It is true—some of the best things in life are free. I am running a promotion of my eBook. You can download it for free till December 11. So, what are you waiting for? This book may change your life.Here isthe linkhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFJHK1B8//ref=cm_sw_su_dp.
Live the good life of a Bon Vivant with a relaxed Zen attitude. Learn about life in other countries: India, France, China and the US.
Nine years into a very comfortable retirement, I wrote and published my first book. The full title is on the cover picture below.It describes my journey across three continents and the life-experiences that enabled me to retire happily and comfortably at fifty-eight. It is is a short, simple roadmap for anyone to follow, now available on Amazon.com.
Living Free, Living Well: My Life as a Zen Bon Vivant
Take a ‘look inside’ the book on the Amazon website. There are many tips: from the financial to the philosophical and everything in between. I selected the pictures with great care, to add to the theme of the chapters. Some are archival and you may have difficulty recognizing. For example, compare the cover picture to this one:
Undergraduate, St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, 1974
I worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a research scientist for over twenty years. I was laid off in 2013. It felt like a punch in the gut. I describe my feelings on that day in the Prologue. What is your reaction when you read it?
In my office, the last days at work, 2013
That precipitated an intense period of introspection. I had, over time, prepared for just such an eventuality, both financially and psychologically. I was lucky. I retired—and never looked back. I am now living my dream; reading, writing, traveling and speaking. The layoff was the push that did it. It forced me to think, to prioritize, to realize what was important in life. I realized that to be happy and to live well you have to be free, hence the title. Now, I can do what I want to do, not what I have to do to earn a living. The change from “have to” to “want to” makes a world of difference. I have no boss (except my wife, but that is another story, detailed in Chapter 10, My Life in Retirement).
Enjoying retirement—at the Andaman Islands, India, 2020
Who knew that retirement, would be so creative and pleasurable. I have just published my first book and already contemplating a second, a compilation of my stories on travel and adventure!
On an elephant in the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh, India, 1979
I wrote this for those planning retirement or are close to it but afraid to take the plunge. It is also for those interested in life in other lands, in this case: India, France, USA and China.
I hope you read the book and find it entertaining and useful. It may change your life! You may soon be living the good life of a Bon Vivant with a relaxed Zen attitude and enjoying retirement as much as I am. I look forward to your feedback and reviews.
It was mid-March, 2022. Winter was drawing to a close and spring was in the air, the days brighter and warmer. I was restive from being cooped up too long. Cabin fever can sometimes get to me. So I decided to use an unusually warm day for a trip to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. I had missed seeing it during my trip last year to Independence Hall and I was raring to make up.
The Pergamon, Smithsonian, Louvre and British Museum, I have seen them all. But, nearer to home, in Philadelphia, there is a museum I have often heard about, but never visited. What a shame! So, on an unusually mild day in September, I decided to correct this inadvertent oversight.
After breakfast in the Rainbow Room of Lake Powell Resort we boarded our bus for the drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. The weather had turned chilly with a light drizzle. Our tour guide had advised us the night before to have our sweaters and rain jackets handy. We were prepared and looking forward to seeing the spectacular vistas of Bryce Canyon.