Some say passion is impossible to fake, but for some South Fork retirees, it has also proven impossible to ignore, driving each to worlds beyond their fruitful, long-lived, and long-loved careers.

You’ve likely heard of the digital nomad — in case not, it is defined as a person who works remotely while traveling freely, with laptops, smartphones, and Wi-Fi allowing a lifestyle free of a central workplace and even a home base. Untethered by material possessions, the digital nomad is free to pursue the best life, enjoying Instagram-worthy experiences in exotic locales virtually anywhere in the world. But working-age digitized hipsters aren’t the only ones getting in on the fun.

The move from brunette to gray hair has become a topic of fascination for me and I’ve since watched others make the change with interest, embracing their natural color.

The time is nearly upon us when many older East End residents pack up their houses and head south for the winter. To Dr. Charles Guida, a practitioner of internal medicine and gerontology since 1996, who also teaches in Stony Brook Medicine’s intern and resident program at its Southampton Hospital campus, The Star posed this question: “Is it safer to be a snowbird?”