Toys
They say money can't buy happiness but it sure helps with the toys.
We had a huge snowstorm blanket the Sierra a few weekends ago after the most dismal dirt-brown ski season I've ever seen in California. Happiness scale: epic. What got me here - my beloved Subaru with some 152k miles of adventure behind it and a loaded iPod with a Phat Freshies playlist. My toys! My life-sustaining, gotta have, put a smile on my face toys.
What got me down the mountain - my sweet, supremely warm, waterproof Patagonia (at outlet price!) and a pair of 2010 top of the line Volkls that I scored free from a vendor. Poles, hand me down from an old boyfriend. Ski pants, duct-taped for preservation. Was I looking longingly at the fat boards all around me? Absolutely. The colorful new ski jackets of the season? Of course, I'm a girl! But at the end of the day as I loaded my car I was ever grateful not only for the day, the conditions, the friends, but for the gear I had, my trustworthy Subaru, a pair of Sorels to slip into, a few beers in the cooler, and a cute trucker hat for that hipster-bohemian, ski chick apres look.
Must have toys: car, skis, jacket, pants. Nice to have toys: iPod, trucker hat. Non-debatable: beers.
A few years ago when I thought global warming was killing alpine skiing, I picked up a full set of XC gear from Craiglist for $150. Though I'd tried it just once and flailed spectacularly, friends had their own setups and I wanted the ease and convenience of grab-and-go gear to keep up. Over the last 3 years that set up has taken me all around Tahoe Donner XC, up and over Royal Gorge, a quick visit to Park City and across the finish line, albeit towards the very very end, of The Great Ski Race.
Must have toys: none. Nice to have toys: XC set up. Non-debatable: how hard XC skiing is.
On to water sports, when I first started outrigger I used one of our club paddles - a heavy, wooden thing that was cumbersome and over-sized. But I loved the sport immediately and knew I was in it for the long-term. Within a month I bought a used paddle and 3 years after that a beautiful, brand new Kia Kaha paddle. I bought a few pieces of clothing to weather the 3-4 days practicing on the bay, a paddle bag and then last year, when a friend was selling an old OC1 at a rock bottom price - the lowest I'd ever seen for an OC1 - I bought it. Even though I never liked paddling in a one-man boat, I knew it would make me better and I wanted access to my own boat, to know where all the parts were, to take it where I wanted to go. Now my boat is coming up on a few dollars to use ratio. Well, almost. Am I any better in it? No. But it's awesome to have the convenience of grab and go and now with a few donated items from my paddling friends, I'm set to transport it wherever I want.
Must have toys: paddle, paddle specific clothing, PFD. Nice to have toys: paddle bag, cute paddling tees. Completely unnecessary but the opportunity was undeniable: OC1
The toys come because I reach the point where I know I will use them, where I really, really want them. When it just becomes easier to own and have and use as I want. And sometimes, of course, because something was just so ingrained in my mind I knew someday I had to have it. (Read: lifelong desire for a motorcycle)
My toys align with my fitness goals - fit enough to join in any activity with a decent grasp of ability. Outfitted enough to grab and go with a minimum of hassle. Golf clubs - check. For mindless hours over a bucket of balls at the driving range. Snow shoes - check. For NYE adventures with friends and mornings I can't get out of work to ski a few runs. A football - for spontaneous tossing at a tailgate. A frisbee - ditto. A hula hoop. An indoor bike trainer - check. For countless cycling workouts at home in my triathlon days and resurrected for rainy day garage workouts with friends. Camping gear - check. Yoga mat - check. From Bikram to ashtanga to power and beyond. Mountain bike - check. For when I'm feeling ballsy and dirt-oriented. Have I lusted a Santa Cruz from afar? No doubt. But the last time I took my aging Gary Fisher hardtail in for a tune-up the bike guys looked it over with admiration.
I bought a used surfboard after my girlfriends and I, post-triathlon days, decided we'd take up something new. That lasted a weekend but I took it out another few dozen times with boyfriends, my Point Break role-playing buddy Holden, solo trips to Pacifica before work, to Stinson Beach for my 40th. I'm coming back for you, surfboard.
Toys get a bad rap sometimes - the American image of consumption, things to fill our garages with, never satisfied without the next newest, bestest, shiniest thing. But there are many more out there like me who buy for love, and convenience, and new-found interests; and we find a way to string opportunities together through hand-me-downs, discounts, deals and keeping what we have going until it just stops being usable. You can't take them with you when you go but the hell if you can't wear them all down to nothing living it up before that time.
If you're inspired reading this and think - yes! I want to support a girl like you - I'm desperate for a deal on a GoPro and a Mac for iMovie so I can capture of all this sweetness in videos forever.
Take your toys out!
We had a huge snowstorm blanket the Sierra a few weekends ago after the most dismal dirt-brown ski season I've ever seen in California. Happiness scale: epic. What got me here - my beloved Subaru with some 152k miles of adventure behind it and a loaded iPod with a Phat Freshies playlist. My toys! My life-sustaining, gotta have, put a smile on my face toys.
What got me down the mountain - my sweet, supremely warm, waterproof Patagonia (at outlet price!) and a pair of 2010 top of the line Volkls that I scored free from a vendor. Poles, hand me down from an old boyfriend. Ski pants, duct-taped for preservation. Was I looking longingly at the fat boards all around me? Absolutely. The colorful new ski jackets of the season? Of course, I'm a girl! But at the end of the day as I loaded my car I was ever grateful not only for the day, the conditions, the friends, but for the gear I had, my trustworthy Subaru, a pair of Sorels to slip into, a few beers in the cooler, and a cute trucker hat for that hipster-bohemian, ski chick apres look.
Must have toys: car, skis, jacket, pants. Nice to have toys: iPod, trucker hat. Non-debatable: beers.
A few years ago when I thought global warming was killing alpine skiing, I picked up a full set of XC gear from Craiglist for $150. Though I'd tried it just once and flailed spectacularly, friends had their own setups and I wanted the ease and convenience of grab-and-go gear to keep up. Over the last 3 years that set up has taken me all around Tahoe Donner XC, up and over Royal Gorge, a quick visit to Park City and across the finish line, albeit towards the very very end, of The Great Ski Race.
Must have toys: none. Nice to have toys: XC set up. Non-debatable: how hard XC skiing is.
On to water sports, when I first started outrigger I used one of our club paddles - a heavy, wooden thing that was cumbersome and over-sized. But I loved the sport immediately and knew I was in it for the long-term. Within a month I bought a used paddle and 3 years after that a beautiful, brand new Kia Kaha paddle. I bought a few pieces of clothing to weather the 3-4 days practicing on the bay, a paddle bag and then last year, when a friend was selling an old OC1 at a rock bottom price - the lowest I'd ever seen for an OC1 - I bought it. Even though I never liked paddling in a one-man boat, I knew it would make me better and I wanted access to my own boat, to know where all the parts were, to take it where I wanted to go. Now my boat is coming up on a few dollars to use ratio. Well, almost. Am I any better in it? No. But it's awesome to have the convenience of grab and go and now with a few donated items from my paddling friends, I'm set to transport it wherever I want.
Must have toys: paddle, paddle specific clothing, PFD. Nice to have toys: paddle bag, cute paddling tees. Completely unnecessary but the opportunity was undeniable: OC1
The toys come because I reach the point where I know I will use them, where I really, really want them. When it just becomes easier to own and have and use as I want. And sometimes, of course, because something was just so ingrained in my mind I knew someday I had to have it. (Read: lifelong desire for a motorcycle)
I bought a used surfboard after my girlfriends and I, post-triathlon days, decided we'd take up something new. That lasted a weekend but I took it out another few dozen times with boyfriends, my Point Break role-playing buddy Holden, solo trips to Pacifica before work, to Stinson Beach for my 40th. I'm coming back for you, surfboard.
Toys get a bad rap sometimes - the American image of consumption, things to fill our garages with, never satisfied without the next newest, bestest, shiniest thing. But there are many more out there like me who buy for love, and convenience, and new-found interests; and we find a way to string opportunities together through hand-me-downs, discounts, deals and keeping what we have going until it just stops being usable. You can't take them with you when you go but the hell if you can't wear them all down to nothing living it up before that time.
If you're inspired reading this and think - yes! I want to support a girl like you - I'm desperate for a deal on a GoPro and a Mac for iMovie so I can capture of all this sweetness in videos forever.
Take your toys out!
Comments
I'll keep my eye out for gopro deals :)