How you pursued a hobby that you ended up disliking?

In My Humble Opinion
1

We all think of cool hobbies to pursue. Waste money on stupid crap that ends up in a yard sale or closet.

What did you attempt that made you realize that hobby wasn’t for you? It just wasn’t worth investing hundreds of hours in? Or maybe you disliked the hobby after learning more about it?

Tell us your story. :smiley:

Here’s my moment of supreme stupidity. I blame it on turning forty and being bored.

I blew 2 grand on a DAT camera, the tripod, Gimbel mount, and other gear in 2004. I can’t recall the brand. It’s in the closet and I’m too lazy to dig it out. It was a prosumer grade camera.

Took a night class through the local college’s Mass Media and Journalism Dept. It was an introductory class on shooting video and production. Very good class and a degree requirement for Mass Media majors. There’s always a waiting list to get in one of the sections of the class. We covered the use of these cameras thoroughly. How to create a story and video editing with Adobe Premiere.

It didn’t take long to discover I hated all the fiddly details. Just setting up the tripod takes 5 minutes. Unfold it, mount the camera, Adjust the legs and look at the bubble level. The camera settings are buried in menus. Lots of button pushing. The camera’s attached LCD monitor is almost impossible to see in sunlight. That makes framing a shot, difficult.

They teach you to shoot the scene from different angles. So you can edit and splice without a “jump shot”. That horrific sin could cost students a full grade off the project. So that means more tripod moves. I got so sick of leveling that damn thing.

I had to burn two vacation days off from work shooting the final project. Drove 50 miles to shoot in a state park. Dragging that stupid tripod all over the park for various short shots. Sat in the schools video lab till midnight (after working all day) editing. That was three “fun” nights. I had at least 70 hours in that 8 min video project. Just to get a C on the project. A “B” on the course

That was the last serious project I did. I didn’t enjoy using camera gear. I was disappointed at how time consuming and tedious it is. The camera was obsolete within a few years. Flash cards replace DAT tape. Cameras today are smaller. Total waste of money.

I will drag the camera out and shoot family footage on holidays. Then back in the closet it goes. Or I may get rid of it on eBay.

Aren’t new hobbies fun? :smiley:

2

I was big into magic for a while. I got pretty good, too. I ended up dropping the hobby after doing a couple of paid gigs because I learned that there’s always some asshole who can’t stand the idea that he may not be the smartest guy in the room and tries to deliberately catch you out and ruin the fun for everybody else. I decided I’d rather not do magic at all than have to pretend to be gracious to those jerk-offs.

Interesting sidebar: Prior to chip & PIN technology, a common revenge tactic for magicians confronted with objectionable spectators would be to surreptitiously pickpocket their wallets and run them over a powerful magnet strapped to their leg, thereby wiping their credit cards and rendering them useless. They’d then slip the wallet back in the spectators pocket leaving them none the wiser. I never did it myself, but there were a few people I happily would have done it to, had the opportunity presented itself.

3

Wood carving. I didn’t suck at it but I found it totally frustrating and the results were so unsatisfying that most ended up in the firebox of the smoker.

Second example would be full-sized golf. I thought it was a fairly stupid game when I started and never changed my mind very much. Surprisingly enough the mini version (amusement park style or “goofy golf”) is something I enjoy and do often enough to have my own custom take-down putter just like some pool players have their own cue.

4

I usually start off slow so I don’t invest much at the start. Oil painting, sculpture, photography, bird watching, show dogs, pipe making, musical instrument making, raising pigeons, quail, rabbits, ferrets, chickens, This is a list of the ones I have pretty much dropped. I have an equally long list of hobbies where I just moved on but still enjoy to varying degrees.

5

I tried wood carving too. A friend of my dads tried to teach me. He had already used a band saw to roughly shape it. “Carve away the wood that isn’t a bird”. I never could visualize the bird in that block of wood. It always came out lopsided. LOL

It is a good hobby to try. Doesn’t require a lot of money. They sell carving knives and basswood blanks at Hobby Lobby for a few bucks.

6

I brewed craft beer & gave it away to friends at work. It was something I did on weekends & maybe a little bit after work. I was especially proud of a Lager I made with a jalapeno pepper at the bottom.

While trying to prepare One batch, when work was crazy, I asked my wife to pick up for me jalapenos when she went shopping.
At capping time, I noticed the peppers were the wrong peppers and too fat to put down the bottle necks… so I cut them into quarters. (The peppers turned out to be Habanero peppers.)

I capped the bottles & gave them out at work that week (You’d be Amazed at how many people like or ask for free beer) with instructions that it needed to sit three weeks to go through final fermentation.
At home, I did a Quality Control after each week of one beer to see how it was progressing.

After week one, it was an OK ‘spicy’ beer.
After week two, Holy Hell, that was One Hot Beer (thankfully it was cold).
After week three it was literally too hot for human consumption.

Nobody ever complained about the beer after the fact… but oddly not One Single Person asked for another home made craft beer from me after that…

7

Back in the 70’s Stamp Collecting became a huge thing. Because we had family and friends in Germany and the rest of Europe I had a good head start from authentic stamps with post marks and such. Really got into it.

Until about age 14 when I realized “this is totally gay!” Am I going to get banned or suspended for that? :rolleyes: Because that’s what I said to myself back then. All of a sudden I thought how totally stupid it was. Buying books and hinges and getting little envelopes of stamps from companies to inspect and send back or pay for. Duh.

My parents had paid for this big collection of shit when I was 12, so when I gave it up they were all weird about it. Well, my ma was. My Pop as, like, thank gwad you’re a normal teen. Collecting little pieces of paper is stupid.

8

I used to participate in the high-end raiding scene in World of Warcraft. Top 50 worldwide, 20-25 hours a week for the roughly 3-4 months of “progress” (the period between new content being released and the raiding group downing it on the highest difficulty), and 4-6 hours a week for the rest of the year.

Honestly, that sort of commitment to a game sounds insane, but it’s not the sort of life-destroying drain people often make it out to be. It didn’t take more time, in the absolute sense, out of my weekly plans than playing high-level sports did when I was younger. In fact, I got into the raiding scene precisely to sate my desire for a regular, high-level team activity after injuries made continued participation in high-level sports impossible.

What it did do, to an increasing degree as I got older, was exhaust me mentally. The WoW raiding scene is sort of odd and cyclical in nature, in the sense that most get into the high-end scene when they’re 17-18 years old, and from then on have a shelf life of 4-8 years in the top-end scene. High-level players older than 24 are essentially dinosaurs, but almost universally revered. I was closing on 22, and was starting to realize that not only was WoW cutting into time I would rather spend on other hobbies (learning Japanese, reading books, etc), but as I got older, I found myself less worried about my own performance, partly because I had blossomed into one of the best at my “position”, if you will, in the world, but mostly because my role in the group had become less about performing my individual tasks and more about herding 19 other people - many of whom were 17-18 year olds who thought their shit didn’t stink. I had always mostly enjoyed the game because it consistently presented me with new challenges, but now it had become a case of “herd the idiots” moreso than anything else.

I got surlier, shorter-tempered, and found myself more inclined to kick people who couldn’t do exactly what I asked to the wayside, rather than develop immature albeit talented players into what I needed. Ultimately, it ruined my enjoyment of the game, and I hung up my raiding boots for good.

Oddly enough, I don’t really regret the time I put into it at all, because it taught me a ton of incredibly valuable things about myself, and about how I function as part of a team. Most importantly, it taught me that I never, ever, ever want to be a manager.

9

I guess I would not say I ended up disliking it, but I found something I valued more.

I collected first edition books. Still have a bunch but have mostly sold off the pricey ones. I really enjoyed it - the geekery; holding this first instance of a beloved book. But they are ultimately, to me, kind of an ego thing. You know that saying “you can tell a person by the books they read”? I was kinda curating that. (Folks collect for their own reasons; I am only discussing my situation).

When I was able to play more guitar after the kids got past infancy, I realized that an excellent guitar, if chosen well, could both retain its value and be an excellent tool. Two bites at the apple. Haven’t looked back.

I suppose the last observation: with books, my collection grew. There was no practical upper limit other than books I loved and a manageable budget. With guitars, I really want the fewest guitars I play the most. Folks with G.A.S. (Guitar/Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and a couple dozen guitars don’t impress me (unless you’re Keith Richards or Rick Nielsen or something ;)). If I am not playing the guitar, I flip it, regardless of whether it is amazing for what it is.

I prefer that to an open-ended collection, but had no idea when I transitioned my toy budget over to guitars.

10

I can’t say I dislike it because I never really tried it.

Woodworking. I randomly got interested in making objects out of wood several years ago. I bought a few books, then a router and routing table. I have never once used the router; it sits in it’s original box in the garage.

On another note, I know a guy who dropped 2 grand on a guitar and amp the week after his wife died. That was 5 years ago. He has only played it a couple of times and recently told me he has zero interest in it.
mmm

11

I pursued aquariums for a few years. I enjoyed building out the tanks over time, and eventually had four beautiful freshwater tanks running. Every Sunday, I would change water and do maintenance. That chore eventually turned into about 3 hours of work, and I dreaded doing it, even though my aquariums were the envy of everyone.

As I would do maintenance, I would dream of all the other things I could be doing. So I gave it up and have never regretted it.

Sometimes a hobby is for a short time, and then you simply move on. No big deal.

12

I live VERY high in the mountains of Colorado. Far from city/town lights. Perfect for star gazing. Perfect for a telescope.

I bought a $300 scope. Had a nice place on the deck to set it up.

Living at altitude means that even in summer, nighttime is quite cool. Darn right cold if you’re just sitting still.

Meh. I could make out the rings of Saturn. Just barely. The moon is pretty cool. In fact you need special filters to look at it because it’s so bright. But, It got boring pretty quick. I’m going to give the scope away to 4-H or a high school or something.

13

I was heavily into coin collecting until I was about 14. Then the pleasure just up and vanished.

Oh, I enjoy going to the Mercotan family vault and looking at it every 2 or 3 years now, and adding up what it’s worth. I did end up getting all the Lincoln head cents up to 1971 (not the mint errors tho) and a whole lot of silver, plus a variety of gold coins and every proof set from 1957 to 1980. But my current pleasure in it is purely monetary.

14

I tried search and rescue for awhile.

I joined a group and did several training sessions with them. Two months later the group disbanded due to issues with the leader, still not 100% clear on what happened. By that time I’d adopted a German Shepherd mix puppy that they were going to help me train. The dog ended up being a psycho nutcase that I ended up having to rehome to a couple that loved challenging dogs.

I also tried to learn Russian, even joined two Russian Language Meetup groups.

First was run by a retired man that was super creepy and the second group were stuck up and treated me like shit.

15

Not really disliking, but i do very much dislike the unused clutter that remains after the hobby wanes. So as soon as I found myself less interested in cosmetics making, I sold all my stuff.

I am also starting to resent my Little Free Library. People take all the good books and return crappy stuff like travel guides from 1990, or books on how to install Windows Vista.

Nowadays I have projects rather then hobbies. My latest project is getting an artist friend to make a mural on an ugly wall in my street. My challenge is to get the permission, the county permits, and some grant so she gets paid. And good local publicity.

16

Golf. Where I used to live, teenagers under 16 could golf all summer, before noon, for one small registration fee. Some friends of mine and I would go several times a week, dragging our clubs behind our bikes, hooked to the back of the seats. Then I turned sixteen and the price went from $15 for the summer to $10 every freaking round. I decided I didn’t like golf that much, and haven’t swung a club since.

17

One hobby that really left a bad taste in y mouth was showing AKC dogs. It took me a couple of years to really accept what was going on but if your eyes are open and you have just a little bit of knowledge it is clear from the start. Deals are mde between breeders and clients they they will give them a free dog if they will show him until he becomes a champion and then they will usually want free breeding rights or in the case of a female ask for the first litter. A $500.00 dog might cost you $20,000 dollars in pursuit of a championship. It is undeniable that some really nice specimens are developed through this program but there is so much negative going on it is hard to justify, I haven’t been involved in it for over 30 years so hopefully it is cleaned up a bit by now.

18

Boating - for a while I wanted to fit in with all the wannabe-outdoorsy yuppie bastards around me. It was vaguely fun at times and I got a few memories/photos out of it but good god the whole process is annoying.

19

I was also into coin collecting for a while. It was something that my Dad and I did together. We would go hang out at the coin shop and talk to the owners and other customers. I had a nice collection of Morgan Dollars among other things.

After Dad passed away I just couldn’t bring myself to go to the shop anymore. I wound up selling most of my collection during a period of unemployment a few years ago and the cash I got helped me through until I got another job. I do still have a few pieces, mostly the stuff that Dad gave me.

20

You can add me to the ex-coin collector roster. I went along the same path that **Qadgop **followed (and I think we’re the same age).

I subscribed to Coinage (does it still exist?) for several years. Attended coin shows regularly. Loved going to the area coin shops (do any of these still exist?) My favorites were the Franklin half dollars.

I suddenly and totally lost interest around the age of 14. Trouble is, I didn’t save any of my collection.
mmm