Drive time vs. your hobbies?

[Ultralight]

Anyone else have issues regarding the drive time to and fro their hobbies?

I noticed that any more than 10 minutes drive to a hobby on a weekday is just not mentally/emotionally sustainable to me.

But then again, I profoundly dislike driving.

And on weekends anything more than 20 minutes (like to a fishing hole or whatever) will really wear on me and annoy me.

[herbgeek]

The majority of my hobbies are things I do at home. The only thing I'll really drive to are wine tastings, brew pubs and hiking. Even most of the hiking is no more than a 15 minute drive.

[nswef]

Me, too. If I have to drive, it doesn't get done.

[pony mom]

I guess I can consider horse ownership as a hobby, but my drive now is 15-20 minutes to the barn. For many years it was an hour, sometimes more depending on traffic. I'd rather spend the driving time to get to something I enjoy than something I don't so it never bothered me much.

[Tammy]

I hate driving. For any reason. Unless it's my husband driving me around for a few days in the wilderness areas of AZ, which feels completely different from all other driving.

[Ultralight]

I hate driving. For any reason. Unless it's my husband driving me around for a few days in the wilderness areas of AZ, which feels completely different from all other driving.

Up Flagstaff way?

[Miss Cellane]

The library is a 15 minute walk away. The local yarn store is a 25 minute walk away. The comfy chair is in my living room. I only visit the library once a week, and the yarn store every other month or so. Mostly I read and crochet in my living room. I can also stop off at the library on my way home from work--it's right on the way, no going out of my way to get there. I could take another route that would take me right past the yarn store, but then I'd stop there and spend more money, and I have enough yarn for a couple of years.

I do go hiking, but sometimes that is just around the old city cemetery down the road. But I'll also drive an hour or two to someplace with a good trail. But that's once a month or so, and only in the late spring/summer/fall. I snowshoe in the local city parks, about 10-15 minutes drive, or the cemetery. (It may sound weird to walk and snowshoe in the cemetery, but it's very old, the section I'm in hasn't seen a burial in about 100 years, it's kept up by the city, it looks like a park (except for the headstones) and reading the headstones as I go is entertaining and educational. People run in the cemetery, they push babies in strollers, they walk their dogs. And it is an open, tree-filled space across the street from my house. Seems silly to waste time, money or gas to go someplace else.)

[pinkytoe]

There are so many things I would love to join/do now that I've retired but my loathing of our current traffic situation prevents me from even trying. It it is going to take me 30-45 minutes plus traffic stress just to get to an event or weekly class and ditto for the return, it just isn't worth the hassle anymore. Another reason we are moving...

[Gardenarian]

I am taking several classes, and I don't think I would take any of them if they were more than a few minutes away. It can be hard to get over the inertia to go to a class in the first place, never mind having to drive a long way to get there.

That would be a shame, because I would never have known how much I enjoy archery and 17th century dance!

[ApatheticNoMore]

Because drive time is a problem, I take classes online generally! Really is true, in fact I view it as just about the only reasonable option for weekdays (no, yet another hour or two in traffic is NOT reasonable). Online education can be a VERY good thing (when the quality is good, if you are adult enough to handle it). It's not dance and archery though which probably have to be in person. Hobbies? Some of it is more practical than all that, I've taken social science classes and stuff online as well though, that's not practical really.

[bae]

It's about a 5 minute drive just to get to my mailbox.

[Williamsmith]

Several trails for walking and biking within five minutes. Hunting used to be out the back door....now i drive about 20 minutes. Golf...5 minutes. Library....10 minutes. Traffic? There is none. This is rural Pennsylvania. Just watch out for the deer crossing.

[Tammy]

Flagstaff is one of multiple areas we've explored. The large empty wilderness areas in the west are something else. Most of this land is federal and empty.

[kally]

5 minutes to pickleball. 5 minutes to the gym. Home for everything else. The joy of living in a small town.

[mschrisgo2]

I don't mind driving. I currently drive 28 miles to work, it's my gear up time in the morning, and wind down time in the afternoon. Coupled with blue-tooth phone, calls are returned and appointments made before I get home, with well-planned errand routes along the way. And I have satellite radio in my car, which I thoroughly enjoy!

Two hour drive to the coast or mountains, dog show or quilt show--> no problem at all!

[printslicker]

I'm glad I still love driving. I've been steering the wheel for 20 years now.

[LDAHL]

I don't especially mind driving. Half an hour to get to the ballpark or an hour and a half to get to one of the kid's swim meets isn't particularly daunting. It's like anything else, I suppose. You need to weigh the benefit derived against the necessary hassle.

Depending on conditions, I can find driving positively enjoyable.

[messengerhot]

My story is different. I drive a bicycle everyday to go to work and it takes me 5-10 minutes to be in the office. Can you consider both of these as drive time and hobby? LOL

[Gardenarian]

Same here, messengerhot. I really look forward to hopping on my bike.

In the winter I mostly walk places, and that is kind of a hobby too.

I'm only working as a substitute now, so time isn't as much of an issue. (Though dh and I run vacation rental, and dd is still in school...I don't think of myself as completely retired.)