After this coming weekend, I'll be taking a hiatus from fishing for a while.
I've come to decide that it is now time to just get down to business and finish my degree. At the same time, I need to figure out my career options and my career interest for the next little while.
All of this may not be a bad thing. I'll have time to work on my blog. There are a lot of past adventures I still have to load onto the blog. I'll also have time to enjoy other finer things in life.
I will most likely visit fishing forums much less in the near future to put my focus on work and other things in life...so you would probably see me online less often.
All of this has a silver lining though...there are major plans for next March that I hope will happen...and I do hope that once I graduate I can take a soul-searching backpacking trip for a month or two. Maybe then I'll get back into fishing and species hunting in totally unique and cool places.
In the meantime, thanks for the online company. See you guys around.
Good luck with the finishing the degree. And if things get too frustrating, there is always a quick shore fishing for some relaxation
Wow, going cold turkey after an awesome run the past couple of months (and months and months and months).
Your constructive comments, interesting stories and reports will be missed.
Take care and good luck with your academics and soul searching.
I am going to try going cold turkey...but it will be extremely difficult.
Meeting Alice just reveal a side of me that had long been forgotten and buried. I've been so fishing crazy in the past few years that much of who I am and what I loved to do was put aside for the sake of fishing. I just want to have some fun with other things again and live while I'm still young. The fish will always be there...but my clock is always ticking.
Alice was 12 years younger than me...she's just finding her way and she has a lot of dreams, hope and a huge sense of adventure...meanwhile, being stuck with this graduate degree has squashed a lot of dream, hope and imagination for me...just waking up everyday dreading another difficult and failed experiment...it's not a life to live...I need to do something else to reignite my passion again (aside from fishing)...I need to look for something new.
Sometimes things happen in the weirdest way.
Sorry to hear that, buddy.
BUT me thinks you'll get 'the itch' and wont be able to keep from scratching it...probably by 1st ice..
I'm not sorry about it at all...eventually, I know all this crazy fishing will come to an end...just a matter of when...
I actually had a great night last night playing the uke for a couple of hours...and working on my blog to put up some pics and travelogue for my day in Paris. Better than spending 3 hours on fishing forums.
The itch will always be there...but it's like mosquito bites...if there are other things keeping your mind off it, you'll notice it much less.
Going to a consulting workshop after work...and then to a friend's band gig tonight and hopefully catch up with some undergrad friends there and after. Keeping busy with other things that I've ignored and missed in life.
As your friend, I will support your decision. I'll even go as far as to facilitate the process by taking your fishing gear off your hands this weekend so that you can avoid temptation.
Ken you just needed to fish in moderation.
You will find that as we get older we realize we wanted to do so much and have done so little.
Time is the enemy.
But well we are all giving you support...heck you should give away all your gear to us...I am joking...
Fishing is an important part of who you are...yes walk away from hours of fishing forums but get yourself out fishing once every two weeks.
But do not post about your fishing. Fish for you. Limit it to 6 hours a trip. That's 12 hours a month. Really you would have slept those hours away out of depression from lack of fishing.
What ever you choose to do ...Best Wishes!....Talk to you when it suits you.
Good luck on your endeavors Ken! Been great having you around on the forum.
Like they say, work before play.... or fishing
Just don't give it up, take a break and slow it down but never give it up. Fishing is too good to give up, and you're quite the talented angler to boot!
Anyways, I wish you the best for the future,
Nick
It's always good to get your degree but there is still plenty of time to fish. My buddies getting his doctorate and find stone to fish in the summer breaks and early mornings when the wife's still sleeping!