electronics and automation. Programming. Health focus.

And I’d make my point and click adventure game. Finally.

The dream

do you want a list?! I have adhd and 1.324 different hobbies and projects in different stages of completeness. If I had free time I would get 200 more hobies and start 200 more project without finishing the ones before lol

Travel, camp, travel. Play with dog

All the things I do for fun and hobbies I would do a lot more. Which would likely be the following:

• Exercise (running in the warm months and skiing in the cold)
• TTRPGs (I might move from 1 day of the week into two, and assuming everyone else has the same deal play in-person instead of digitally)
• Reading (books and more books)

But mostly I would work on living the permaculture / herbalism fantasy.

• Do a lot more herbal formulation and
• Maybe open the small apothecary to sell things at Art fairs and other makers markets.
• Turn my urban yard into a full food forest to help grow some of my own food, and herbs. (I want to have an urban oasis of edible trees, bushes and other useful plants)
• Volunteer more a local prairie restoration group that I have worked with in the past
• Finally spend some time gorilla gardening on open lots and sides of alleyways around my neighborhood to spread the plant love.

I’m a software engineer so I’d probably seek a way to use my skills in a way that benefits people, possibly something tied to volunteering work I already do. And also contribute to some open source project.

I’d try to maintain a somewhat regular working schedule but with fewer hours per day than I currently spend at my job. Maybe I’d travel and work from different places.

You’re describing retirement. And, boy have I spent a LOT of time thinking about what that looks like.

A lot of people have lists of things they’d do, see, learn, or be. I had one too, but it kept fucking changing depending on where I was in life and what my interests were.

Any list I had always felt restrictive. Here’s where I ended up instead…

I would put my energy and attention only on the things that I want to put them on at any given time.

I guess some call that living in the moment, but I call it retirement.

So many hobbies

That’s my current situation after retiring a few years ago. I stay busy with personal software projects, running a weekly in-person D&D campaign and playing in others, cooking, 3d design and printing, Arduino/ESP and electronics, woodworking, reading, TV & movies, and random crafting and other stuff that comes up.

I’d love to keep working and volunteering. I’d still contribute to society and the social network that comes with it, but with none of the burden of having to earn money to survive.

Work so that others can also have their needs met.