Vocation vs Avocation

[Paul Magnanti]

A vocation vs an avocation…and trying to do both.

May be of interest to some on here…

http://www.pmags.com/vocation-vs-avocation

[Nick Gatel]

Nice post Paul.

One thing you didn't talk about was — would turning an avocation, such as backpacking, into a vocation take the luster off of it. Would backpacking become your job and somehow not be as much fun the way you do it now?

Some people seem to do it well, Chris Townsend comes to mind.

Skurka has really dialed back his hikes, of course he is now married and that is probably a part of it.

I vote for the job you love that is not your avocation. And if it pays well with plenty of time off, then that is the ticket. Luckily (actually I developed the skills to do it) I have a job that lets me hike somewhere in the US almost every week of the year and still have a hundred days per year to camp with my wife or go on longer backpacking trips. I have enough put away to retire, but I want to keep working. The boss says I can work for 2 more years then I have to quit. I haven't told her that means some long hikes in the future :)

[Paul Magnanti]

It is funny you mention Chris Townsend… He is, to my mind, the last of the old-school professional outdoors person. And I mean that in a good way. He writes about his outdoor activities. He is (was) not trying to be the fastest, the biggest, the most gnarly, but simply did some great outdoor activities and writes well about them.

I am reading the Complete Walker III by Colin Fletcher. It was written thirty years ago and the tone is so different from today's backpacking books. Consider the first chapter. It is simply called "Why Walk?" And one the first sentences is simply "I seek to instruct no gospel, only to suggest guidelines". Not many modern outdoor books are willing to admit they are not the one and only truth.

Much different than today's books about backpacking. Well written..but well written on a functional level. Would a modern author write "Walking in the end can become an addiction and that it is then as deadly in its fashion as heroin or television or the stock exchange. But even in this final stage it remains a delectable madness, very good for sanity, and I recommend it with passion." Not as much soul if you will.

No gear. Not how to be efficient. Just simply the sheer joy (madness?) of walking.

As for Mr. Skurka, his avocation is perhaps not his vocation at this point. He loves the long journeys. Organizing hikes? Sending out emails? Getting insurance? Getting certified appropriately? Dealing with bureaucracy? I can't speak for him, but I suspect he finds that part of his job just as bothersome as say I find with a network issue or folder permissions issues. :)

So that is why, I guess, that I did not write about an avocation becoming a vocation. Even most outdoors people who have manged to work an outdoors job have to do things that are more job-like than would like. And, frankly, I can't really speak from personal experience either.

Perhaps being an outdoor writer/photographer is the most pure path to making an outdoor vocation and avocation coincide.

But, in 2014, that seems to be a rarity vs even thirty years ago.

[HkNewman]

Related: Taking an extended vacation could help according to Money magazine (backpacking mentioned at the end). Paid sabbatical or taking some time off after a layoff to lose any negative energy:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/12/pf/time-off-sabbaticals/index.html

Of course, all the examples are IT or electrical engineers with money in the bank.

[W I S N E R !]

Avocation as vocation can be a tricky one and certainly takes the right personality for it to work. I think it can certainly lead to burnout and loss of interest for many people. But for those that can manage it, I think there's something beautiful about being completely immersed in an area.

I have been a ceramic artist for about 20 years now. What started as something I did because I loved it turned into something I do for a living as well as for love; I've been teaching ceramics and/or running ceramics studios for 18 of those 20 years. I can't imagine my life without clay.

However, coming home from a day/night of teaching others how work with clay doesn't always leave me in a position where I want to do my own work. In that respect, I believe my own art can suffer at times. Which is fine, I have other things that also occupy me, it's about a balance.

That said, what I do on a daily basis as my vocation only me makes me much more skilled in my avocation. While I may not be producing my own work and helping others instead, my hands are constantly in clay and I see the benefits of this. I believe that one of the best ways for one to really learn the subtleties of a field are in teaching it to others. Teaching has forced me to distill, refine, and seriously think about many techniques and aspects of working with clay.

I'm also smart enough to understand that there is no other world or other life for me, that this is my life, that there is no Craig that is not a ceramics artist and teacher. I have to work to pay the bills doing something; blending avocation and vocation is the most rewarding way for me to do it.

That I can make a living off of teaching and working with clay in the 21st century is a gift. I would hope that any mountain guide would see what they do in the same light, but I can see how avocation as vocation would burn some people out.

[David Thomas]

When my vocation was my avocation (working in a backpacking shop, teaching ski lessons, leading week-long trips in the Sierra), I didn't earn a lot. I lived like a college student (or at home), and took a lot of time off. The last year I did that, I worked 7 months and took 5 months of vacation – road trips, backpacking trips, going to Europe, etc*. Then I went and found a well-paying job that I enjoyed (in engineering). I delayed other aspect of "adult life" like house, marriage and kids for another decade and amazed my co-workers with the kinds of trips I could squeeze into a weekend (when I didn't have to mow the lawn, or do household chores).

In general, I found acting (and spending) like a college student while a young professional, acting like a young professional while earning as a mid-level, etc, served me well. I could now afford any car made and most planes, but I drive a Toyota Corolla. Of any engineer, much less any doctor (my wife) in town, we have the most compact, energy-efficient house. Living below your means (whatever they are) gives you such flexibility and options.

I met an English guy hiking up Mount Whitney 30-odd years ago. We chatted about jobs (this was during my 7-year itinerant-bum phase) and how being a forest ranger in the US didn't pay well (IMO). But the salary of a US ranger was like that of a British office worker. So the Brit thought it sounded like a very high-quality life – decent pay and enjoyable work in a spectacular setting. So by coming from a (slightly) more impoverished background, he was in a position to be much more satisfied with his lot in life than most Americans.

*The upper-middle-class residents of our town – our customers – would hear our (the young employees') tales of trips and adventures and invariably advise us to keep doing that, don't be in a hurry to settle down. Because they'd all rushed from college to job to marriage to kids and now, while they earned good money and had a garage full of toys and tools and gear, they didn't have the time to enjoy them.

[HkNewman]

Did not pick up backpacking until age 34, … so I started with a conventional job, movable retirement accts with additional pension, tuition assistance (which I used and then some), etc… straight out of high school.

Actually took a 3-yr break for what many would consider a dream job out of college,… being a wildlife ecology technician. Plenty of outdoors time, tough schedule, and to top it, govt budgets (I worked as a contractor) were being squeezed even over 20 years ago. Saw the writing on that wall (employees screaming, frivolous lawsuits, etc) …

Went back to my original employer (finished the pension requirement) while moonlighting at 2 other jobs, ….reducing expenditures to some extent but still traveling and backpacking . A distinct line between avocations and vocations certainly.

Now? Don't get me wrong, money talks … but this life comes with a physical expiration date and like the "good till " date on dairy, everyone needs to realize certain parts of the human body can "go bad".

Weekends aren't really enough, so doing more weeklong (+) trips now between contracts. Would I totally retire from work? Nah, known too many who kicked the bucket, bought the farm, etc … with that first social security check.

[Paul Magnanti]

"with the kinds of trips I could squeeze into a weekend (when I didn't have to mow the lawn, or do household chores). "

Being DINKs, my wife and I are able to squeeze in many trips that our friends, with small children, can't think of. Having children can be a good thing. For us, we've decided it will not work.

We just came back from a s24o backpacking trip. And are off to Taos this coming week for our wedding anniversary.

As for living below the means, that helps A LOT, too. We have one car (paid for in cash), rent a modest apartment and I've been picking up more or Mrs Mags good financial habits and saving more. We plan on moving to less expensive area within the next two years as well.

Now, if only I could get the excellent vacation, holiday and sick time my German in-laws get, the vocation vs avocation thing would be much easier, too :)

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