Retire to the Wild and Free Life

Another Review of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

It's always nice to discover another review of one of your books which I have; it comes from Retirement Rocket and follows:

Two of the world's most famous philosophers, Socrates and Plato, advocated a life of total leisure. So does author Ernie Zelinski, and, although he’s not as famous (or as Greek), he gives some inspirational tips on how to pull off such a feat. His The Joy of Not Working created an international stir a decade ago, and now his How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free devotes his joie de vive philosophy solely to retirement.

Zelinski is a master at how-to lists. "Activities & Places to Make New Friends" and "How to Take a Journey Close to Home" are a couple of examples. The most extensive list is the "Get a Life Tree," which contains seven pages of suggested activities for an adventurous retirement. Not one of them involves a couch or TV.

At times his suggestions seem a little too "wild" and too "free." For instance, under Retirement Travel Tips and Quotes there are llama trekking in Peru and camping in Outer Mongolia. Can you imagine a glitzy travel poster for either of these as a vacation get-away?

In How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free you'll meet a number of interesting people like Ben from Toronto, a former entertainer, who traveled across America in a Greyhound recently (a dog of a trip!), and wrote a book on the benefits of cayenne pepper, which he says is better than Viagra. Then there’s Bill and Valerie, who live aboard a sailboat in Hawaii, and Tom, who, at 96, still walks four miles a day and chases women at night.

The book's section titles can be quite entertaining. "If You Don’t Take Care of your Body, Where Do You Intend to Live?" is one about daily health maintenance. An even better is one "Early to Bed and Early to Rise Make a Person Dull, Boring and Despised." The message here is to forget rigid schedules when you retire. Good point. Retirement Living is a time to loosen up, live it up and curl up with How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.