I think it was my wife who said that sailing is like a theme park ride without the theme park. This happened in a discussion about me not liking rides or something to that effect.

I think we’re both right in the sense that I very much like rides, but I prefer my rides to exist in the real world.

I also prefer to be active.

I don’t like to be a passenger.

The world offers plenty of rides. It’s just that people usually have more money than time and that they therefore have to go with the “limited experience” because they do not have the time or commitment to develop the skill to participate in real world events.

They go and watch professional hockey games for $50 per ticket rather than practice and play real games for $150 per season. They go to Disneyland to have fun on the rides because it takes time to learn to enjoy a broad reach on a 35 foot yacht (This weekend we broached twice at the San Francisco water front. Yippie kai yay, what fun. My hands are still raw/sore.)

I have a strong preference for reality. Since discovering the stock market, I find it very hard motivate myself to work to accumulate credits in a computer game. What’s the point? I find it hard to develop my gaming skills when I can have a real world fights with swords.

Going to watch a game is sincerely boring compared to being reefed in 25 knot winds with salt water spray in your face.

Don’t even get me started on how I feel about watching TV (I usually read a book at the same time) or going to the movies (Here it is too dark to bring a book, so that kinda sucks.).

I don’t know whether the preference for escapism/vicarious living can be blamed exclusively on the time commitment of work. After all, I enjoy my activities with people who have full time jobs. It would be interesting to know, though, if other FIRE people have the same preference for reality based living.

Daily Yakezie Short Carnival: Saving Money With An iPhone @ Canadian Finance Blog, Why Should I Buy a Used Car? @ Invest It Wisely, Dirty 30’s Dieting – It’s easy to lose weight when your family’s starving @ Single Mom Rich Mom, & 6 Ways to Find Free Money @ Redeeming Riches

Originally posted 2010-05-24 17:44:59.