12/9/23, 19:10 Resident Interview #1 | Inside The Bubble

FLORIDA RETIREMENT MASTERCLASS: "Early Bird" Pricing Available

(https://www.insidethebubble.net/)

Resident Interview #1
by Ryan Erisman | Originally Published: June 16, 2023 | Updated On: June 16, 2023

Years ago I conducted more than a dozen interviews with residents of The
Villages but I only released them for a brief period of time as a bonus ebook for
people who bought my book Inside the Bubble
(https://www.insidethebubble.net/book/).

I think there’s a lot to be learned from them though so I am going to start

publishing them here for everyone to read.

I’d love to interview other current residents about their experiences. If you’d like
to participate, click here (https://www.insidethebubble.net/interview/).

On to the first interview!

Can you describe your background?

I was a single parent for much of my adult life. I had dropped out of college when
I got married, so being divorced, I had to wait until the kids were more or less
able to tend to themselves, to go back to school. For years everyone in the family
joked that my oldest son and I would graduate together. They were wrong; I beat
him out by a year!

I really enjoyed being an accountant, especially doing taxes. But my true love was
teaching accounting. There was nothing more gratifying than seeing the look on
a student’s face when he or she finally “got” something that had previously had
them stumped. If I ever chose to go back to work, that is what I would like to do
again- teach.

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Where
FLORIDA did you live
RETIREMENT before moving"Early
MASTERCLASS: to TheBird"
Villages?
Pricing Available

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Then I moved to Massachusetts when my
youngest son was accepted to MIT. I lived in the towns of Brookline, Plymouth
and Sterling and loved them all. I met my late husband while living in MA, and
several years later we moved to Plantation, FL. He passed away while we were
living there, and I eventually met my current husband at the Los Olas art fair in Ft
Lauderdale. We’ve been together for 4 years (married for 2 1/2 years) and in that
time, we’ve moved from south Florida to Dallas, Texas and then to Las Vegas,
Nevada, all for his career. This next move from Vegas will be my last- I’m tired of
packing and unpacking. My friends say I should be an expert by now!

How long have you lived in The Villages?

We bought our home here in Dec 2008.

Do you continue to work (even if part-time), or are you fully retired?

I am a fully retired accountant and plan on staying that way. As I said, my

husband will retire next year. Knowing him, he’ll be eager to do some tax
consulting work after a few months here. I have no idea how he’ll fit it in, because
we plan on joining about 6 social clubs, plus all the activities we plan to do, some
together and others separately.

What originally attracted you to The Villages?

Years ago, while living in South Florida, my late husband and I went to Mt. Dora
for a long weekend. While we were there, we took a trip up to The Villages and
took the trolley tour. Back then Spanish Springs was the only town square, and
the sales dept. was touting the latest type of housing here – villas! We both felt
that The Villages would be a great place to retire, but unfortunately, he did not
live long enough to retire.

Years later, when I married my current husband, he told me he had heard great
things about The Villages, but had never been there. Knowing he would be as
impressed with the place as I was, I scheduled one of those week stays for us,
telling them I wanted to stay in the smallest home they had available. We had a

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large
FLORIDA home in Dallas
RETIREMENT at the time, and
MASTERCLASS: I wanted
"Early to Pricing
Bird" really downsize when we
Available
retired. I wanted to see if we could live in a small home without tripping over
each other.

We came, we saw, we bought!

What do you like most now about The Villages?

The variety of activities to choose from. I play cards, I play mah jongg, I’ve taken
courses in everything from history to photography, to reflexology, to home
decorating, to glass etching, to name a few; and that’s just what I can fit in while
I’m here part-time. Can you imagine what I’ll be doing this time next year?

I also love that you can be a retired sanitation worker or a retired captain of
industry; it just doesn’t matter. Everyone is so friendly regardless.

What do you like least about The Villages?

Hands down, the worst thing about The Villages is the road signage. I have not
met a single person here who hasn’t gotten turned around and gone in the
wrong direction at least once or twice or more, especially when they were new to
the area.

Can you describe an ideal day for you in The Villages?

Unless I have early plans, I love to have a leisurely breakfast and then sit on the
lanai with the newspaper and my coffee. Before my knee surgery (and again
when it heals) I would love to go to the pool and do some water aerobics. After
lunch, there could be a club meeting, shopping, a class, or mah jongg game. I’ve
had many a good time meeting friends for happy hour and/or dinner at Mallory,
Havana, etc. after that.

Can you describe an ideal evening for you in The Villages?

After a great dinner (out or at home) it’s usually a game of bridge, mah jongg,
Mexican train, or Samba at a rec center or at someone’s home. Other times we go
to the square to listen to the entertainment or go to a show that one of the
theater groups is per- forming. Sometimes I actually prefer to stay home with a

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good
FLORIDA book. That’s MASTERCLASS:
RETIREMENT what is so great about
"Earlyliving
Bird"here; you can
Pricing do anything,
Available
everything, or nothing at all and have a great time. If you can’t find something of
interest to do here, you should check your pulse, because you might be dead.

What clubs or activities are you involved with?

Not to be repetitious, I play bridge and mah jongg and take courses. I love water
aerobics and bike riding. I joined the SE Mass. club and plan on joining the
Brooklyn club. When my husband is here, we plan on joining the Parrotheads, the
FSU club, the convertible club, and a few others if we can fit them into our
schedules. He will probably join a biking group and maybe a softball team. And
of course, we plan on golfing, and golfing and golfing some more! We also love
to play billiards and occasionally bowl.

How often do you venture out of The Villages and where do you go?

Because I am only here about 5 months of the year, I have no desire to venture
outside of The Villages very often. I do, however, go to the Marion Flea Market
(https://themarketofmarion.com/) on occasion. Like gypsies, we love to just get in
the car and go in any direction we desire and find out where we wind up. I’m sure
that habit will continue when we’re here. But for now, I’m sticking close to home.
There’s so much to do right here, that I rarely have time to go anywhere.

If someone were limited to one lunch and one dinner in The Villages, where
would you tell them to eat?

How can you pick just one with so many great places to choose from? If I must,
I’d choose Cody’s (https://codysamerican.com/) for lunch, just because it’s so
much fun, the food is terrific and it’s cheap! For dinner, I’d pick one of the
country clubs, depending on what night and what kind of food they prefer.

Do you play golf? If so, how many times per week and what is your favorite
course?

When asked if we play golf, we say we play AT it. Neither one of us has played
since we left South Florida, but we plan on changing that as soon as we’re here
full-time. Obviously, I don’t have a favorite course, but I know the executive

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courses
FLORIDA will be fineMASTERCLASS:
RETIREMENT with me; the easier the Bird"
"Early better.Pricing Available

Are there any other sports that you participate in?

As I’ve mentioned before, water aerobics because my chiropractor says water

exercises are the best for me with my bum knees and a bad back. I haven’t done
archery in years, but I think I might like to try it again. I miss horseback riding and
volleyball. I might try water volleyball in the future.

If you had it to do over again, is there anything you would change about
your move to The Villages (type of home you chose, neighborhood, etc.)?

Besides doing it sooner? I love my house. It’s half the size of our last one and so
much easier to take care of. I love my neighbors that I’ve gotten to know quite
well, but I’m not crazy about the neighborhood. Because so many of the people
in our area are part-timers, it’s hard getting any social activities going on a
regular basis. I have a friend who lives in another village and they are so socially
active, that my husband has suggested, more than once, that we sell our home
and buy another one in her village. And while we’re at it, he would like it to be
larger than our place now and near water. I don’t think he’ll win this one!

What additional advice would you give someone considering retiring to The
Villages?

Don’t just consider it; DO it! You won’t be sorry.

About Ryan Erisman

I'm the author of Inside the Bubble

(https://www.insidethebubble.net/book/) and I've been researching and
teaching people about The Villages since 2008. To hear more from me
you can learn more about my newsletters here.
(https://www.insidethebubble.net/newsletter/)

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Get The Book

FLORIDA RETIREMENT Everyone is
MASTERCLASS: Talking
"Early Bird"About
Pricing Available

(https://www.insidethebubble.net/book/)

Comments

Jeff Arute says

June 18, 2023 at 10:02 am (https://www.insidethebubble.net/resident-interview-1/#comment-384996)

The villages are great. It’s a playground for seniors. Activities, restaurants galore,
relaxation at its best. We rented for two weeks and would like to rent for at least
a month next year. It’s too late in our lives to buy, but hope to enjoy for as long
as we can.

Reply

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