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:
Filling Boxes and Filling Rooms
How retirement came to both of us, one chosen and one unexpected.
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.
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:
Scotland July 2026 The Belmond Royal Scotsman, the Highlands, Castles and Clans. So much more than we imagined.
Cozumel June 2026 A quick get away to enjoy scuba diving and the sun, but a tropical storm decided to join us.
Italy April 2026 Three weeks, five stops, and an anniversary add up to the trip of a lifetime.
Recently on Instagram
You saw the reel. Here is the rest of it.
Four days, five cousins, three households, one basement full of trains. What the video did not show you is why we finally did this after talking about it for years, or what one of them said around the campfire that I have not stopped thinking about.
New post is up. Link in bio and first post
Cousins Camp 2026. 3.5 days with this cool crew. Field trips, creek clean up, swimming pool fun, “Frog Pond Sandwiches and other fun food, s’mores and campfires, train training, craft making, lots of laughing and more memories than we can count! Thanks moms and dads for trusting us with your treasures. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #cousinscamp2026 #lotsoffun #lotsoflaughs #lotsoflove
These are a few stops we made along the West coast and the Highlands. What has stayed with us is the people who took real pride in their work and their history, and who were glad to share both with two travelers who stumbled in soaked from the rain.
Retirement has given us the time to travel slowly and pay attention to details like that. A few of them are in our recent post at: https://retirementunscripted.com/its-pronounced-o-bin-not-o-ban/
See more of our trip at: https://retirementunscripted.com/travel-life-rhythms/#Scotland726
#retirementunscripted #scottishhighlands #oban #royalscotsman
A quick look at our three days on the Royal Scotsman through Scotland’s Highlands. We had the best time! Michael Benner
Our day in Glenfinnan in The Highlands. #retirementunscripted #Scotland2026 #Glenfinnan #glenfinnanviaduct
Two guided tours of Edinburgh Castle and Old Town gave us lmore Scottish history than we could have got from a Rick Steves guidebook. Kings, clans, kilts, and one queen crowned at six days old.
Jet lag was also along for the tour, and it took some liberties with my memory. Like alot. I have since done my homework and fixed what needed fixing, but it certainly did a great job rearranging my brain.
New post is live. Link in bio and first comment.
#Scotland #EdinburghCastle #RetirementTravel #ScottishHistory
We leave for Scotland in a few days.
Eighteen months ago Michael called me from work with tickets to a distillery trip through the Highlands on the Belmond Royal Scotsman. One room left. Of course I said yes.
In June, a bad Caesar salad in Cozumel turned into a serious parasite, a hospital visit, fifteen pounds lost, and a medication reaction that scared us both. For a while I wasn`t sure I would be well enough to go.
Michael reminded me this morning that the trip was never about the train or the itinerary. It`s about the two of us, moving at whatever pace I can manage. Some days that might mean the full Highlands view. Other days it might mean the walk from the hotel to the nearest coffee shop. Either way, we`re calling it time well spent.
Slàinte. Here we go.
Link in the first comment and Bio
Michael’s project for the past week has been to repair and repaint the scones by our garage doors. Each one has been covering years of wasps nests. The one he is working on today revealed this mess. Yuck.
