Oh Buoy! – Keeping Your New Hobby

I’ve recently discovered a love of kayaking. Last year, I purchased a hot pink Origami Paddler. While there have been some issues with quality (and the company has since understandably gone bankrupt), it turned out to be a good purchase for me as it reintroduced me to the water – something I had tucked away in my memories after my father passed away.

Growing up, my brother and I were always outside. Like most 70s/80s kids in the summer or on the weekends, we would head out first thing in the morning, and didn’t come home until the street lights turned on. Our father instilled in us at a young age a love for the outdoors. He was a hunter and fisherman and taught us so much about nature, animals and life. To us, there was nothing dad couldn’t do. Some of my fondest memories are of floating down some Southern bayou in dad’s pirogue. It didn’t really matter if we caught any fish. It was the time together that I will always treasure.

Fast-forward several decades, and those memories come flooding back as I’m floating on the water. I’ve since upgraded to a BOTE inflatable (which I’ll review in a separate post), and even though it can be a chore to set up, tear down and maintain, I can’t imagine a time where I won’t enjoy kayaking. I love the feeling of connecting with those memories, making new friends with similar hobbies, and reaping the health benefits of staying active. That’s my “why,” which is my first piece of advice for starting and keeping a new hobby.

What do you think? How do you stay motivated to keep a new hobby?