Over the past couple weeks I’ve been traveling with my wife. It was a long-planned trip overseas (Greece) and in a way it was a prelude to some planned retirement activities. For us, and for many people, travel is high on the list of planned activities during retirement.

But here’s the thing, after returning from our trip, and talking with some recently retired friends, I get the strong feeling that no matter how well you or I plan for retirement…there’s a good chance it will turn out differently than we intend.

The break was fun and we saw some tremendous sights, but when we returned I felt I was returning to my purpose. I better understood personally how my identity is tied up in my career. My retirement focus now feels like it should be to improve my plans for a different sense of purpose. Activities alone – golf, travel, hiking or reading – are pleasurable but don’t offer the true sense of purpose that we’ve been accustomed to for years.

My own experience, coupled with conversations with friends who’ve recently retired really drove home the point. These retired friends have been done now for anywhere from 3 months to nearly 18 months are rather restless and ramping up their conversations and even applying for roles online. They have much to offer and haven’t found a fulfilling way to invest their time.

So I’m ruminating on this. I’ve been writing about it for 2 years but this was a tiny glimpse for me into what might transpire and how important it is to prepare for.

I still think my notion of a phased approach to retirement might be the best way to mitigate this issue. It just strikes me that a gradual versus a sudden shift would help ease the transition.

But I’ve got some more thinking to do now. Oh, and planning our next trip!