Part II - 101 More Things I’d Do when I don't have to W2 (Rhyme It)

101 More Things I’d Do in Retirement

Retirement isn’t a slowdown — it’s a glow-up.
This isn’t your average “golf and gardening” list. Think reinvention, ridiculous fun, and a little bit of AI magic. Here are 101 more things for the bold, curious, caffeinated version of me in retirement.

Live in a different country for 3 months
Join a local cooking class in Thailand
Learn to speak conversational Japanese
Participate in a traditional tea ceremony
Take a flamenco dance workshop in Spain
Attend Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
Celebrate Holi in India
Learn to play the didgeridoo in Australia
Experience a silent retreat in Nepal
Visit UNESCO heritage sites around the world
Publish a poetry collection
Take a ceramics class
Make a short documentary film
Start a podcast about reinvention
Illustrate a children’s book with a grandchild
Design and print custom T-shirts
Learn photography and host a gallery exhibit
Write one song a month
Create a memoir in comic form
Join a local theater production
Build your own coffee table
Refurbish vintage furniture
Convert a van for travel
Design a custom tool bench
Learn basic carpentry
Make your own cheese
Build a treehouse for the grandkids
Install a backyard pizza oven
Start a hydroponic garden
Craft your own wooden chess set
Run a marathon on every continent
Ride in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia
Spend the night in an ice hotel
Attend a total solar eclipse party
Take a zero-gravity flight
Drive the Pan-American Highway
Visit the most remote inhabited island
Swim with jellyfish in Palau
Cross a desert on camelback
Play ping pong with strangers in every city
Sponsor education for a child abroad
Create a local scholarship program
Build homes with Habitat for Humanity
Start a kindness challenge in your community
Organize a neighborhood tool library
Write letters to deployed soldiers
Create a foundation in your family's name
Host free community workshops
Be a Big Brother/Big Sister or maybe a Girl Scout - I've never been.
Start a pay-it-forward campaign
Host a themed family game night monthly
Create a scavenger hunt for grandkids
Record bedtime stories for future generations
Make a family recipe video series
Teach grandkids how to journal
Plan a “yes day” with kids or grandkids. Yes, just plan.
Create personalized storybooks - I have 1000s of photos to sort through and make albums
Have a “family-only” film festival if they come
Take kids to memorable places from my childhood
Make a family time capsule / family tree
Solve a Rubik's cube in under a minute - all sides
Learn basic astronomy and use a telescope that's been collecting dust
Take improv comedy classes, like kvn
Memorize 100 digits of pi - or just the 4th decimal after 3.14..
Decode Morse code and use it
Pass a college class just for fun.. online
Start a book club on unusual topics
Watch the top 100 classic films (in black and white)
Create a trivia quiz for friends that's personal
Learn how to speed-read
Take daily walks barefoot in the grass
Make your own signature cocktail
Take naps in hammocks everywhere
Host a chocolate + wine tasting at home
Stay in a cabin during snowfall and do nothing
Own a record player and spin vinyl every weekend
Create a seasonal food ritual
Design your dream slow morning routine
Walk everywhere for one month
Master the art of hammock lounging
Create a retirement avatar with AI
Build a chatbot that sounds like you
Make an AI-generated art exhibit
Train a custom GPT to give life advice
Create a time capsule using augmented reality
Write sci-fi stories co-authored by AI
Use AI to animate old family photos
Develop a virtual assistant for the elderly
Create an AI-powered gratitude journal
Explore the ethics of aging + AI in a blog
Get certified in something wild (like laughter yoga)
Change your name for a week and live it up
Go completely offline for a month
Write a letter to your 20-year-old self
Do one thing that scares you every month
Host a reinvention dinner party
Live one month like it’s your last
Redesign your home based on your mood
Take a vow of silence for a weekend
Start every morning with one powerful question

Conclusion

Retirement isn't a finish line — it's a launchpad for curiosity, adventure, connection, and creativity. This second list is for the explorer, the builder, the artist, the tech geek, the giver, and the dreamer in all of us. If you ever feared retirement would be boring… think again. It's the sequel life was waiting for.

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