While I was driving home today (queue Chris Rhea), I was wondering why I was in such a foul mood the last week. I was grumpy, agitated, and moody for no apparent reason. Earlier tonight I cried a little when I told my parents I sold my most valuable (price-wise) possession.
Partly I was grumpy that I needed the money and had a hard time saying goodbye to a “thing” but mostly I was sad for saying goodbye to a lifestyle. To the opportunities that “thing” represented and it was now gone. I sold it. Goodbye. Gone.
As I was parking in front of my house I realized I closed a chapter of my life but it’s not the end of the book at all. The main focus has always been travel and this thing enabled loads and loads of fantastic travels.
Now it was time for different kinds of travel and a different purpose to travel. I realized travel has always been my main priority and it always will be. Luckily, this spin on my mindset made me feel better immediately.
So what am I all talking about? I’ll make it more concise for you all, so you can follow what I am talking about.
As always, all opinions are my own. I was not paid or sponsored to write this post.
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My Passion for Ice Speed Skating
I’m a huge ice speed skating fan. I am Dutch, Dutchies are good at it, it is everywhere around us and as soon as winter comes, everyone wants to skate on frozen water and be outside. Dutchies skate fast in circles and broadcast it live on television.
Not just during the Olympics, but all the freakin’ time. That’s probably why the person who inspires me in life and travel the most, is a speed skater.
And I love it. Or should I say loved it?
Anyways, I am a huge ice speed skating fan and for many years, I went to all the competitions I could go to. First only the main events in the Netherlands, later also abroad.
Then came Junior competitions, regional competitions, marathon competitions, and even short-track speed skating. As long as it involves ice and going fast, I was there.
And I made pictures. Hundreds and hundreds of them. And I sold them. To magazines, newspapers, and online publications and published them online at my website Passion for Skating.
Travel to Speed Skating Events
I traveled to Heerenveen, the Netherlands but also to Berlin, Erfurt, and Inzell in Germany. The Italian Alps for outdoor rinks. I went to Poland, Norway, and Budapest to watch and photograph speed skating events.
I found myself with -22 degrees Celsius at an outdoor rink in lovely Seinajöki Finland for Junior World Championships and I went to World Sprints at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada. My biggest event was the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
After my first camera with tele lens, I bought some more serious gear. My Canon 7D Mark II is the fastest camera around, paired with my Canon 70-200 F 2.8 zoom lens it was a golden combination (in my price range).
A flutter of excitement steers in my tummy when I hear the mirror snap, in burst mode.
For many years I traveled around to all these events. Of course, I went to the competitions and was online editing pictures till late at night, but I usually planned a day before and after to explore more of the surrounding area.
I’ve seen quite a bit of Berlin, explored Krakow and Zakopane in Poland, and went to Banff on my 5 day trip to Calgary Canada! All thanks to speed skating and my photography.
Giving up my one hobby for another
But I sold my lens this week. It was my most expensive possession (besides my house, but the bank owes most of that). It wasn’t because I urgently needed the money, it was mostly because the lens sat idle at the bottom shelf of my book case and I maybe have booked a bit too much travel for my bank account balance to handle. It just sat there, silently mocking me and asking me when we would go out and play.
But there is not much fun to be had when you have the lug around a 2.5kg lens all day without a clear purpose to photograph something.
That thing is heavy!!
And when not used at a sporting event, it drew in a lot of unwanted attention from other people, which I have a hard time handling. I also noticed my focus has switched a lot towards other destinations and other types of travel that just do not co-exist well with travel to speed skating events.
Prioritize one kind of travel over the other
It was my dream to travel to South America, but if you keep spending money on smaller speed skating trips, you’ll never make it across the pond. So I stopped with the speed skating trips and I went to South America last year! How exciting. That trip really reinforced my need and desire to travel more.
In all fairness, I did lose a bit of interest in the whole sport of ice speed skating. You need to be really into it to see the true beauty of the sport. Being away from it all for a year didn’t make things easier to go back at all.
And my ambition to make some decent money from the photography burst, when I saw how ruthless some photographer are to get that one shot and it is just not worth to me.
I love the sport too much to only focus on the main events of interest. (It is so boring to do what everyone else is doing!).
Why I sold my passion to pursue my big love
And therefore, I sold the lens. I didn’t use it for over 3 years and didn’t miss it. The lens represented quite some value (in cold hard cash) and you’ll never know when Canon will release a new lens which instantely drops the value of my lens.
I don’t value posessions a lot. I don’t own a lot of expensive stuff. I never know what to ask for Christmas or birthdays, because I don’t need stuff and get by with so little. I just want to travel and make new memories.
It is not that I needed the money really badly (otherwise I would have sold the lens sooner), but it was rather convenient and now was the time to do it. I got a fair price and only lost 300€ on it from purchase 6 years ago till today. Good investment I think!
The framework to guide my travels
So maybe I wasn’t all that grumpy for selling my lens but mostly for closing a chapter of my life. The chapter of travel to speed skating events to photograph speed skaters is now officially over. But I came to realize, the speed skating and photography was more of an added bonus.
A frame work to choose my next travel destination. It doesn’t matter the lens is now gone, the most important thing will always be travel. Now I travel and blog about it here, maybe I grow tired of that too in a few years, who knows. It seems I need to have some sort of purpose or framework to guide my travels.
But I know I’ll always have Paris travel. And now I am fully indulging into that. So… no regrets! The cash from the lens will be well spend on my next travels to Iran for sure!
Did you ever give up something so you could travel more? Let me know what you think in the comment section below!
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Very brave of you to give up this valuable lens that meant so much to you. Thus article was truely inspiring to read. Not many people are so passionate and not afraid to be flexible and start a new phase in their mife. Hats of and keep on sharing these great stories with us!
Cheers,
Matthias from Belgium
Hats off!!!
Truly inspiring Naomi 🙂 All the best for the future.
Congrats on making such a bit decision! Many people never actually do it and always wonder ‘what if’ so good on you!
Love this post Naomi! It’s hard to slowly switch passions and priorities. But, I’m glad you were able to push forward to pursue a “newer” passion of traveling to more exotic, less speed-skaty places! 🙂 Excited to see where your lens money takes you! 😉
This is so cool! The olympics are in Korea this year so were putting in our bid for tickets now! This makes me so excited!
This is a better #noregrets then a cheap Contiki tour. It’s so sad when we have to admit that we’re no longer passionate about one thing and move on to another. There’s some really interesting information out there on deep diving. Meaning when you move from one passion to another. There’s nothing wrong with that at all!
It’s not just the Dutchies who love ice skating. Us Australians do too! Such a pity that we never get to do it on a lake. Only ever on artifical rinks here.
Thank you for sharing, Naomi! Your passion for speed skating might resurface later, and who knows – maybe you’ll sell a plane ticket to fund buying a new lens! 🙂 We’re totally allowed to be passionate about more than one thing, and priorities will always shift throughout life. Really enjoyed reading this!
I totally understand how hard it would have been for you to sell the lens – but, as you said, if you hadn’t used it in 3 years, it was probably time to get rid of it. And great to have the equivalent $$ for travel! Also, you made a good point about the ever changing tech in cameras – you probably sold at a good time before your lens was replaced by something else!
Wow! I commend you for giving up your passion of speed skating and selling your lens. I loved the pics of the Canadians 🙂 We are so proud of them for accomplishing so much. Denny is lovely. I know what you mean. I am the same way sort of with curling and have many friends in the curling circuit. I hope you have a great trip to Iran 🙂
Wow, thank you so much for sharing this! I can totally relate to how you feel. I’m a hoarded who had to give up 20 years of possessions to move away from home and see the world. It still hurts a little, but I have no regrets. I think you made the right decision 🙂 I hope you enjoy your visit to Iran! You made me want to write about my experience too 😀 if I do, I’ll mention you as my inspiration and I’ll add a link to your blog! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Yours is a story of courage and determination. So inspiring. And you so truly called out that when one chapter of life closes, another starts. It’s not the end of the book that we call life. Totally loved that! Now you are nurturing your passion for travel.
Thanks for such an honest post! I actually didn’t know about speed skating. I think interests evolve over time and perhaps in 10 years you’ll be pursuing a brand new passion – that’s what makes life so interesting! Cheers to you for always following your heart.
these things always take some courage and it´s really not easy to let go of them! Hope you will not miss it much, but if you did not use the lens for 3 years, then I´m sure it was the right decision ;). I know some Dutch people and yes, they are ALL crazy about ice skating so I can see it´s huge there ;). Good luck with your new chapters in life!
It is tough and I feel your dilemma! We’ve all had those times wherein we had to give up one thing we love in place of another. I admire your courage to pursue one that you love. It’s not easy but I wish you well in future endeavors!
Liked your candid and introspective post. In life there always comes a time when we are needed to choose between two alternatives. As long as you make the choice close to your heart, you need not have any regrets. Time will take care of the rest.
I guess in Iran you won’t need the D7 as they won’t be moving as fast as the Dutchy speed skaters. Your latest pictures on instagram look great whatever you’re shooting them with. I take some of my best pictures with my phone when I don’t have time to prepare my camera anyway.
An honest and clear post. Truly inspiring. I am still having a full time job and use up my leaves to travel but that is not really quenching my thirst. I want to quit but cant as this job is what funds my travels. I hope to find a location independent job so that I can travel full time.
This is so cool. I love that your idols influence you to do positive things like get out there and experience the world!
Good for you! It takes a lot to make a huge life change. Your passion for travel is definitely still part of who you are. I’m really happy that you are also pursuing something else that makes you happy. I used to ice skate when I was younger and loved it.
It’s so funny, when I was first reading i thought you were a speed skater who had sold her gold medal. Lol. But then I read on and realized you were a huge fan and sold your lens. I just love your honesty and how you showed who you really are and where your true love and priorities lie. Thanks!