The Punk Rock Retirement Plan

[Matt Derrick]

So if you've seen this thread in the forums, you know that I'm working on an StP book, and one of the chapters (probably the last one) is going to be (tentatively) called 'the punk rock retirement plan'.

Basically it'll be a chapter about what we all do when we get older, and what we end up doing with everything we learned from our years of being on the road.

My question for all of you is... what does your fantasy retirement plan look like? The most common answer i've gotten to this question so far is to 'own land'. this is great, so if that's the way you'd like to settle down, let me know the how, what, and why of it in some detail.

you don't have to take it super seriously, feel free to respond with the first thing that hits you if you want. how do you want to retire? what dreams do you have for yourself when you're older?

personally, i want to retire into a short school bus that i've renovated myself and travel all around the country in it. just take it slow and easy, and enjoy nature a little more while working on graphic design and video work from the road.

what's your plan?

 

[crow jane]

I always referred to the "Oogle Retirement Plan" as taking the last westbound

ride till you die, breh

 

[ellilis]

Retiring to shortbus life or my own piece of not-so-tamed land out of the cities if I can swing it would be my ideal, sounds like I'm not alone in that respect. I'm not sure I'll never be rid of the desire to travel, so having a bus would be great, and having a piece of land to park it in for long stretches and call home is what I'd love. I suppose the hard part is saving up for that, and one of the best parts about now is exploring and deciding where to land myself as a punk rock retiree. I'd also want to be somewhere with good birding
Of course, it would be a missed opportunity not to live close enough to neighbors that I could scold the young'ns to keep off my lawn. Have to keep these things in mind.

 

[Deleted member 125]

i love the "own land" answer ive heard it dozens of times and im sure ive said it dozens of times. but this idea of just slipping and falling onto 20 acres of land for 38 cents is ridiculous. most people these days who own land have had it in their family for generations. land is still expensive to own (property tax, buying solar panels, or paying for electricity, water, etc etc). being almost 30 now i realize unless i start to realistically save up money (yes money, you cant buy land with a song or dumpster a farm house) its going to be tough for me to have anything when im old. i work in a tattoo shop now which sure as shit isnt going to give me money when im old and barely scrape by and i in no way live above my means, its just difficult to have any kind of savings with a partner, 2 dogs, and dare i say it...rent

i really dont know anymore, honestly i try to not think about it to much because im for the most part happy with my life now.

 

[Dirtbaguette]

I bought 5 cheap off grid acres 3 years ago......I have a motor home & solar etc. there.....I travel still but mostly during winters.......It is basically like living at the Slabs but at 10,000 ft elev so its reverse Slab weather.....down to -30 deg in winter with tons of snow but rarely above 80 deg in summer........my land taxes are less than $100 annually......each year I do improvements as my meager finances allow.......It is good to have a home base to land at after traveling & knowing I will always be able to have a box of some sort to live in where nobody can make me leave.......between my garden & chickens & hunting & fishing & foraging it is easy to be mostly self sufficient.....I get less than $200 a month state disability which just barely keeps the homestead running......there's also gold in the rivers nearby & summer gold panning can yield some extra income.......as well as trips to the city to fly a sign or gas jug.......not to be preachy but I'm gonna say it....having a plan isn't so bad sometimes....yep I am 42 years old & health issues have made the traveler life not so easy anymore......how many of you out there are 40+ & still travel full time? No fucking way anyone is gonna put my 80 year old ass in a state nursing home. I'm gonna be like my old fart neighbors working my land until I drop dead.......but until then I will travel part time & live off grid on my land where nobody fucks with me

 

[sketchytravis]

I always thought the punk rock retirement plan was we get a lil older; then we die. lolol

but forreelz, I think when im like straightened out and such, I just wanna have a cheap ass house and a decent car... that way I can go around and see and do the things id like to do when I want and such. I have a whole bucket list full of things... ever expanding and such. so idk, basically that stuff.

 

[urchin]

Write about my time on the road I'm already two books in between this past September and the beginning of January. Once back on the road book three will be started. I'm really good at writing and have a little militant site on the side so with any luck I should be okay.

 

[Matt Derrick]

good answers, thanks and keep them coming, i want to hear more

 

[briancray]

I've always thought of traveling, living minimal outside and working at jobs in the activities I like to do, I.E., skiing, rock climbing, skydiving, etc. I live for adventure and pushing myself to the limit in every aspect of that meaning. I have no retirement plan. I always accepted the fact that the way I live will one day come to an end. I'd rather die doing something I love than getting old. So as long as I get to complete my goals and travel as much as possible then I will have lived life to the fullest and the age I die won't matter because I will have done more in those years than people with a retirement plan who end up doing nothing.

 

[Beegod Santana]

I alaways though punk rock retirement consisted of moving to either nola or pdx, getting an apartment and a job and then for the rest of your life whenever you see a young traveler kid you kick them a quarter and then go into a 45 minute rant about how when YOU traveled it meant something and how a bunch of bands they've never heard off where the only "true" punx bands to ever puke in a dumpster.

In all seriousness though I pretty much envision my retirement being a lot like the show trailer park boys, only with more booze.

 

[meathook]

I alaways though punk rock retirement consisted of moving to either nola or pdx and becoming a homebum

fix'd

 

[Hylyx]

Right now my "ideal/dream plan" is to get a 39 foot gillig low floor transit bus, gut the fuck out of it, make it a sweet home on wheels, and travel around or park it places for cheap and live for awhile in different cities.
I have like 1% of the estimated $10000 I'd like to have to make that work though, and most of that is for the bus.
Either that or have a bigass warehouse in a run-down area of town (dunno which one) for cheap as hell and be able to do art and sculpture and have room for travelers to come through and I'd probably go with them sometimes.

 

[Odin]

I was watching public broadcasting today, there were a couple of shows on flea markets and farmers markets.
So... this is a partial idea for punk retirement... Which is more likely to be a low impact type of maintenance living I imagine.
One get cheap land if you can. Then raise/garden a product and sell it at farmers markets/Flea markets. Your piece of dirt should be ideally set up to provide you First with all basic needs. Water/solar/veggies/chicken. (Leeloo likes chicken. )
Then surplus is spent at farmers markets... Scale up to your desire and live sustainably.
Also... other than selling what you produce... I.e. veg or meat. You can set up cooking/food vending. One dude on this special was making french crepes with like nuttella (that hazelnut choco spread) And another roasted sweet corns... and another deep frying and selling seasoned pork rinds.

And... If you don't have land and produce a product. You can always just find a way to dumpster/scavenge various stuff and sell it at flea markets.

Key to the retirement... for me seems that first you need to work and earn a way to establish a sustainable home base. Then after you make your side cash at your leisure.

This would be nice to add in your book Matt... but depending on the level of detail. You might have to do some research on the logistics and red tape of making a profit in these kind of open air markets.
I'm sure there is vending licenses and prolly seasonal considerations. Some people even travel the country from market to market selling they re stuff...
As usual I just present the surface of an idea.

Actually doesn't sound like much like retirement... though as long as your self-sufficient and active in your older age I figure your good.

Retirement isn't for siting on your ass... stay active even in old age... ( I found out some one I know that retired a few years ago just passed... work then die a few years after quitting no thank you.) and its the stress not work form modern jobs that harms people in bleeping society.

 

[Deleted member 125]

Right now my "ideal/dream plan" is to get a 39 foot gillig low floor transit bus, gut the fuck out of it, make it a sweet home on wheels, and travel around or park it places for cheap and live for awhile in different cities.
I have like 1% of the estimated $10000 I'd like to have to make that work though, and most of that is for the bus.
Either that or have a bigass warehouse in a run-down area of town (dunno which one) for cheap as hell and be able to do art and sculpture and have room for travelers to come through and I'd probably go with them sometimes.

felix havoc of code 13 wrote a pretty interesting little article about buying a old warehouse in a run down part of town some years ago, im not sure if its still floating around the internet somewhere but i think i might of read it on a old issue of mrr or profane existence.

 

[scatwomb]

I want to raise sheep and goats and work for the Forest Service forever.

Have my boy take care of the livestock when I am in the field.

Excellent.

 

[Matt Derrick]

felix havoc of code 13 wrote a pretty interesting little article about buying a old warehouse in a run down part of town some years ago, im not sure if its still floating around the internet somewhere but i think i might of read it on a old issue of mrr or profane existence.

i'd be interested in knowing more about that.

 

[Deleted member 125]

i just spent almost half a hour trying to find it, i have no idea what to search for really. i remember him having a lot of old mrr and PE articles online at one point, i remember it because on the same page was a picture of him with his dog..

 

[Gonx]

my retirement plan

 

[Hylyx]

felix havoc of code 13 wrote a pretty interesting little article about buying a old warehouse in a run down part of town some years ago, im not sure if its still floating around the internet somewhere but i think i might of read it on a old issue of mrr or profane existence.

Funny thing, I helped run a warehouse space in Denver for over a year, and it was pretty much that. It was before I got super into traveling, though. Had rad as fuck 3 day parties and it was 50 feet from the tracks, so the cops *never* came. It helped that it was mostly below ground. ::finger:: Had the fire department show up once and we had to put out the bonfire. They were amused at my insistence that "well there is a stone fire pit *under* the fire..."
Had to move out cuz the landlord said he was gonna bulldoze it, but last time I checked google maps it was still standing. If I had any desire to ever set foot in Denver, not to mention live there, I'd probably go back and see what was up. I still miss that place, but fuck Colorado in general.

 

[treatment]