Retirement, Unscripted
Life After The Alarm Clock
Michael & Catherine Benner
Retirement Unscripted is a record of our first year of retirement and learning how to live it fully and honestly. It is us figuring out what life looks like after the alarm clock, and keeping a record as we go.
This space holds what we’re noticing along the way, both at home and in the places we travel, in the photographs we take, and in the moments that quietly begin to shape this next season of our lives.
If you’re curious, you’re welcome to follow along.
Michael & Catherine
If you’re new here, these are a few places to begin:
When the Alarm Clock Stops: Do We Drift or Design? The first question we had to face, what actually happens when structure disappears, and how easily drift can take its place.
Anchors, Not Chains: Building a Home Rhythm What we’ve learned about creating structure that supports the day without controlling it.
Portable Order: How Travel Tests and Refines Rhythm What changes when you leave home, and what follows you anyway.
Choosing Steadiness in This Season A quieter piece about what it looks like to stay grounded when everything around you has shifted.
From the Road
Italy April 2026 Three weeks, five stops, an anniversary add up to the trip of a lifetime.
New Orleans A few days in the Crescent City that turned into a few more.
Charleston, Savannah, & St Augustine Our first trip of the new year 2026.
Bonaire Three weeks on the island we love.