Local author’s book gives advice on traveling, volunteering in golden yeas
For more and more Americans, the promise of retirement no longer means a carefree time to focus on oneself and doing all the things that were once put off. Returning to work is often a very real possibility.
That was the situation Barbara Traynor faced about five years ago, when she was reaching retirement age after 45 years of working as an administrative assistant. She found herself worrying about how to make ends meet on a fixed incomefar from the freedom retirement is supposed to provide.
That’s when her friends, who own an RV, told her about Sheldon Jackson College in Alaska, which provides room and board to volunteers who work full time at the school. It’s an idea that appealed to her itch for travel.
I thought, all I have to do is get there,` she said.
And she got there in her car, driving across the country and up into Alaska. She gave her employer a 6-month notice of her retirement, reduced her belongings and sold her condominium in Connecticut. Then she took a yearlong, 8,000-mile trip that wound through the Rockies, along the Pacific coast and back east.
`I was homeless for a year,` she said.
That was in 2005, and since then Traynor has seen much of the country on a fixed income, volunteering for worthy causes, meeting interesting people and hiking, canoeing and kayaking in some of the most nature-rich landscapes in the country.
Besides spending time in Alaska, she’s worked at a wildlife refuge in central Florida, the agricultural learning center Heifer Ranch in Arkansas and points in between.
Lots of times she’s used the skills she built professionally, serving as a receptionist. Other times, she gardens.
`You use the skills you use in work, or hobby or something new altogether,` Traynor said.
Through her travels and work, she’s met people from all over the country, many of whom open up their homes to her when she travels.
Now, Traynor is passing on her knowledge and experience to others, particularly retirees. Her recently-published book is called `Second Career Volunteer: A Passionate, Pennywise Approach to Retirement,` published by The Troy Book Makers,
Though Traynor’s book and advice is aimed at retirees, anyone trying to live on the cheap and do something new and different can take advantage of its information, stories and personal profiles.
Traynor said she’s seen a new wave of younger volunteers in her travels, either professionals who have been laid off or college graduates. Both groups are keeping busy and keeping their heads above water while sending out resumes.
The traveling lifestyle may not be for everybody, Traynor is quick to admit, especially those with homes. But it’s something that can be done for a single month as easily as a whole year, and it’s a cost-effective way to take the trips you always wish you could.
`It’s different for a lot of people. If they’ve been in the same house for a long time it’s difficult to reduce your carbon footprint,` she said.
What shouldn’t hold anyone back is the fear of loneliness or isolation, she said, with so many other people doing the same things at places around the country.
`You may be a single, but when you’re there, you’re in a community,` Traynor said.
Today, Traynor lives in Slingerlands near her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She’s worked out of a schedule of six months at `home,` and six months on the road, which not only fits well with her life but compliments New York’s winters.
Traynor will appear at a book signing on Nov. 13, at noon, at the Arts Center in Troy, and speak at the William K. Sanford Town Library in Loudonville on Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
For more information on Traynor and her book, visit www.secondcareervolunteer.com.“
