High Maintenance Hobbies?

[pjigar]

I call my self a builder so all my hobbies should be cheap if I can sell what build. If I can’t sell then it could get expensive real quick. My dream is to build a plane. Can experienced fliers chime in if it is a good idea?

 

[FIREmenow]

I get it. I spent nearly 8 years restoring this VW... but then the next 17 putting ear to ear grinning miles on it (about $1k a year). (slowly) restoring another now...

Off to VW Day at Lars Anderson outside of Boston in it Saturday if the weather holds!!!

That's hawt.

 

[Souschef]

I call my self a builder so all my hobbies should be cheap if I can sell what build. If I can’t sell then it could get expensive real quick. My dream is to build a plane. Can experienced fliers chime in if it is a good idea?

It is a good idea if you have the time, the money and the space. One popular kit plane is the RV6, but I know there are many others. You might contact the Experimental Aircraft Association for more information

 

[Koolau]

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

Heh, heh, I always heard it a slightly different way - back in the day when I owned my own aircraft. YMMV

 

[Walt34]

My dream is to build a plane. Can experienced fliers chime in if it is a good idea?

It is a good idea if you have the time, the money and the space. One popular kit plane is the RV6, but I know there are many others. You might contact the Experimental Aircraft Association for more information

What Souschef said. I helped a friend build a Pitts S-1 (not a whole lot different than the R/C models I'm used to, just different materials). Yes, it is cheaper than buying one complete, but only if you place no value on your time, or count the building time as part of the experience. And believe me, it takes a LOT of time!

The EAA is a fountain of information for homebuilders, much as ER.org is for early retirees. BTW, that's me sitting in the fuselage making engine noises. The guy who owns the airplane is in the white t-shirt.

 

[Pilot2013]

I call my self a builder so all my hobbies should be cheap if I can sell what build. If I can’t sell then it could get expensive real quick. My dream is to build a plane. Can experienced fliers chime in if it is a good idea?

I'd build it.... but wouldn't fly it.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I enjoy target shooting, especially competitive shooting. It can be expensive and you have to keep up practice to do decently. I make sure to compete at least once a week.

I'm learning to play the banjo, and although it doesn't take a lot of money, it does take time. Fortunately I have plenty of that, so it comes down to being disciplined enough to make sure I practice.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Triathlon. Just came back from a tri in Mexico, been training all year and hurt my hip (well at least that's what I'm saying) and ended up just doing the swim. I'm afraid I'm done with longer races. So I've also taken up sailing since I retired, and ukulele torturing. Been doing the wine drinking for many years now, so I've got that down. Oh and lots of travel, just finished booking a trip to Tasmania. What the devil was I thinking?

 

[teejayevans]

I call my self a builder so all my hobbies should be cheap if I can sell what build. If I can’t sell then it could get expensive real quick. My dream is to build a plane. Can experienced fliers chime in if it is a good idea?

You can build it, but don't expect to make money when you sell it. Most people are not too keen on buying a plane built but someone with no expertise, so if you build, plan on flying it.
You can save some money on maintenance and parts. You still have to have it inspected annually. Gas costs the same. Hangar space costs the same.
I think the average build time is something like 12 years. Personally I prefer to fly for those 12 years. One guy said he worked on it full time and finished in 2 years.

 

[teejayevans]

Golf and sailing, both high maintenance IME.

Golf, sailboat, airplane....but no house!

 

[imoldernu]

Just got around to reading this thread. Looking back, not many expensive hobbies, but many interests that have come and gone over the years. Some, maybe not so much of what you'd call "hobbies", but which took up a lot of time, and much interest.

Twenty five years of scouting... leading, camping, teaching, mentoring and chairing.
R/C planes, and RC sailboats and R/C sailboat racing
Stamps, coins.
Biking, and vintage bikes.
Surfing, Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,... (age 7 to age 77)
Swimming... I guess maybe a profession, as it helped pay my way through Bowdoin, though they don't give athletic scholarships. Total of 8 years (HS & College) appointed to the All American Swim team... and YMCA, Boys Club, AAU, NCAA and NEAAU championships 34 by gold medal count.
Water skiing. Ice Boating (Just one winter on a DIY'er).
Camping, of all kinds, from age 7 in 1944 to Leading Church groups to the Boundary Waters in the mid 1980's... then w/ DW through 1997.
Ukelele started at age 13... moved to guitar much later.
Also... violin (short time.. ugh), harmonica, recorder. Some electronic piano. My mom failed in getting me to play our old upright.
Fifteen years of many scooters... ride, repair, rebuild etc.
Sailing... 2 years on college team, then 60 years of Sunfish, sailfish, small boats and and crewing on the classics... Snipes, Thistles, Lightnings, and the MIT Tech Sailing Dinghy....... Still use my Sears sailing canoe.
1O years of powerboats.
Canoeing everywhere we ever lived from the Vineyard, to Maine, FLorida, and especially many, many canoe trips in the Adirondaks... and now of course in Illinois at Woodhaven.
Computers... from "Pong", to "the Adam" and up to today. taught basics in our FL community for 12 years.
Built and flew kites... every spring for many dozens of years.
Pool, (biliards) shuffleboard, bocce, but not pickleball...
Early years, tropical fish
Hiking... not that good at it, but climbed 8 of the Adirondsck "Tall Peaks". Mostly camping w/scouts.
Photography. Official photographer for our over 55 community, as well a contributor to the monthly paper.
General handyman. The only work that I've had to hire out in the past 50 years, was two A/C repairs, two re-roofs, one in-the-wall electrical repair, one HWH replacement and three or four car repairs that were over my head.
currently working on an OBDC II code PC0122 throttle positioning control "fix". aargh!

Last, non-hobby hobby was reading. Though I can't do it any longer, for most of my post-childhood years until a few years ago, I would read 3 to five books a week... even including those years when I was working 60 hours/week. Probably the most satisfying long term "hobby", sadly now replaced by books on tape and Librivox.

I guess none of these qualify for "high maintenance", but thanks for the opportunity to roll back the years to recall some of the most fun parts of the younger days

 

[brewer12345]

Beekeeping. I have 9 hives and it is an insult to the bees and my pride that they be managed at anything less than extremely well. It can be quite time consuming. Money-wise, I am at the stage where the hobby is cash flow positive via the sale of honey and nucs, but only if I value my time at zero.


Shooting/reloading/bullet casting is proving to be fairly high maintenance. My vision is poor enough that I will never be a competitive shooter, but put virtually any firearm in my hands and I can be a competent shot. Will probably look for a cheap muzzleloader after the season is over locally so I can fool with that. Actual hunting with it would probably see me bringing a fire extinguisher along, as I have seen multiple small grass fires started at the range by guys sighting in their smokepoles.

 

[FlaGator]

Just got around to reading this thread. Looking back, not many expensive hobbies, but many interests that have come and gone over the years. Some, maybe not so much of what you'd call "hobbies", but which took up a lot of time, and much interest.

Twenty five years of scouting... leading, camping, teaching, mentoring and chairing.
R/C planes, and RC sailboats and R/C sailboat racing
Stamps, coins.
Biking, and vintage bikes.
Surfing, Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,... (age 7 to age 77)
Swimming... I guess maybe a profession, as it helped pay my way through Bowdoin, though they don't give athletic scholarships. Total of 8 years (HS & College) appointed to the All American Swim team... and YMCA, Boys Club, AAU, NCAA and NEAAU championships 34 by gold medal count.
Water skiing. Ice Boating (Just one winter on a DIY'er).
Camping, of all kinds, from age 7 in 1944 to Leading Church groups to the Boundary Waters in the mid 1980's... then w/ DW through 1997.
Ukelele started at age 13... moved to guitar much later.
Also... violin (short time.. ugh), harmonica, recorder. Some electronic piano. My mom failed in getting me to play our old upright.
Fifteen years of many scooters... ride, repair, rebuild etc.
Sailing... 2 years on college team, then 60 years of Sunfish, sailfish, small boats and and crewing on the classics... Snipes, Thistles, Lightnings, and the MIT Tech Sailing Dinghy....... Still use my Sears sailing canoe.
1O years of powerboats.
Canoeing everywhere we ever lived from the Vineyard, to Maine, FLorida, and especially many, many canoe trips in the Adirondaks... and now of course in Illinois at Woodhaven.
Computers... from "Pong", to "the Adam" and up to today. taught basics in our FL community for 12 years.
Built and flew kites... every spring for many dozens of years.
Pool, (biliards) shuffleboard, bocce, but not pickleball...
Early years, tropical fish
Hiking... not that good at it, but climbed 8 of the Adirondsck "Tall Peaks". Mostly camping w/scouts.
Photography. Official photographer for our over 55 community, as well a contributor to the monthly paper.
General handyman. The only work that I've had to hire out in the past 50 years, was two A/C repairs, two re-roofs, one in-the-wall electrical repair, one HWH replacement and three or four car repairs that were over my head.
currently working on an OBDC II code PC0122 throttle positioning control "fix". aargh!

Last, non-hobby hobby was reading. Though I can't do it any longer, for most of my post-childhood years until a few years ago, I would read 3 to five books a week... even including those years when I was working 60 hours/week. Probably the most satisfying long term "hobby", sadly now replaced by books on tape and Librivox.

I guess none of these qualify for "high maintenance", but thanks for the opportunity to roll back the years to recall some of the most fun parts of the younger days

I admire the full life you have already lived

Hope I do as well. My best wishes for the years ahead!

 

[NW-Bound]

No, no high maintenance hobby. It would be too much like work.

I am not good at any sport, never run a marathon nor play any ball game. Used to do a bit of target shooting, and had mediocre performance. Gave up on playing musical instruments in my teens, and have no desire to restart now.

To keep occupied, when I do not get immersed in travel planning, I do home projects like gardening, or rebuilding the big deck, or working on my motorhome. Right now, I am doing research for my next big home project.

 

[shortstop14]

@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.

I think some of our league teams could compete with a high school team on a good day. The local leagues here are over-35 age group, so there is still some pretty strong pitching and hitting. The younger kids would have an edge in speed. We've got some high school age kids that practice with us on occasion, and they're quicker and more willing to throw their bodies on the ground.

Tournament teams are a different story, because the age groups expand - divisions range from over-35 through over-75. And there's definitely a falloff in physical abilities as the age groups go up. A good high school team would clean up against the over-55 and over-60 teams I play on. Some have referred to us as adult t-ball, where the kids just aren't as cute.

Most players played high school ball, and there are quite a few ex-college and some ex-professional players, even some retired major leaguers. This is tournament season, with age group tournaments playing in the major league spring training complexes in Arizona and Florida.

 

[Pellice]

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.

I totally get what TimeMeasure is saying. My passion is birding, and I am SO looking forward to enjoying it next year after Financial Independence even more. Birding is a huge time sink, but doesn't really involve practice - you just get better the more time you spend. And once you invest in the two high end pieces of gear, binoculars and a spotting scope, both $2,000 - $3,000 for the best stuff, which you WILL want, then you can choose not to spend any more for 10 years or more. There are some competitive aspects to birding, but so far, not that much. I just love it that I'm always improving.

But there's two add-ons - one is birding travel, which is just as TimeMeasure describes, a subtle art in its own, researching trips, studying up - the likely birds, the sounds, the habitats, etc. I love birding travel, and while it isn't as expensive as certain other kinds of travel, it isn't cheap.

The other add-on is birding photography, which I avoid as much as I can. That equipment DOES need to be upgraded - a lot - and it takes more time to learn, to do, to edit, to display, than it does to bird. And there's a bigger competitive aspect.

 

[Starsky]

Interesting posts, especially from those musicians in the thread.

Definitely music is one of my high-maintenance hobbies. I had many years in bands before joining the corporate world, so getting back into it has been very interesting. I've kept up with playing while working and have found my technique and skills have become advanced enough to be very comfortable doing just about anything I'm asked to do, and feeling good about it. It's awesome to have the time and money to indulge - musicians are usually very poor. I have way more gear than I will ever need. I don't care about getting discovered or making money. I only wish I had fewer hobbies and more time. I do find myself avoiding gigs that require a lot of effort with no payoff. I've had too many recent experiences spending lots of time learning songs with new people and never really playing out.

The maintenance issue is in finding the right people to play with and the best gigs. Craigslist wasn't cutting it. Too many requests for computers and technology. [I'm a keyboard player] It's been much more fun to hook up with friends and musicians I used to play with 20+ years ago who are still gigging. It just takes time. I've finally started to find my tribe and joined a Zydeco band which has been big fun and requires no rehearsals. We just play. (The lead singer was in a rival band years ago) It's a big party!

My other high-maintenance hobbies include Golf, which I'm at a comfortable 80-95 level without too much effort; Fishing, which definitely requires practice and I haven't been doing much lately; and target shooting [handguns], which I have been doing a lot of lately and spending money on. Small things that add up, like gunsmithing, ammo, a range membership and steel reactive targets for our next desert trip. I want to try an IDPA competition and see how I like it.

 

[Boho]

I'm not retired, but I started a renovation a few years ago that almost nobody would bother with. I doubt it's worth my time financially by increasing the value of the apartment so it's kind of like a time consuming hobby that's not much fun. Basically, I'm building soffits to conceal cables, but there are complications. I may run conduit through part of the soffits and through walls made of plaster and steel lath to help fish the cable, and I'll install access panels and jacks. There's like no end to the most ambitious version of the plan. I might build soffits in four rooms and a hallway. I have this thing where I don't like exposed cables, especially more than one. Yes, I know about raceway. They'll be some of that too. Don't get me started...

 

[Music Lover]

I had many years in bands before joining the corporate world, so getting back into it has been very interesting. I've kept up with playing while working and have found my technique and skills have become advanced enough to be very comfortable doing just about anything I'm asked to do, and feeling good about it. It's awesome to have the time and money to indulge - musicians are usually very poor. I have way more gear than I will ever need. I don't care about getting discovered or making money. I only wish I had fewer hobbies and more time. I do find myself avoiding gigs that require a lot of effort with no payoff. I've had too many recent experiences spending lots of time learning songs with new people and never really playing out.

The maintenance issue is in finding the right people to play with and the best gigs.

The great thing about being a FIRE musician is never having to chase gigs for money or having to play with people I don't like in order to make rent. I get to be 100% selfish and will only play with people that meet three criteria:

- good musicianship, everyone can play
- good music, don't have to play songs I don't like
- good people, won't play with jerks/addicts/losers

 

[dm]

I own an airplane and golf, I've also taken up target shooting.

I don't want to burden the kids with a large inheritance.

 

[deadhorse]

My High Maintenance Hobby: Dating!

 

[FlaGator]

My High Maintenance Hobby: Dating!

+10

 

[FreeBear]

I totally get what TimeMeasure is saying. My passion is birding, and I am SO looking forward to enjoying it next year after Financial Independence even more. Birding is a huge time sink, but doesn't really involve practice - you just get better the more time you spend. And once you invest in the two high end pieces of gear, binoculars and a spotting scope, both $2,000 - $3,000 for the best stuff, which you WILL want, then you can choose not to spend any more for 10 years or more. There are some competitive aspects to birding, but so far, not that much. I just love it that I'm always improving.

But there's two add-ons - one is birding travel, which is just as TimeMeasure describes, a subtle art in its own, researching trips, studying up - the likely birds, the sounds, the habitats, etc. I love birding travel, and while it isn't as expensive as certain other kinds of travel, it isn't cheap.

The other add-on is birding photography, which I avoid as much as I can. That equipment DOES need to be upgraded - a lot - and it takes more time to learn, to do, to edit, to display, than it does to bird. And there's a bigger competitive aspect.

We also enjoy birds and bird photography. The equipment for bird photo can be very expensive, but we bought used pro-level gear while still w*rking and it still is good enough years later. Our camera bodies are rather dated but the progress in image quality has slowed, so we can get more years out of each generation. We are still using old software on old computers, but the combination is good enough for us.

This spring we spent almost a month chasing warblers on the Gulf coast and Great Lakes. Nothing like a storm to bring bird fallout, where these colorful little birds seem to flit about in every tree and shrub.

The photography aspect to birding forces us to move more slowly, even more slowly than a typical birder. Photography requires even more patience and the right conditions of flattering light and very close proximity, even with larger lenses. On the other hand, it's rewarding to work on our pictures and confirm or correct our field ID's. We also notice behavior and subtle visual details that aren't obvious in the field, real time.

Half of our vacation time typically involves bird photography. Like others have mentioned, we plan trips very carefully, both for birding potential as well as comfortable lodging and excellent food. We could never do trips like this when w*rking!

 

[FreeBear]

It's been much more fun to hook up with friends and musicians I used to play with 20+ years ago who are still gigging. It just takes time. I've finally started to find my tribe and joined a Zydeco band which has been big fun and requires no rehearsals. We just play. (The lead singer was in a rival band years ago) It's a big party!

The great thing about being a FIRE musician is never having to chase gigs for money or having to play with people I don't like in order to make rent. I get to be 100% selfish and will only play with people that meet three criteria:

- good musicianship, everyone can play
- good music, don't have to play songs I don't like
- good people, won't play with jerks/addicts/losers

Quite interesting hearing about the quest to find the right gig/band. You guys are several leagues beyond me!

I'm a self-taught singer-song writer. I started with guitar a couple of decades ago, and now I also fool around with bass and keys.

I agree it's tough to find the right mix of people. Last year a did some informal open mics with a bunch of older and better (!) musicians. I enjoyed solo performing and listening to the excellent performances in a wide range of styles. Still, it was tough to find something that everyone enjoyed playing together, again because of the different styles.

I've also played around with Bandhub, an online music collaboration site. It helped identify my strengths and weaknesses, and I did grow a bit as a musician. Still, I never managed to get help on own projects, so I mainly w*rk on others' project, for free.

This year, I started writing and recording my own songs, solo, at home. As an introvert, sometimes a very strong introvert, I greatly enjoy this. No emotional overhead dealing with the other people to carry out my plan. I enjoy the music itself. Also I write Christian music, so it serves as a regular part of my devotion.

When I want to hang out with people, typically a few times a week, DW and I have dinner and coffee with friends or church folks. No musical wrangling required. I do admire those in regular bands, but I fear the emotional overhead would be too much w*rk for me.

 

[brewer12345]

Another one: waterfowl hunting. Way more gear than any other hunting I do, although I draw the line pretty quickly on decoy numbers. Waders, special shells, oversized shotguns, etc. I am almost at the point that I just mix it into my usual mixed bag hunting style rather than specifically go for waterfowl: wander through the trees and look for squirrels and rabbits, walk by the lakeshore and look for ducks, hunker down at the end of the day by roosting sites for doves, etc. The exception is geese since they require particularly big shot not useful for hunting anything else and very different tactics.