Retirement Rebel: One woman, one motorhome, one great big adventure

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The granny shift is a tender point for the over-60s with a yearning to self-actualise through travel, says Anne Hardy, a sociologist who studies later-life “snowbirds” (sun-seeking van and motorhome nomads). “Women who choose this lifestyle are often judged harshly by their own children and by society,” she says. “They are construed as being somehow selfish for leaving their grandchildren.” Approaching retirement and frustrated with her job, Siobhan Daniels made a BIG decision: to start living life on her own terms. Rather than hiding from life’s challenges, she bought a motorhome and drove off to find them. Mental Health Nurse John-Barry Waldron is our guest on this week's Reach Out PodcastJohn-Barry works in a secure hospital, supporting people experiencing mental illness and helping them return home to their communities.He's also capturing the stories of staff and patients through the On The Ward Podcast which you can also get wherever you get your podcasts.Also in the conversation - We discuss access to mental health services, and how stigma still bring issues for patients and their families. That is always a hard question as my mistakes have brought me to where I am now as much (if not more) than my good choices. I wish I had learned guitar as a child because it is so much harder to start from scratch now – I am struggling with that, although the band I am in is very supportive.

Maff’s best story though is setting up a homeless shelter in the World’s biggest building for Christmas, the millennium dome, for charity Crisis. An unconventional retirement wasn’t always on the cards for Siobhan. After working as a nurse for 9 years, in the 1980s she decided to retrain as a journalist after hearing an advert for a trainee reporters’ scheme run by the BBC. This opportunity led to a successful career as a reporter, presenter and producer on various programmes across regional BBC radio and TV. Definitely not retired. I stepped down from my job as an actuary this year after 30 years. I loved that role, but life is short and I wanted to take on some other challenges before the opportunity to do that slipped away. The key, Siobhan insists, is to face ageing with a positive attitude. “I’m not saying to be as crazy as me and get rid of all your possessions and your home. But think outside the box and try to age in a way where you’re living, not just existing,” Siobhan advises. “A couple of women I know have made pacts with their daughters to go on an adventure together twice a year, and I thought that was a great idea to bring generations together.” If you’re looking for a deep intensive read with overly detailed instructions on what to do to make your retirement life work this book probably isn’t for you. But if you need a light read that can nudge you in the right direction to finding YOUR path, the one that you design around what lights your fire than grab a copy and enjoy a what feels more like a chat with a good friend.

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Maff and his colleagues set up Camerados in 2015 to work with and support people who the existing system have failed. With a global reach from the UK to the USA, Camerados is working in locations as diverse as colleges, prisons, hospitals, libraries, football stadia. It wasn’t all sitting in doorways drinking lager with a dog on a string’: Mark Jordan. Photograph: Perou/The Observer We can rewire our minds by envisioning. This uses our visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic senses, so as to create a new software program in our minds to replace the old one, and thereby impressing on our minds our new future, our new purpose, our new life. Expand your horizons by manifesting your future now A truly great book, a story of not only drug addiction but also the strength of the human spirit, told with humour and honesty. - Dave How do your thoughts on retirement differ from most people – in other words, what makes you a retirement rebel?

By believing and manifesting that we have already received what it is that we want, our mind cannot reject that reality. There’s never been a more important stage in your life to use this power. The future you want is yours for the taking! Like most of us, I’d been led to believe that it was the only option. I’d accepted it as the path I would take, and I didn’t question it. That all changed when I became semi-retired at the age of 52, after being diagnosed with a bone tumour.

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In this blog, George Jerjian – mindset mentor, coach and author – shares his journey to becoming a ‘Retirement Rebel’ and tells us why his passion and purpose is to inspire people entering retirement to do the same. I followed these steps and now, in my mid-sixties, I can honestly say that I live with more purpose and passion than I thought possible. So, whether you are close to retirement age, or a while off, take time to think about how you plan to live in later life, because, as Cicero said, “Old age is the crown of life, our play’s last act.” I only turned 50 in February 2019, and like most people, simple getting this far through the pandemic feels quite an achievement!

In 2019, Siobhan Daniels found herself in the driving seat of a motorhome, about to rev into retirement and a brand new adventure.

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Last year, Smith’s Bengal cat, Rococo, died at 16, and Smith decided to throw caution to the wind and have the green-eyed tabby tattooed on her forearm to memorialise her feline fellow traveller. She also dyed her long white hair a fetching shade of cerise. “They say you can’t have long hair when you’re older. They say you shouldn’t dress in bright colours and have tattoos, particularly as a civil servant, but I just thought: ‘I’m 63, I’ll do what I want. I’ll wear my hair pink and long and I’ll wear band T-shirts and skinny jeans and great big platform shoes.’”

I don’t really know anyone my age who thinks that they will be able to fully retire any time soon,” Cutter says. Having spent her youth in squats across west London, Cutter and some of her old punk friends often talk about returning to communal living. “It’s not for everyone as you have to be flexible and sociable and God knows loads of us get fixed in our ways as we age,” she laughs. But living an uptight, ever-decreasing later life is everything Cutter wants to avoid. My work meant that I spent quite a bit of time with very senior people who were still actively working in their 70s. They were still ambitious to succeed in what they were doing, but they had found things that they loved to do. Success was about working with people and getting stuff done. They inspired me to keep active and to aim never to retire. A must read message of hope for those suffering with, or affected by, the pain of addiction. - Chris But from her late 40s onwards, challenges – both personal and professional – began to emerge and Siobhan grew disillusioned. “As I was approaching 50, my daughter went off to university,” says Siobhan. “I’d been a single mum for years, and I started bragging to everyone that it was going to be ‘party time’! But it wasn’t that at all – I was quite miserable.” I don’t think the punk generation thought we would live to 30, let alone 60,” he says. “But those who made it are doing interesting things, working as filmmakers and photographers and musicians and artists. It’s bloody brilliant to see.”Camarados puts people in charge of their own solutions through Mutual Aid – helping people who are not necessarily friends to self-organise to support each other through tough times. The main focus right now for the movement is to see communities set up Public Living rooms – a place to go on a tough day or when you’re lonely to help others and get connection and purpose. Say yes to opportunities. You’ll regret the things you did not do much more than the things you do. I literally could not put this book down - it should be read in homes, schools, prisons, rehab facilities, everywhere. - Jonathan Mantle, bestselling writer. I spent years worrying what other people thought and now I just want to be loud and take up space and be totally myself,” she says. She sees a similar sentiment in many women in her age group, for whom the confidence of later life is combining with a desire to set boundaries around one’s time and efforts, whether that’s rejecting grandparental childcare or being the go-to event caterer out of a materfamilias sense of duty. “We’re exiting relationships that no longer serve us, we’re saying no to things we don’t want to do; we’re cutting people out of our lives who don’t make us feel good,” she adds. “There’s a new mood and that mood is about grabbing life by the wotsits.”