High Maintenance Hobbies?

[kite_rider]

A good buddy once told me this: "Want to know what it's like to own a sailboat? Just jump in the shower fully clothed, turn the faucet on full blast cold, and start ripping up $100 bills!"

So yea, I don't own a sailboat...

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I enjoyed owning an airplane, but it was expensive and I am glad to not have that expense anymore.

I arrived at the same conclusion in the 1970's. Lots of fun, but no apparent end to the expenses.

Now I fly small electric radio control models in the back yard. But even with R/C if you want to get into it deep enough there is no limit to the expenses, I've seen videos of several examples of R/C models of 4-engine jets with turbine engines (~$2k and up each engine alone).

Photography is another hobby with almost no limit. A Hasselblad H5D-200C Multi-shot is $45k. Oh, and you wanted to actually take pictures? Lenses can be five figures and up.

I'll stick with my Nikon D7000 and a few lenses and strobes, thank you....

[socca]

If I stopped developing software and writing/publishing technical books for five years, how hard would it be to climb back into the saddle? This is an interesting question, but I have no intention of finding out. Birds fly; I code. It's an inextricable part of my nature. 😎

[DrRoy]

For me, it's photography. High maintenance for good equipment, and because I want to do it in places like the Lauterbrunnen Valley (which I have done).
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[Breedlove]

Playing music for me is fun , I no longer play in bands to me I want to play what I want to play when I want to play and for who I want to play .

I enjoy getting together with a few musicians every so often but it always ends up into a blues jam session . I write a lot of music and have really got into doing this and the outlaw country style . To me I just enjoy going to some of the places and playing my acoustic guitar and my songs.'

Every year I do a gig in Amsterdam at the Melo Mello for Kings day . A lot of my friends and their bands are there . One of the songs that really get the tourists going is Goodbye San Francisco hello Amsterdam we do a large jam to this song.
I play at a few local wine bars and small clubs here in the Houston area ....
No longer do I want to mess with setting equipment up , I have been blessed by a small backing from Carvin corporation and my equipment is super high quality , but would fit in my back seat .

[Meadbh]

I play golf. I have only been playing it regularly (2 x week) for the past 3 years. I’m not blessed with any natural ability and I find that regularity is key to (slowly) improving my play. I have now reached the point where I feel comfortable playing with random people and want to up my frequency of play to 3-4 times weekly. Next spring I plan to take lessons (which I have done in the past). I spend $2 - 2.5 K per annum but will loosen the purse strings a bit for 2018.

I cook and buy a few kitchen gadgets, but that is saving me money.

I read, but the library is free paid by my taxes.

I guess I’m pretty low maintenance!

[bingybear]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kite_rider A good buddy once told me this: "Want to know what it's like to own a sailboat? Just jump in the shower fully clothed, turn the faucet on full blast cold, and start ripping up $100 bills!" So yea, I don't own a sailboat...

I wouldn't say that it has to be that way. Depends what you sail and how often you replace your sail.

It can be worse than a cold shower if you race in the winter in Ohio. If you don't travel and just club race it can be reasonable cost after the initial boat purchase. But you can spend yourself in the poor house if you want to.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Sports car racing, which I abandoned after 15 years but before retirement. Flying light airplane, typically $100-150/hour cost. I have commercial and instrument pilot ratings. Target shooting; my favorite pistol (out of about six) cost me $2000. Most of the rest were half or a little less than that. All three are high maintenance to maintain proficiency. Do I win?

I do not see this as a contest. I fly for Angel Flight West because I enjoy both flying and helping people. At $130/hr it gets a little expensive. So far this year I have flown 60 hours and have 4 more flights booked.
I am blessed that I can afford it, but I am by no means wealthy.

[Music Lover]

Music is high maintenance in that it requires a time commitment, but in most cases, after the initial equipment acquisition, it doesn't usually cost very much money on an ongoing basis.

[ejman]

I don't know if this qualifies as "high maintenance" or not but I've spent $20,000 dollars for Hi-Fi equipment and LP's and such over the last 20 years. Worth every penny to me.

[Senator]

Pigeon racing was a great sport when I was into it.
Falconry is another.

Both require extensive work with the birds. Lots of training and of course lots of "having to be there".

[audreyh1]

OMG! After about 15-20 years I've resuming playing classical guitar - or trying to.

It's hard!!!!

[shortstop14]

Playing baseball is fairly high maintenance in terms of keeping fielding and hitting skills at a reasonably competitive level. It's much more of a time and effort commitment than a financial one. Practice two or three times a week along with games. But practice doesn't feel like work to me, I really enjoy it. Still, the physical abilities inevitably fade as the years go by.

And then there's the off-season - maintaining conditioning and some amount of explosive training, along with some skill work. Less fun, but kind of necessary if you want to avoid embarrassing yourself.

Financially there's some travel for tournaments, but that's more like being on vacation. And the tournaments are in age brackets, where we get to play with kids our own age.

[TimeMeasure]

Visiting National Parks.

Compared to other interests, like reading, just getting there is expensive. And the research to make everything about the trip "just right" - lodgings, schedule, places to hike - takes a lot of time. The overall atmosphere and experience of a trip is a quality that doesn't even have a name in this language, but crafting it, and then savoring it, can be an involved and subtle pursuit in its own right.

[DatumPoint5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 "If it flies, floats, or fornicates, then it's cheaper to rent."

I have been a pilot for 30 years and I have never heard this quote!?!? VERY funny!!

[hilltide]

Great thread. Boating and fishing is my expensive hobby. We have it in the budget now. It's always something but love it. I think flying has boating beat by a long shot.

[jjquantz]

OP here. Fun to read responses. I was definitely thinking more along the lines of the time commitment and, even more, the feeling that one has to put in some time doing something that is "less fun" (i.e. practice) so that one can have "more fun" later. I do get the other interpretations of "high maintenance," however.

@shortstop14 - I would love to hear more about the baseball hobby. At what level do your leagues play? Good high school level? Are most of the players former college and high school players? I was a really good HS player - good enough to see the difference between my skills and those of players who later played minor league ball.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltide I think flying has boating beat by a long shot.

I've done both and depending on what you have, one can cost more than the other. When I lived in Texas, I owned both at the same time and the boat cost me more $$$ by far. Granted, I was able to do the maintenance on the plane myself (and for the time I owned it, there wasn't a lot of unscheduled maintenance to deal with) and I had to replace the engine in the boat which I had someone else do. Now, in Georgia, owning the plane would be a lot more, since the fuel would cost me almost double and the hangar would be VERY expensive compared to what I had in Texas.

At any rate, both hobbies are pretty damn expensive and I am glad to be rid of those expenses (and worries).

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjquantz OP here. Fun to read responses. I was definitely thinking more along the lines of the time commitment and, even more, the feeling that one has to put in some time doing something that is "less fun" (i.e. practice) so that one can have "more fun" later. I do get the other interpretations of "high maintenance," however.

In retirement, I don't have any hobbies at all that require practice or "less fun" times, because to me that is too much like work. I used to have hobbies like that when I was still working.

Right now, my main hobby is playing video games and I don't play them competitively. This is a relatively cheap hobby, that costs me about $500-$600/year. As for time commitment, I just kick back and play for my own enjoyment so this hobby creates no constraints on my time.

[hilltide]

At any rate, both hobbies are pretty damn expensive and I am glad to be rid of those expenses (and worries).[/QUOTE]

You may be right. I am currently talking the wife into budgeting new twin 200's for my boat. If I wasn't addicted to fishing, I would just kayak!