April 2, 2000

SENIORITY

On the Wheels of Their Dream

By FRED BROCK

From a remote campground in southern New Mexico, Jim and Kendra Golden are talking to me via cell phone about their nomadic life. Their motor home is now their only home. All 32 feet of it.

	Rudy Gutierrez for The New York Times
	Jim and Kendra Golden left jobs in New Jersey and took to the road. They stopped in El Paso last week.

Last April, the Goldens, both 52, left their jobs in New Jersey -- he was an electrical engineer, she a lawyer -- and sold their more conventional house in Bergen County. They took to the open road, looking for less stress, for new careers with rewards beyond money and for a new home. They hope to make a decision, at least about where to live, in August. One option, they say, is to stay on the road indefinitely.

The couple's story will soon be told on an interesting Web site, www.2young2retire.com, along with a score of others about people who, instead of accepting traditional retirement, have made transitions to new and what they consider more interesting careers and lifestyles. These are people who continue to work, but on their own terms. They range from one salesperson who became an alpaca rancher to another who fulfilled his dream of becoming a drama coach.

The noncommercial site, which started in 1998 and gets as many as 2,000 hits a week, is run by Howard and Marika Stone of Weehawken, N.J.

The Web site is the Stones' equivalent of the Goldens' Winnebago. Mr. Stone, 64, left a marketing career at a publisher, while Mrs. Stone, 58, is a former freelance business writer who now teaches yoga.

"I was tired of the pace of business and all that business travel, but the idea of retirement didn't really appeal to me," Mr. Stone told me. "At the same time, I wanted to be involved in something that would make a difference. I think the Web site has turned out to be a help to people, because it tells stories that relate to their changing concerns and aspirations."

The site also suggests a growing phenomenon that is not happy news for American business. Faced with a very tight labor market and an aging population, many companies are trying to hire or retain older workers. Both Mr. Stone and Mr. Golden said their employers wanted them to remain longer at their jobs.

But for more and more workers in their 50's and 60's -- their children grown, their financial responsibilities diminished and their 401(k) plans fattened by the stock market -- such corporate overtures are easier to resist.

For older workers who make the transition to new lives or careers, two themes emerge: a desire to escape career stress and a need to "make a difference" -- to do something positive for society or the environment.

The Goldens, for example, plan to spend time this summer working on Habitat for Humanity projects in Washington State and Montana.

"We're looking for a way to live more simply in jobs that are more rewarding, that bring value to society and ourselves," Mrs. Golden said.

"Our former jobs were mentally challenging, but we didn't always have a good sense when we went to bed at night that we were doing good for humanity or having a good life. For example, my job as a partner in a law firm involved a lot of foreclosure work. That was very stressful. Nobody's ever happy to see you coming."

Mr. Golden cherishes the freedom of his current life. "What has appealed to me has been not putting an automatic time limit on our travel, to just travel until it feels right to settle down," he said. "This has been a refreshing experience. My back and neck used to hurt from stress, but not any more."

Of course, changing your lifestyle to encompass your passion doesn't necessarily mean that you work less.

A year and a half ago, Sands Belizzi, 55, and her husband, Paul, 45, formed the Alpaca Mining Company and now tend a herd of 24 alpacas on five acres in Grass Valley, Calif., 45 miles northeast of Sacramento. She had been a sales representative in Orange County, in Southern California, specializing in adventure travel, but she grew tired of traveling; he had been a construction worker.

Now they are helping to form a cooperative to sell alpaca fur from ranches in their area.

The couple often end a busy day by having a glass of wine in the pasture, near the alpacas. "We want them to become accustomed to our presence so we can better handle them," Mrs. Belizzi said. "We also enjoy their company. It's wonderful. My blood pressure has gone down as the result of our experience here."