Less Cheese

''Retirement: It's nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese.'' Gene Perret (one of Carol Burnett's writers)

This quote actually has a dual meaning for me and Brenda. Figuratively, when we chose to focus on our retirement goals a couple of years ago, we started downsizing everything in our lives. I mean, if we're not going to be in Canada for 6 months of the year, how much living space do we really need? We moved into one of the units in our triplex in Ottawa and donated about 90% of our winter clothes. The rest of our clothing has been refined to be travel friendly and quick drying. We hung on to a couple of dressy outfits for special occasions, but I've been wearing travel clothes to work most of this year. In the end, so long as you really like the clothes you have and you're really comfortable in them, you don't need a whole lot.

On the literal side, one of my hardest relinquishments as a vegan was cheese. From the softness of Buffalo mozzarella to the density of Grana Padano, from the squeaky mildness of curds to the biting strength of Roquefort, I loved them all. There are a lot of vegan cheeses and artisanal nut based cheese recipes out there that almost satisfy my longings in a pinch, but over all, I haven't suffered too much. And my body really thanks me for it.

So as Brenda and I ride down the road of life together with our 40 liters of clothes (36 liters in Brenda's case) strapped to our bikes, we know we'll be living with less cheese, but we're certain it's all going to be very, very tasty.Read more