“Our experience on the road has been one, big, winding road,” says Tim Machowicz, speaking of the life he and his wife Mary live now that they are retired and moved from a house on the outskirts of town to a cabin in the middle of the woods.
From May through early November, Tim, age 70, Mary, age 67 and their dog Sally live together almost completely off grid in a cabin near the town of Munising in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, just a few miles from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
They harvest timber for the wood burning stove, collect water from the creek that springs from behind the cabin, use propane for cooking and heating, gas and solar generators for electricity, and composting toilets. With no cell phone service, their link to the outside world is via the internet. A federal initiative bringing broadband internet to rural communities allows
them to connect to high speed internet, though they turn it on for only a few hours each day.
In the winter months, when an average winter snowfall of 300 inches blankets everything in quiet seasonal hibernation, Tim and Mary travel across the southern U.S. in a cargo trailer that they themselves retrofitted into a camper, towed behind their white Ford F-150.
They visit national parks, friends, family, and stop at nearly every small town bakery they see. Mary describes the country as “vast, unending geography.” They try to avoid large cities, but when they end up there, the cities seem just as vast as the natural landscape.
Tim says “there are lots of positives” to traveling this way, “but negatives too.” Like navigating the trailer up and down the snowy mountain roads of California, although seeing the vistas of places like Yosemite National Park are worth the trip.
How does it feel to be 72?
Why did you retire or why are you still working?
Why did you retire?
Why are you still working?
Tim: “When I chose to retire... I thought ‘for all my career, I helped people to experience the outdoors and introduce them to nature’ and I thought, ‘this is my turn now.’ It was my turn. Some of the things that I heard from other people, I didn't do that yet. So I think that’s me, really, it's pretty simple.”
Mary: “I had not given much thought to retirement as I had never worked long enough in any one job to earn a pension. I always worked where and when the position worked well with our family schedule. Once Tim was retired for 3 years I realized that I wanted to spend time with him doing things we enjoy together. After working 44 years as a nurse, and working
through the COVID epidemic, I realized I was tired. I also realized that I wasn’t working with others who shared my vision of community health nursing. I believe I ‘aged out’ of my professional life.”
What do you look forward to?
What is your biggest concern?
Life expectancy 2023
