Retiring Early Together: What Are We Going to Do All Day? - Part 1

I am so excited to retire and have more time with Krissy. So many people have asked if we are scared of having nothing to do, nothing to talk about, or just being bored with each other. The truth is, there is way too much to do and see to be bored. I can talk about almost anything—or nothing—forever, and hearing Krissy’s opinion makes it even better. Also, I am learning, although Krissy may say I am not, to embrace the silence.

But most importantly, what are we going to do to fill all that time?

We are going to play games!

We have played games since we started dating. We used to travel to see each other and spend our time together doing laundry and playing Cribbage. Very romantic, I know.

I like to play games on my phone if no one is around, but I love playing games with Krissy and our friends and family. Krissy and I have a running tally of our Gin wins that we have kept in a book since we were dating. About three years ago, we added another tally and started keeping track of our Canasta wins between us and with our friends Nori and Marilee.

Yes, that is one of my good luck spoons!!

Those are the games we play the most, but there are so many others. We play everything from sports (mainly pickleball) to yard games, board games, card games, and progressive games.

Here are some of our favorites and why we keep playing them.

Cards

As I have said, our tried-and-true games are cards. Our favorites are Gin and Canasta. Gin is played with one deck and no jokers, while Canasta is played with two decks and jokers. Over the years, we have learned that we prefer plastic cards, and we have also started using card holders—which we have upgraded a few times.

Both games are a great combination of luck and skill.

When we go on vacation, we even like to play cards in the pool. We have put together waterproof cards, plastic card holders, waterproof paper, a waterproof pen, and a floating table. We had an old floating table that was really just an ice holder for parties, but we recently upgraded to a new one.

Yes, we have an entire setup for playing cards in a swimming pool. Retirement is going to be fine.

Cribbage

Cribbage is played with cards and a board and is another great combination of luck and skill. Krissy and I both played Cribbage as children, so playing it brings back tons of memories.

Recently, we have introduced two new games that are based on Cribbage: Cross Cribb, which adds a defensive strategy to the game, and Kings Cribbage, which is kind of like a mix between Cribbage and Scrabble.

Five Crowns

We were introduced to Five Crowns by my parents. It is like a progressive version of Gin where the number of cards increases with each hand and the wild cards change each round to match the number of cards you are holding.

It can be played with just two people or with as many as seven, which makes it a great game to play with both friends and family.

One of the funniest parts is how often someone forgets which card is wild that round and accidentally discards one.

PARKS

PARKS is a game we started playing during the pandemic. There are so many different ways to play as you make your way through four seasons of hiking and visiting National Parks.

The rule book is huge, and it took us quite a while to learn how to play, but it was completely worth it. It also has tons of cards and pieces, which sometimes makes it difficult to play while camping—but, again, worth it.

There is so much strategy involved, and the game feels completely different depending on who you are playing with. It can be played solo or with up to five players.

There are also expansion packs and a smaller travel game called PARKS: Roll & Hike.

A game about visiting National Parks that we can play while traveling around visiting National Parks? Obviously, this one is coming with us.

Azul

We were introduced to Azul by my brother and sister-in-law during the pandemic. It is a tile-collecting game inspired by Portuguese tiles, with strategy involved in both offense and defense.

Each player gets a board with a pattern grid and score tracker. Two to four players take turns collecting tiles to fill in their grids and score points.

It is extremely addictive because every time we play, we want to try a different strategy the next time.

Qwixx

Qwixx is a dice game that requires you to make a lot of decisions about whether you should take points now or wait and hope you can get more later.

There is a lot of luck with some skill mixed in, and it is extremely addictive. People either love it or hate it—but somehow still want to play either way.

Each player gets a score pad, and everyone shares the colored dice, which means you are involved even when it isn't your turn.

Farkle

Farkle is a dice game with a gambling mentality. Players have to decide whether to stop and keep their score or continue rolling with the possibility of Farkling—losing all of their points for that round and getting a zero.

Our friend group plays our own version called “Fuckle,” where we added another rule that allows you to steal the score from the player before you.

It adds a whole new level of strategy, betrayal, and yelling at your friends.

This game can also be played with just a few people or a big group, which makes it one we can pull out almost anywhere.

Flip 7

Flip 7 is another gambling-style game. Cards are turned over one at a time, and players choose whether to hit or stay. If you get a duplicate number, you bust and lose your points for that round.

There are also action cards that can help you or be used against your opponents.

This is a newer addiction for us and our friends the Campbells—mainly Stacey.

And apparently the original game was not enough chaos, because there is now Flip 7 Vengeance, which adds even more ways to mess with the other players.

Obviously, we play this version as well.

Kubb

Kubb is a yard game where individuals or teams try to knock down the other team's wooden blocks by throwing batons across the field. Once the blocks are gone, you can go after the king to win the game.

To make ours more fun, Krissy etched the names of 80s TV characters onto our blocks. So instead of saying you are aiming for a block, you can announce that you are going for Steve Urkel, Uncle Jesse, or Rose Nylund.

It makes absolutely no difference to the actual game, but it makes it much more fun.

We also like Bocce and other yard games because sometimes it is nice to play something that requires us to actually stand up.

And That's Only Part One...

These are just some of our main games, and somehow this post is already long enough that we are going to need a Part Two.

Games have been part of our relationship since the beginning—from playing Cribbage while doing laundry when we were dating to hauling waterproof cards and a floating table on vacation with us now. I don't think retirement is going to change that.

It is just going to give us a lot more time to play.

What is your go-to games? And are you excited to retire so you can spend more time playing them?

Keep on winning—or at least having fun!

Anne