AARP Rewards Online Community Empty Nest Contest 2025

When we retired, we didn't necessarily attack a to-do list right away. Instead, we started small by going through drawers, closets, shelves, and revisited how we use the space in our home to make it more functional and less decorative with a "less is more" mindset. With no time constraints of full-time work, we slow traveled and brought home great memories from various trips both large and small. And the simplest moments have brought us joy.......a stroll in a park, reading, visiting local museums, attending live theater. We go bike riding, hiking, and do daily walks, but nothing too overwhelming. There is no one way to retire. There's only Time on Your Terms. So, paint the picture that best suits you and proudly create the memories you'll cherish most!

I am newly retired after 45 years of teaching and waiting tables. It is time to finish projects. My husband, who has been retired for a few years due to physical limitations, and I live in a house we built ourselves. It is mortgage free as we paid for each step of the building process as we needed materials. We are slowly working toward completion. We would love to see America, yet have reservations. Hubby's health is one factor, travel can be challenging, the need to finish the house, owning everything outright but for a long time. i.e. cars are 27 and 20 years old.  

We would love to take short weekend road trips  while not taking away from projects; time and money. 

Trying to make it work, balancing awkwardly.

My husband and I have been emptynesters for a bit now and we wanted to find some fun, different, new  ways for this time in our lives. We started a blog emptynestersfinally.com and from that a cooking show evolved. We take recipes and make them healthier.  We have had to learn so many aspects of social media and we are loving it. Our cooking show is Better Baking With Brad. We post on Instagram but we get shared.  This is truly the best time of our lives.                                                                 AARP REWARDS.    CONTEST.  EMPTY NEST 

We're empty nesters.  We have been traveling more and working on our bucket list adventures. Not retired yet, but we are making the most of our time together.  

Yee haw, let's head west, little doggies!

After the graduations, jobs, marriages, and seeing our children into nests of their own, we not empty...we are FULL!

We are full of memories of the past and hopes for the future- career changes, improving our health, volunteerism,...and travel!  Our AARP app is proving invaluable as we plan to hike the red rocks, dig for diamonds, fish in every state, remember history in our nation's capital, and take all the discounts our well-earned grey hairs will get us!

Crying? There's no crying in empty nesting. The empty nest will be just fine while we fill our minds with dreams to follow, our days with adventure, and our hearts with gratitude for the lives we get to live!

If you are a like-minded empty nester, will you please comment "go for it"?

What a mixed blessing…

We became empty nesters quite a while ago. Sent kids off to college and a few years later celebrated graduations, new homes, marriages and grandchildren. Thought life would slow down but it didn’t, we just found new ways to fill our time. We have been lucky as we were able to travel to Europe for work and bounce several vacations off of those business trips. 

Fast forward a few years and we found ourselves selling our home of 25 years to move in with and take care of my husband’s mother. I retired to be her caretaker right at the onset of Covid - what a crazy time to retire from a teaching career. Taking care of my Mother-in-law (and best friend) was wonderful! I was able to spend quality time with her and make some terrific memories.  

Fast forward again to this year… 

    My husband retired and we were sure we were on our way to spending time reaping the rewards of our retirement and our empty nest. But alas, life had something else in store for us. We were very excited because we were having a home built near our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. We were going to move ourselves and my husband’s mom into a beautiful new home. However, a few weeks into the new year we lost her so the move has been bittersweet. Many things have felt surreal for us this year as our plans have changed over and over again.

One constant in our lives has been our use of the AARP app. It has kept us grounded as we have begun to explore our new hometown, do meal planning so that we can stay healthy, and work on planning trips around the good ‘ol USA. Because we traveled abroad prior to retirement, we are now looking forward to exploring closer to home. 

Being empty nesters is turning into a wonderful time to explore things we haven’t yet had a chance to do or see. A wonderful time to spend relaxing with family and friends. A wonderful time learning new things (taking cooking classes, relearning to play instruments, taking walks with our dogs, and exploring both old and new hobbies). And of course, best of all getting to know each other again. We are keeping our memories of the past close as we explore our new life and create new memories to cherish. Life is fleeting and we plan to live it to its fullest for as long as we are able.