When I stepped away from my corporate career, I imagined myself drifting gracefully into the role of “lady who lunches”. A few handpicked consultancy gigs here and there to keep the pension fund topped up but mostly long days at the beach, lounging by the pool, girly lunches and getting good value out of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I even deluded myself that I would overcome my inherent reluctance and start exercising regularly.
In reality the transition was not seamless. At first, I was bereft. I loved my job and truth be told was defined by it. I thrived on deadlines, stress and responsibility and without them I felt adrift. I wanted my old life and identity back. Too consumed by work, I had never made time for hobbies, so I didn’t suddenly morph into a golfer, painter or bridge enthusiast. The closest I got to a hobby was reading a few pages of a trashy novel before nodding off with the light on.
Freelance work has been my saving grace—it gives me the buzz of contributing without the debilitating grind of full-time hours. However, my illusion of early retirement didn’t feature quite so much domestic bliss.
Back in Malaysia food was cheap and home help cheaper. In Mauritius dining out is not exactly at hawker centre pricing, so we shop and cook far more than before. Cooking now feels less like a passion and more like a part-time job. And whilst home help remains affordable, I now find it intrusive. Additionally, many cleaners seem to regard a vacuum cleaner as a mythical beast and detergents as suspicious concoctions much preferring a wet cloth, broom, mop and bucket. The joy of coming home from the office to a sparkling clean house has been replaced with the tedium of doing our own cleaning. There are no complaints that ours is not an equal partnership when it comes to chores and the upside is it’s done to our own standards.
Life is a journey and along my new path I have picked up some rather eclectic new skills. During two lockdowns I became a skilled pool technician; not just chucking in chlorine but the full backwash and filter cleaning routine. More creatively I have taught myself to build websites, dabble in social media beyond posting the odd photo and improve my photo editing capability. I haven’t got my head around bridge (mental arithmetic is my Achillies heel) but have learned to play both Western and Chinese Mahjong, sometimes even winning a few hands.
Perhaps best of all, I am writing. Not the carefully crafted internal corporate communications that formed part of my old job description but stories of my own choosing.
Early retirement, I have discovered, isn’t about doing less – it’s about doing different. The job description changes, the skillset shifts, and the hours may be more flexible but the work ? Oh, it never really ends, you just get promoted to Head of Housekeeping!
Not Quite Settled 
Please share your thoughts and experiences.