Lifestyle

After Two Years of Semi-Retirement, a School Bus Driver Decided He Wasn’t Done. Then He Said It Out Loud: “I’m Not Retired Anymore”

By Erica Coleman · November 6, 2026

Retirement is supposed to mean fewer alarms and more free mornings. For Paul Pakusch, that quieter stretch lasted about two years. Then he decided he wanted his own bus route back.

“I’m basically coming out of retirement,” he said in a July 19 video on his channel (@Paul-Pakusch). “I’ve been sort of retired for the last 2 years.” He had “retired from being a contract school bus driver” and switched to substitute, or “subbing,” work. Now he is returning to contract driving, which he describes as essentially full-time.

He lays out the change in his video on YouTube.

The video title frames the move as going back to work at 65. Near the end he puts it without hedging: “I’m not retired. I’m going back to school bus driving.” And again: “I’m not retired anymore.”

What he misses is specific. His own bus. His own route. The steady expectation of showing up. Substitute work let him choose days. It also left room to sit around, which he says is exactly what he does not want. A summer job as a ride operator at a local amusement park reminded him that staying active feels better than drifting. Extra income helps too, he says, in an economy where prices keep rising.

His path sits against a broader pattern. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2025, 19.1 percent of people age 65 and older participated in the labor force by working or looking for work. That share is down from a recent peak of 20.2 percent in 2019, but still well above 12.9 percent in 2000. For men 65 and older, the 2025 rate was 23.1 percent. Plenty of people Paul’s age are still on the clock, by choice or by need.

He is careful about what retirement means. In a clip he replays in the video, he asks whether it is a rocking chair, part-time work on your own schedule, or something in between. He lands on purpose and motion. People can feel lonely without the social piece of a job, he says. They also need something to look forward to. Going back to contract driving is his version of that answer.

A few notes if you are weighing a return to work after a semi-retired stretch:

Name what you miss. For Paul it was a route and a routine, more than a paycheck.

Test a middle step. Substitute driving and a short seasonal job helped him see that full-time contract work fit better than open-ended free time.

Watch the body and the calendar. He ties staying busy to staying active, and he likes the structure of being expected somewhere.

His story is one exit from semi-retirement, not a rule for everyone. Some people thrive with quieter days. Paul tried that for two years, then said out loud that he was done being done.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.