Retirement, Unscripted
Life After The Alarm Clock
Michael & Catherine Benner
Retirement Unscripted is a record of our first year of retirement and learning how to live it fully and honestly. It is us figuring out what life looks like after the alarm clock, and keeping a record as we go.
This space holds what we’re noticing along the way, both at home and in the places we travel, in the photographs we take, and in the moments that quietly begin to shape this next season of our lives.
If you’re curious, you’re welcome to follow along.
Michael & Catherine
If you’re new here, these are a few places to begin:
Filling Boxes and Filling Rooms
How retirement came to both of us, one chosen and one unexpected.
When the Alarm Clock Stops: Do We Drift or Design? The first question we had to face, what actually happens when structure disappears, and how easily drift can take its place.
Choosing Steadiness in This Season A quieter piece about what it looks like to stay grounded when everything around you has shifted.
From the Road:
Scotland July 2026 The Belmond Royal Scotsman, the Highlands, Castles and Clans. So much more than we imagined.
Cozumel June 2026 A quick get away to enjoy scuba diving and the sun, but a tropical storm decided to join us.
Italy April 2026 Three weeks, five stops, and an anniversary add up to the trip of a lifetime.
Recently on Instagram
One year ago today, Michael retired and the alarm clock went quiet. We spent five months of the year traveling, hosted five grandchildren for four days of creek mishaps and nighttime giggles, and learned that a calendar of our own still takes real managing.
A friend said it best: "I guess being retired, you just do the day." We are still learning to do it well, and we have decided to keep sharing it with you.
Our year one look back is on the blog now. Link in bio and first comment.
My friend deals cards faster than I can sort mine. She has three years of practice not waiting for me.
She and her husband are almost fifteen years younger than us, closer in age to our own kids than to us. We did not expect this friendship. We built it, on purpose, one invitation at a time.
This piece is about what happens when the people who used to fill your life without any effort on your part, coworkers, neighbors, the friends from church, are suddenly gone due to a move or retirement or both.
Link in bio and first comment.
#retirementunscripted #friendshipsinretirement
Last Saturday I was home alone while Michael was halfway through a two week motorcycle trip. My family had other obligations and plans for the three day Labor Day weekend. Most of my friends gone as well.
So there I was, on my own, wandering around in my brain thinking about the past and how that has brought me here. Here being retired and figuring out what this new life looks like.
I spent much of adulthood trying to make enough room for life. Now I keep believing my real life will begin again tomorrow. But why not until tomorrow? Why not now? What keeps me pushing beginning to tomorrow?
In visiting with others who are now retired, these are questions so many of them are also asking. Today`s blog post discusses them. I don`t know that I answered them completely, but I did come to some interesting realizations. Give it a read and let me know what your questions are about the future.
Link is in first comment and bio.
#retirementunscripted
Twelve days and 3500 miles later, Michael Benner has returned home. The rain hindered their travels, cutting it short by two days. Overall, still a great trip. And I am happy that he is home.
While Michael was traveling this week, I used the time to add fall to our house. It’s a major messy transformation in the beginning, but it ends with the house feeling cozy and ready for house to wrap up in a soft blanket with a book that can’t be put down.
While Michael was away, I did some decor playing. #retirementunscripted #falldecorating #falldecoratingideas
Our first eleven months in retirement have been busy with travel, grandchildren, Cousins` Camp, dinner with friends, all the things we looked forward to together. But we are feeling a little l like the calendar is controlling us instead of the other way around, and our home is feeling kinda like the Delta Lounge. Combining travel and home schedules has been a challenge, but we think we are winning. Most days. . . Part Two of Retirement Update from the Laundry Room: Our Calendar Has Other Plans is up on the blog. Link is in bio and in the first comment. Thanks for following along!
Our suitcases have become side tables. Or at least I`ve considered it. That should tell you something about our first year of retirement. New post is up, Retirement Update from the Laundry Room: Home Is Where We Open the Suitcases, an honest look at what this year of travel has really been like. Link in bio and first comment.
