Soar into the Final Days of National Hobby Month with AOPA Pilot Gear!
The beginning of a year has a slow cadence to it, setting a reflective and hopeful tone. Although we’re nearing the end of January as National Hobby Month, now is the perfect time to consider how a new hobby can complement your flying activities. Let the PGB illustrate some examples.
If you’re an avid newsreader like me, you may remember that this year started with a barrage of op-eds from legacy publications like The New York Times mulling the merits of why this time of year is either the best for our holistic well-being or the worst. Ultimately what can be made of this time of year is up to one’s perspective, but as with any time of year holidays and commemorative designations can help set the tone. January is designated as National Hobby Month, so what better way is there to close it than by trying a new hobby? This AOPA Pilot Gear Blog has two suggestions that will not only give you something to do but will also enrich your piloting experiences.
Camping is a classic companion to backcountry fliers, but flying to a campground destination could give all sorts of pilots a renewed appreciation of the world our skies offer us. In a world of technological overload and isolation from nature, camping can grant us a needed reprieve to appreciate what it is to exist apart from the hubbub of daily life. It can be an affordable hobby and lends itself well to the companion activities of hiking, fishing, meditating, swimming, journaling, and foraging, among many others. If a pilot is a confident camper, that propensity can open a host of flight destinations and build survivalist skills that impress.
If camping isn’t for you, I recommend that next time you’re a flight passenger you bring along a sketchbook or painting set. Drawing or painting what sticks with you from a flight will cement it in your memory and catalog the moment in a way that shows what you individually got from it. Not a great artist? No one starts out that way, and you don’t need to show your work to anyone if you don’t feel so inclined. Learning to enjoy things that don’t come naturally to us makes us more adaptable as people and rounds out the technical aspects of flying operations with something more creative.
Flying is a demanding hobby in and of itself, and pilots are right to immerse themselves in it wholeheartedly. After all, it is quite literally a matter of life or death. However, as with any skill, putting all your energy into one thing will eventually create burnout. The slow start to 2024 presents a prime opportunity to try something new, and in honor of National Hobby Month, the Pilot Gear Blog encourages you to do so. Let us know how it goes! Email [email protected] if you’d like to share, or let us know what hobbies you do that complement your life as a pilot.
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