I was in a non-employed position this time last year and here's my findings;
I'd looked forward to it for the entire previous 12 months and had planned out exactly what I was going to do. Making certain the financial position was very healthy, there were no money concerns, there was a very supportive partner and a reasonably supportive employer who fully understood my reasons for leaving and a list of Munros needing to be climbed, I waved goodbye to my pay cheque. So this time last year, at this very moment in fact, I was enjoying some of the hottest, clearest and driest weather the west coast of Scotland has ever seen and was engaged on a two-some on the Cluanie ridge. It's not exaggerating to use the word 'drought' as for the first time in my memory, gaiters were entirely superfluous to requirements on the West Coast Munros.
So what happened then? I enjoyed a long spell of extremely good weather but it was a real nomadic lifestyle. I was sleeping, for the most part, in the spacious boot of my estate car with some camping and some B&B-ing thrown in for good measure. I was incredibly home-sick though and made frequent very long drives home, worrying about the availability and the cost of fuel, and back up again in increasingly wetter and worsening weather conditions. This entailed more long trips away from a fixed base to climb the peaks far from a roadside and camping was no fun at all in such wet conditions. Although that aspect was miserable, it was fantastic not to be on someone else's clock and I could do exactly what I wanted, which is incredibly liberating.
Much as I enjoyed not working for someone else though, I did miss the clinical side of my working environment and the satisfaction of being involved in operating theatres and Interventional Radiology suites, so in November, having scratched my itch, I went back to work! It's not for financial reasons but having been offered a truly not-to-be-missed opportunity to be involved in what I consider to be a perfect job, I got back on board the workie train!
I heard a report this week suggesting that those who retire initially do very well but then sink down into depression and a subsequent lack of motivation can lead to health problems. I can pretty much see what this study tells us after my findings of last spring/summer/autumn. I can't speak for everyone but my feelings are that given the right working conditions, I find the discipline of work to be more of a benefit than the prospect of not working.
