The obvious answer for me would be motorcycles. But I sometimes wonder if that is even a hobby anymore. I can spend days immersed in the whole culture and the finer points of them.
pato rojo-my onetime Ducati
I work on them, my two current motorcycles have only darkened the service entry of a shop once between them. I had a fairly technical problem, a leaking fork seal and was 1500 miles from home. It was a bad choice (I'm paying for today), I should have bought the tools needed and done it myself.
Lee's Ferry, Arizona. My Suzuki V Strom camping and off highway bike.
I write about motorcycles, I dream about motorcycles and maybe even more specifically about riding them.
So the question I would pose to You All is this: Can an obsession also be a hobby?
If I had a hobby to chose that I've not done it would be flying single engine aircraft. I have hours and hours with other people at the controls and have never done it myself. Specifically, I'd like to fly ultra lights.
So. You ask why I haven't pursued that dream? One obsession in my life is plenty :)
Damn dude, that shot in the Arizona desert is gorgeous. It's just us here, right? So what I'm about to say won't ruffle any biker feathers..
We talked about our bikes before, I've had several ranging from crotch rockets to Harley's. Man, the most comfortable, technologically advanced, and smoothest bike I've ever ridden was the BMW GS1200. And the thing stopped like a champ too!! Damn that thing could stop!
Rode one for about a week out here several years back, touring through Tail Of The Dragon and several other amazing road courses--toured about 5 states that time.
Point is, it sure would be a nice bike to ride alongside that Suzuki through the desert.
Ohhhh. If we are riding paved roads, I have my connie. A Kawasaki Concours 1400. That beast is made for the road, and is sporty enough to handle well, too.
I have a couple of friends that ride the GS. What a great motorcycle. Sporty and fast. I have a better road than the dragon. The 666. 110 miles from Alpine, AZ to Morenci, AZ. It's called the US151 now, but once was a feeder road to Route 66...
This is a bit of it. Light traffic, too. Even on the weekends.
(I'm sure you have)?Fuckin dooooppe! Better than the dragon though @bigtom13?! I'll take your word for it. Have you ridden the dragon
Things like that I respect and don't argue, like saying there's a better MC than Eminem. Or a blonde is better than a brunette. Or a knife is better than a pistol. From the looks of that 666, it's a blondie and a brunette all at the same time!
I have ridden the dragon. It's a really cool road, and the scenery is unmatched. But too much traffic and LEO presence. A lot of the 'best road ever' lists have the South Entrance of Mt. Palomar at or near the top, but there is a pretty unused road that is just as good about 10 miles away.
This section of the 666 and a couple of others I have to remind myself to breathe. It's like a super roller coaster type ride. The 666 is also home to my favorite campsite in the US. An 8 space NFS free campground.
"I'm in!"
I figured you'd cite motorcycles as your hobby, and why wouldn't you? It's been with you for so long and is your passion...Yes, an obsession can be a hobby, for sure. I think things only fail to be hobbies once one is getting paid for it.
I'm a sponsored shooter but I've scaled it back because being paid took away the fun-factor...I had to perform for the sponsors and it turned what was a hobby into more of a job. I am still sponsored but in different ways, less financial, and now enjoy the hobby aspect again.
I know a guy who has an ultra-light...He's a shooter and when he comes to events in our State he often flies in. It's hilarious. (His wife brings his loadout in the truck). He lands, saunters over with a grin and it never fails to give me a laugh. Those who don't know him are like, WTF just happened.
Sounds like my kind of guy! There was a guy up in Washington that won the lottery. He bought a bluebird motorhome and rigged a Mercedes sedan to tow behind it and showed up at every trapshoot in Washington state for several years. It was hilarious, and he had big fun!
I understand about getting paid. There is a really fine line there. When it's a job, it's not as fun. I do have a friend who writes for Rider magazine. They've offered him full time and he won't do it. He writes as a 'stringer' and rides and does what he wants. He has a company writing business reports for his day job.
I'm just sitting here writing a post for later about hobbies and literally just wrote this line...
It sounds like your mate is writing for his hobby, and work. :)
I think he's a writer. It's all he's ever been. His dad started the business and he's quite successful at it. Got his degree at Cambridge and has been writing ever since.
He's a RIDER too. He just happens to share some of his rides and 'things' with the world. I think that's how he has it in his head.
Sounds like an all-round sort of guy.
Hobby, lifestyle, brotherhood. It has been a part of my life since jumping the peddle bikes as a kid on the farm off of a ramp and a cement block for distance. Then two blocks. Then three. Then a broken knee and crooked teeth...
Part Evel Knievel
part dumb ass country boy. Full blooded biker trucker.
Hoooooo. I thought I was the only dumb ass that got hurt way worse jumping a pedal bike as a kid than I ever did as a motorcycle rider!
Brother, I do understand. And we both understand why a dog sticks his head out of the car window.
Yep. Cuz we farted.
Ok... No really, did you fart.?
Lmao
Ahahahahaha. That's a distinct possibility.
Your babies are so gorgeous!! Hell, I would look stunning in a Red Ducati it suits my personality!! Hahaha so your hobbie that is actually an obsession
It's utterly impossible to look anything but good on that Ducati. That color is Ducati Red, known wherever paint is sprayed :)
It is no doubt, the best looking motorcycle I've ever owned. It was a lot of fun to ride, too.
I thought that was what made something a hobby. Possession see how closely that looks like obsession? After all we can be possessed by our obsessions.
I think I agree with that. I can be possessed by my obsessions...
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Cats are my obsession. So yes. Hobby=Obsession
Yes, an obsession can be a hobby. I love genealogy and started as a hobby. It became an obsession. I had to step back from it. When I did a restart, I approached it differently. Now, I don't stay up until 4a.m. searching for something because I can't stop until I find it.
I have a cousin that has the obsession. She and her mom (my mom's sister) bought a motorhome for 'further research'. Seriously, they followed my Great Great's migration west searching old newspapers and libraries.
I get all the research and none of the 0400. Works for me :)