A few weeks ago I hit a wall, as it were. I got tired of my life and wanted to make a change. Now, I’m not talking a major change. I don’t want a new house, or a new job, or a new car. I was just b-o-r-e-d, with my life.
When Lori and I have spare time, we may take a drive, or get a coffee, or go out for dinner, or go see the grandkids or walk or hike.
Exciting huh? I decided I wanted a new hobby, a change in my relatively regimented life. So, I decided to do a little checking and come up with something new and exciting to do in my spare time.
Maybe skydiving is the answer? They tell me there is quite the adrenaline rush that most people dream of once in their life. And yes, I’m not really good with heights but I can surely do it, can’t I? I did some investigation and found out that to jump twice a week per year the cost would run somewhere around $24,000, annually.
Well, that’s a little rich for my blood. And, if Lori wanted to take up the same hobby, we’re talking almost $50,000/yr. Besides, for some reason skydiving negates my life insurance policy!
Well, we do like to hike, so maybe mountain climbing would take skills we already have and throw in a little element of danger and excitement. Mount Everest, here we come. To hire guides and get all the equipment you need, the costs START at around $35,000 per climb.
That’s worse than skydiving.
Ballroom Dancing perhaps? According to a magazine called Hobby Help, you are looking at between $50$200 per hour for lessons. If you decide to be competitive, competitions can run as high as $30,000- $100,000. And, of course, there is the reality that I have two left feet.
I do remember, when I was young, I had a model train set and that was kind of fun. Apparently, my model train set was in the beginner class. It is quite the expensive hobby, now. A single piece of a set can cost up to $300, and there is a ton of detail work associated with a hobby that prides itself on being historically accurate and has layouts that will take up entire basements.
Lori suggested skiing.
She grew up skiing. I have tried it and haven’t made it off the bunny slope, but I could surely get good at it couldn’t I?
Good equipment alone can easily cost $1,000 or more. If you don’t buy the equipment you can rent for up to $50/day and the cost of a daily lift ticket can cost more than $100/day. And I fall down, a lot.
We had some Shetland ponies when we were growing up; how about becoming an equestrian? National Velvet was a great movie.
Well, dad didn’t tell me what the Shetlands cost but the average horse now-days costs between $5,000-$100,000.
Oh, and horses eat, drink, need some running room and need to see a vet now and then. Plus, either you have to brush and ride them or you have to pay someone to do it.
Scuba diving? I can’t swim.
Ice Sculpting? Too cold.
Collecting cars? Can’t afford the ones I got.
Hot air balloons? Not to wild about looking down.
High stakes poker? My grandkids beat me at ‘”Go fish.”
Car racing? I get dizzy going in circles.
Exotic pets? White lions will eat you.
Country clubbing? The countries that will let me in aren’t safe.
Learning to fly a plane? I kept crashing in the video game, not sure how I would do in real life.
Etc., etc., etc.
I think Lori and I will go out for a nice meal and figure this thing out. Come to think about it, maybe we’ve already got a pretty good life.
Thanks for helping me get my head straight.