Rolling into Retirement: Me, the Dogs, and the Open Road

How do you want to retire?

You know how some people dream of retiring to a beach house or some golf course community where every day looks the same and the highlight of the week is arguing over HOA bylaws? Yeah… not me. When I think about retirement, I picture a Class A or B motorhome, a full tank of gas, and the open road calling my name. No lawn to mow, no neighbors to piss me off—just me, the wife, and the dogs, rolling across the country like a slow-motion adventure movie.

I don’t want a rocking chair on a front porch. I want to watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon and set behind the Pacific Ocean—all in the same month. I want to fall asleep listening to crickets in a forest in Oregon, and wake up the next week parked by a lake in Tennessee. I want the dogs—Jersey, Larkin, and Aldo—to sniff their way through every national park in the U.S., leaving their mark (figuratively and, let’s be honest, literally).

There’s something freeing about the idea of everything I need fitting into one self-contained little unit on wheels. No more being stuck in one place. No more punching a clock. Just living day by day, chasing good weather, good food, and the next beautiful place to park for the night.

I know it won’t always be glamorous. I’m sure I’ll end up cursing at campground hookups, getting lost in weird little towns, and maybe even arguing with the GPS—and probably my wife—over whether or not we just passed the same gas station three times. But that’s all part of the fun.

Retirement for me isn’t about slowing down. It’s about finally getting to live on my own terms, with no deadlines, no uniforms, no bullshit. Just me, my people, and my pack of dogs—exploring everything this country’s got to offer, one state park at a time.

And maybe, just maybe, finding the perfect cup of coffee in a tiny roadside diner somewhere in the middle of nowhere.