Friday Question #98
What hobbies would you pursue if money was of no concern?
This week I was talking to Erin about how I wanted to make a saffron couscous dish but decided not to when I saw that saffron was about $10 for a freaking teaspoon. In fact, I could not even tell how much saffron was in the jar. It was a normal, tall glass spice jar, but it just had this teeny little black bag in it. Ooo… how much is in the little black bag?!?!?!
I told Erin it will be nice when I am older, have more money saved up, and don’t have to fret over buying a $10 jar of spices.
So, of course, this got me thinking… what hobbies would I really get into if I didn’t have to worry about the money?
- Cooking with lots of different, exotic foods/spices
- Travel (DUH!)
- Skydiving (solo!)
- Target Shooting
- Scuba Diving
- Photography*
- Yoga*
- Pampering Myself* (spa, massages, regular haircuts)
I wonder if we will share any of the same things on our lists!
*Hard to know, since I cannot afford to get into them NOW.
Themocracy
Faster boats and cars!
I like how your answer means more fun for me as well 🙂
Riiiiiight?!
Great question. I need more time to start with I think I would enter in more races if they weren’t so much.
More exotic travel — the dream trip is to Antarctica!
Regular massages ($$$), skiing (would have to learn) and photography (upgrade to a DSLR with multiple fancy lenses).
Ooo, I forgot about skiing! I had a lot of fun in Denver last year. I would love to go again!
It’s not only a question of money but also time. If I had unlimited time and money there are definitely some things I would like to do, like go on a weeklong yoga retreat, and go do some of those dream destination races (two I would like to do are the Las Vegas and Berlin half marathons, but if time and money are unlimited, why not Hawaii???).
Wouldn’t running the Hawaii Marathon be AMAZING?!?!?!
I miss SCUBA diving. And I would definitely delve deeper into photography than I already am. Hiking and camping. Sailing. Get back into archery (also been a while). Some kind of instrument playing; I’m leaning toward guitar, drums, or banjo.
More travelling. But that would require also more free time. Sigh.
If money were of no concern, I would travel around the world (and I do mean the whole world, with very few exceptions), and take photos of everything! I’d make sure we could hit cities that have renowned culinary schools so my husband could take classes if he wanted. I’d also pick up painting and hip-hop dancing again. And yeah, I’m not sure how much of a ‘hobby’ this is, but sign me up for spa-ing too!
I would cook, travel, write, work with animals, and of course, pamper myself (I love the idea of that being a “hobby” 🙂 )
Have a great day, Kim!
BTW, I finished “Such a Pretty Fat”– I read it in just two days! It was so addictive! I loved her sassy voice.
I definitely think pampering ourselves should be a hobby. LOL. I would love to have more time to work with animals as well. There is a no-kill shelter just minutes from our home!
Happy you enjoyed the book!
If money weren’t an issue, I would have a horse and ride everyday! I would also take snorkeling trips and maybe learn to dive!
Oh gosh! I really hope we get to try horseback riding this summer! We had a horse growing up, but we didn’t ride him.
that picture of you!!!!! “bring it on” i believe is what i’m getting. hehehe. i can’t believe you sky dive. i would die just thinking about it seriously.
and YES can pamper yourself PLEASE be a hobby?
that would top my list.
then yoga
then… perhaps an instrument like piano
an activity like quilting!
and…the art and meditation of making and brewing tea 🙂 (i just made that up)
Thanks 🙂 I’ve only gone once, but it was a BLAST! You should try it!
I really want to learn the piano too. 🙂
If money weren’t an issue, I would travel. Go skiing, scuba diving, and run in ever race possible.
More $$ + time=Lots of exotic world travel, Golf, Photography, I could go on but out of time!
I would definately travel more, I love going anywhere – it doesn’t even need to be exotic.
I’d also pour a good amount of $$ into my daughter’s SCUBA obsession – it’s an expensive hobbie to fund for a kid.
Horses – I miss my horses from when I lived with my parents. I’d like to have them again.
Traveling for sure!!!! I would even do it for work- like a travel mag! I would love to be a sports writer who travels.
Other than traveling: photography. And I would have a cook that could make healthy versions of meals I like from restaurants.
I love this question! Hehe.
*pamper myself (I’m with you all the way on this one)
*yoga
*traveling
*triathlons (complete with sweet bike + personal trainer ;))
*more volunteering (hey, if money weren’t an issue I could work less, right?)
*rock climbing
I was thinking the same thing about volunteering. If I didn’t have to work, I could volunteer! 🙂
Oh, my gosh, are you serious? My list practically mirrors yours!! I’m not kidding — every single thing on your list would be on mine. (Especially scuba diving… what I wouldn’t give for that opportunity!)
And I’ve never used saffron either; I just couldn’t justify spending THAT much money on a SPICE.
<3 <3
You inspired me to list scuba diving! I’ve gone once, but your recent post reminded me how fun it was!
That would have to be travelling in my private jet.
I would also scuba, ride in hot air balloons, browse all day in bookstores drinking expensive coffee drinks and buying anything and everything I wanted, sky dive, take cooking lessons, ski, play blackjack more often in Vegas.
For me, I would take art classes and cooking classes! I would love to devote time to those two.
Try the Spice house (http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/coupe-grade-spanish-saffron) for saffron, it is a bit pricy but you get so much more than the at the grocery store. Cooking with saffron is amazing! Indulge and a little goes a long way!
Ooo, thanks for the link! I think there is a Spice House in Evanston by our friend’s home. We could ask him to pick some up!
Oooo I love this question! OK I would definitely travel, yoga, spa getaways, dance classes, photography, scrapbooking, cooking classes, nutrition classes, omg the list could go on forever! 😉
I would love, love, love to learn how to skydive solo. But for now I don’t mind saving up money for tandem jumping. That alone is expensive enough. I would like to combine my love for travel and go skydiving in different locales! Wanna come with when we are rolling in the dough?
OH YEAH! That would be too fun. Hmm… where do we want to skydive…?
Hmmm, I like this question!
Mine would include: yoga, jewelry making (metal working), dance (flamenco!), art (charcoal, letterpress, etc.), pampering (can that be a hobby because weekly massages would change my world?!) and travel.
I think if money was no object I’d quit my job and just do hobbies. 🙂
I’m in for the travel, photography, and volunteering. If I could have the time and money I’d love to do an Appalachian Trail hike (Maine to Georgia).
Of course there are a lot of little things I’d love to be able to do one day, like get a haircut, eat at a restaurant, buy a new pair of jeans… Goddamned underemployment.
We haven’t been getting haircuts or buying clothes either. Kind of sucks 🙁
at least blog are free, and we can have that pleasure!
Definitely true!
And I am very happy with the life I have. This is just my fantasy list!
Yeah, for me it’s definitely more of a time constraint for many of the hobbies I’m interested in. I’d love to get better at archery, go downhill skiing more, biking (I don’t even own a bike!) and maybe photography (with a really nice DSLR…that I don’t own either).
LOVE the pic! I have gone skydiving once but can’t say it’s something that I loved and would ever want to do solo. EEEK! But if money was not an option I would definitely love to travel!
Hmm.. dance classes! And maybe regularly attend some fitness spa center (I am thinking like a classier, more pampering Biggest Loser Ranch! Lol). You know get my butt kicked but then get pampered too. I would make that a regular hobby if I could.
If I had time (didn’t travel for work) and no money constraints I would travel for me, races all over the country, photography courses, and volunteer. And make sure I had an endless amount of money so I could quit my job 🙂
I would love to travel, I have scarcely left the UK! I would also like to use better materials in my crafting, I sometimes find I can’t be bothered to create anything because I don’t have the materials I would like.
If money was not an issue then I would travel around the world and eat all kinds of food (let me clarify, all kinds of vegetarian food) and would buy a couple more camera’s and lenses for Raymond and I so we can pursu our love for photography.
On the Saffaron note.. try a Persian (Iranian) store.. you might find it to be more reasonable as in more saffaron per $. I get mine from my mom which comes straight from Iran, we use it in a lot of our dishes.. Raymond was spoiled and using it to make Risotto Milanese until I showed him the price at the regualr grocer and he cut back on his Saffaron endulgance.. lol
Here is a Persian store in Chicago 5260 N Clark St Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 769-6635 I was curious so I called and she said $16/2g
Sorry I got carried away… lol
Oh gosh! Thanks for the number! I will see if I can get over there!
It’s hard to fathom what I would do. I guess traveling would be nice and maybe running in far away and exotic places.
If I sign up for the Wisconsin 1/2 marathon, I definitely will let you know. I would love to meet up.
Please do let me know! 🙂
Is real estate a hobby? I would buy houses in different amazing locations. Property always has value.
Sailing and photography would be my other two.
Oh, I daydream about this stuff all the time! I’d splurge on way more books. I have to be careful now, and I hate that. Travel! Yoga classes (I just do it at home, to podcasts or TV classes, now). Indoor “rock” climbing (the membership where we live is pretty expensive). Movies at the non-$2 theater. I’d like to say I’d eat out more, but I really like our home cooking, so I’m happy with that 🙂 I’d probably get massages more often than I do. I go once a month now as part of a package deal and that feels like a huge splurge!
By the way, I’ve been tandem skydiving twice… The second time was rather scary as the guy’s parachute didn’t open until very late. I won’t go again 😉
Oh gosh! What happened? Did he just open his parachute too late by accident?
‘Travel around the world’ would be my big one. We travel a lot now but not to any really exciting places.
Travel, travel, travel, travel. And I would like to get my Nia white belt, which costs about $1600 for a one week intensive.
Definitely cooking to include taking fancy cooking classes or going to paris to be a pastry chef or something exotic like that.
I’d love to get more massages and do yoga on a regular basis too 🙂
Lastly? A vacation house, some place tropical. Probably not a hobby but still, would just be nice.
Hi, first time participant. Enjoyed the question, gave me a chance to indulge in my fantasies a little, LOL
Travel, see more theater, go for a hot air balloon ride, rock climb indoor & out, maybe have a couple pet pygmy goats, get a nice full-frame DSLR and a smaller digital camera or two and assorted gear, carpentry, welding, sculpting.
A note on photography: having it as a hobby is ultimately not about the gear you have. I recommend learning all the ins & outs of the camera you’ve already got, if you have one. Even a point & shoot can do quite a lot these days. There are tons of books/websites on the subject. Also in larger areas, you can probably rent a camera & some gear for a week for not that much if you want to just try it out. DSLRs have their perks but they’re larger, heavier, & less convenient for carrying everywhere.
I have learned a lot just by playing with the settings on our point and shoot 😉
I would get back into horseback riding. I had to sell my horse a few years ago because I just couldnt afford to keep him up the way he needed. Broke my heart. I would LOVE to buy him back (if she would ever give him up) and start riding again. Its the only sport Ive ever been good at and I loved it so much.
Thats the only thing I would want to do if money wasnt an object.
That is so sad 🙁 Do you still get to see him?
$10?? There better be gold in that jar 😉
If money wasn’t an issue, I’d also love to travel, pamper myself, take cooking lessons…
I started to type out “camping” but that doesn’t cost $! I’d just like to do it more 🙂
Saffron is MEGA expensive … and, from what I’ve used it in, I can’t say that I can really taste it. I wonder how much of a difference it would make in the couscous recipe?
If I didn’t have to work and money was no object, I would buy my ass a big enough boat for me and Brian to live on, have him teach me how to sail it, then sail around the world. There would be lots of snorkeling, scuba diving, cooking and eating foreign foods. I’d try to spend summers on land and achieve my goal of visiting all the national parks.
Now why did you have to go and get me thinking about all that? Is this day over yet?!? 😉
I think I want to replace my list with yours! I would love to learn how to sail. We went on a sunset sail in Aruba and I loved it!
Great question!
The answers are at my site.
Have a great weekend.
okay well I’ve gotten saffron from Trader Joe’s for not too much.
you have a digital camera and while it’s not a 35mm there’s still a lot that you can learn using it.
many yoga studio’s have community days where you can attend for free or an appreciated donation, there are also DVD’s that aren’t bad.
and finally, I am a HUGE fan of the at-home spa treatment which can be pulled off for relatively cheap since once you buy the stuff it will last for a few rounds of whatever it is that you want to do. . .
so really I think that the only thing you need to do is make time to try some of this stuff out. which brings me to why I cannot afford my own hobbies, I simply do not have enough time in the week. but as always I’m on the look out for any chance to get in a little “me” time and with that mind set I get enough 🙂
(not nearly as much as I would like though)
Mine got turned into a (no to long) blog post about travel (and photography).
http://garysaid.com/what-hobbies-would-you-pursue-if-you-had-lots-of-money/
I really like how your replies fit into people’s comments! What plug-in is that? Or is it the theme?
But where did my CommentLuv go 🙁
Sorry, I turned CommentLuv off because I thought it was annoying and look cluttered.
The comment reply is just the wordpress threaded comments. It did not work on my old theme, but does on this one!
Ohhh, I like this question. I would take guitar lessons frequently, sky dive more (but not solo like you), have a personal chef, do bootcamp monthly (which is 240 bucks per month), salsa lessons and more!
Sailing, scuba diving, banjo lessons (haha), photography, speaking fluent German (Rosetta Stone?) and of course traveling.
Well, film making would be my first choice. More of a “want to do” career, but for now, it’s a hobby. With enough money, you can have a few nice cameras, travel to places to capture footage, hire a few well known names to be in the movie and pay for any associated costs to get permits, rent out locations and to pay the regular bills (yes, I’ve thought this out in detail many times).
I must say again that I really like this new blog theme. Very clean and easy on my eyes.
Marty, you would be wonderful at film making! I hope you get the opportunity to fulfill your dreams someday 🙂
Thank you about the theme 🙂
Definitely traveling, bowling, pottery, photography…those would probably be the main ones but really travel and photography go hand in hand for me! 🙂
Ah, the time AND money factor is a good point. If I had tons of both, I would be taking oil painting classes until I had a full studio in my house and got so awesome I could start selling my paintings. Ha ha. 😉 Okay, maybe just the first part.
How cool that you skydive! I am not so adventurous as you! But if I had enough money my hobby would be traveling to a bunch of different countries. And I’d just spend the day reading the stacks of books I want to get through.
I would love to see how the “other life lives” – travel, drink wine (okay…beer) at lunch, get weekly manicures and massages. You know, all those things I don’t do now. 🙂
Umm….I don’t think “other life lives” is right – you know that phrase I’m looking for….right? UH – why can’t I think of it? I have Monday brain.