why are there very few young divers?

[reefer ard]

I am in the same boat as most. I got certified when I was 24, now 26. I have graduated with a degree in accounting and now pursuing a masters. With time and money being such a rare resource for myself and fiance who is also going through Physical Therapy School right now while I provide for both of us currently, things are tight. I have money saved for a rainy day along with putting some away for a down payment on a house which are my priorities right now.

I have all my gear but when I work full time and go to school full time, my weekends are spent in the books until I am done with school again. We are trying to pay our wedding off as soon as possible. The day of, we plan on having no debt related to the wedding and are on track with that goal.

We both try to get out and get a local dive in from time to time to break the monotony up a little but it doesn't always work that way. Plans change all the time because of prior obligations. We try to do things with both sides of our families, which most of mine is in Florida, but it keeps you busy. Once we are both done with school and have a much bigger disposable income and settled in where we would ultimately like to be, I see us getting into the sport a lot more because of less time and money issues.

 

[57Writer]

Um, boat, second home in Tobermory, overlooking the harbour, tons of gear, riculously expensive camera system, not to mention the travel...

I've said this before, I'd love to quit diving, but the economy would collapse.

Crowsnest and LCBO say "Thanks for doing your part, Stu!"

 

[flots am]

Rereading this, I felt the need to put a disclaimer up here. I'm not angry, I'm offended. I'm frustrated. . . .

Sorry that your life is hard. Welcome to the Real World.

Your current state is based on the choices you made: where to go to school, how much to spend on it, what career to choose, etc.

Sure the economy is bad. It's always been bad for various people. If it sucks, your only option is to stand up in front of a mirror and ask the guy you see "what are you going to do about it?" You can either do something different or deal with it.

I know you won't believe this, but you don't actually need a smartphone or "social media" or facebook or linkedin or twitter or any of the other internet crap. It won't effect your job at all. I should know, I built some of it and maintained even more. At the end of the day, nearly all of it is designed to either separate you from your money, or your personal information, which is then turned into money.

If you really needed a phone for work, they would hand you a phone and pay the bill. I have nothing against cell phones and expensive data plans, but they're mostly just monitoring devices disguised as toys.

flots

PS. I'll be drawing Social Security in a few years. It's my money. I paid in every nickle I'll be taking out.

If Social Security is broke when you retire, I suggest you ask the government where your money went.

 

[Mike]

Lorenzoid, I'm definitely NOT the norm. I don't pretend to be. However, age has nothing to do with that. I'll be this way if I live to be 1000 years old. There are people of all generations that are much more driven than me, and there will continue to be people much more driven than me. There are also people of all generations that are lazy, worthless, pieces of garbage....and there always will be. My point is that neither age nor generation have anything to do with who you are inside. I think that diving IS dominated by a more elderly age group than I belong to.....but I don't think the direct factor is age.

Example of what I mean by direct: John Doe is 24 years old, and isn't a diver. Is it because he's 24? Kinda. He has a job that pays poorly, and can't grow because of the economy. Since he's new, he gets very little time off. He spends what little time off he has with his hydrophobic wife.....or his sick mom in the hospital...or whatever. Or his disposable income is non-existant due to having to pay off his college loans. So, yeah, it's because he's 24....but it's not because he's too imature, or that he doesn't have the discipline to master such a psychologically demanding hobby.

Age is what brings the opportunity to do things. When you're older, you've had more time to get better established in a higher paying career with more benefits (like more days off....my biggest problem right now). Your kids are out of college, so you don't have that hanging over your head. So you have more time, more money, and less expenses....EVERY hobby is much more open to you, except for motocross and snowboarding and all of those physically abusive hobbies.

---------- Post added October 10th, 2013 at 03:54 PM ----------

About needing more people that are driven: I agree. But I think all generations need more "gusto" in their population. The world is much too complacent. People are far too lazy. If the whole population were more driven, more competetive, just imagine what could be accomplished.

There are tons of free things that anybody can do, no matter what their age... some people go to the YMCA to learn how to scuba, museums offer free days, most physical activities don't cost much money, running, hiking, biking... etc...

Being financially 'poor' at a young age is normal, it doesn't have anything to do with this economy, it's always been that way, because jobs pay based on your worth and experience, and when you're young you have little of either so you keep your nose down and your attitude up and cream always rises to the top and gets rewarded.

If everybody were more driven, more competitive, just think how much harder it would be for you to get ahead!

 

[gcarter]

There are tons of free things that anybody can do, no matter what their age... some people go to the YMCA to learn how to scuba, museums offer free days, most physical activities don't cost much money, running, hiking, biking... etc...

Being financially 'poor' at a young age is normal, it doesn't have anything to do with this economy, it's always been that way, because jobs pay based on your worth and experience, and when you're young you have little of either so you keep your nose down and your attitude up and cream always rises to the top and gets rewarded.

If everybody were more driven, more competitive, just think how much harder it would be for you to get ahead!

To boot, competitive / driven people way too often disparage those who are not, or think them somehow less worthy, when the reality is that they provide a lot of the stability and institutional memory that we rely on. Not to mention the functions that are fulfilled in our society by those less driven.

If everyone were driven society would fall apart for lack of glue.

 

[drrich2]

Put another way, 7 billion Type A personality 'alpha male' types in a world with nuclear weapons.

Beware what you ask for.

Richard.

 

[tracydr]

There are tons of free things that anybody can do, no matter what their age... some people go to the YMCA to learn how to scuba, museums offer free days, most physical activities don't cost much money, running, hiking, biking... etc...

Being financially 'poor' at a young age is normal, it doesn't have anything to do with this economy, it's always been that way, because jobs pay based on your worth and experience, and when you're young you have little of either so you keep your nose down and your attitude up and cream always rises to the top and gets rewarded.

If everybody were more driven, more competitive, just think how much harder it would be for you to get ahead!

Have you checked the prices at the YMCA lately? $75 a month! That's the most expensive gym around our area! Just sayin! Now, the city pools are even getting expensive at $5.00 per visit. Sometimes,its cheaper to go to the private economy.

 

[bgretzler]

I am in the same boat as most. I got certified when I was 24, now 26. I have graduated with a degree in accounting and now pursuing a masters. With time and money being such a rare resource for myself and fiance who is also going through Physical Therapy School right now while I provide for both of us currently, things are tight. I have money saved for a rainy day along with putting some away for a down payment on a house which are my priorities right now.

I have all my gear but when I work full time and go to school full time, my weekends are spent in the books until I am done with school again. We are trying to pay our wedding off as soon as possible. The day of, we plan on having no debt related to the wedding and are on track with that goal.

We both try to get out and get a local dive in from time to time to break the monotony up a little but it doesn't always work that way. Plans change all the time because of prior obligations. We try to do things with both sides of our families, which most of mine is in Florida, but it keeps you busy. Once we are both done with school and have a much bigger disposable income and settled in where we would ultimately like to be, I see us getting into the sport a lot more because of less time and money issues.

That is exactly where I am. I love to dive but time and money seem to be in short supply for many of the younger divers like myself. The investment into your own gear allows you to dive more, but for many it is not possible at the younger years of their lives.

 

[Frosty]

Well in my familly Ive NOW got 4 certified dvers under the age of 18 and another one chomping at the bit to be allowed.
so thats a total of 5 new young divers.

NONE of them contribute -or have interest in contributing to "old school" websites when they have instant gratification posting on Facebook,twitter etc. -Hech -theres pics of our latest dive trip posted of FB within minutes of us getting back to port

 

[drrich2]

Here's a question that might help us relate to how young adults without prior exposure might regard diving. It's one of those novelty exotic hobbies/adventures, that we know a small minority of people do, but most don't, right?

So, have you ever thought it'd be fun to go sky diving? Bungee jumping? Run with the bulls? Tour Rome or visit the Pyramids?

Well, then, why haven't you?

Richard.

P.S.: I haven't done that stuff, either.