Did you ever take a break from contesting

[N3QE]

One common thread I see so far is that contesting seems to pick up in retirement. Is it normal to have your ham activity dip way down when raising kids?

I was licensed as a kid (age of 10!), did the Novice roundup while still a novice, and had a lot of fun on the radio through high school but then came college, then grad school, then jobs, and I neglected radio. Now I have a family and kids and am back into radio and especially contesting.

Some of the most intense contesters I know, are younger than me. Not many but they are very notable.

[WA8UEG]

We all need to remember that this is just a hobby

To some it's a hobby and to some it's a passion. While we all have to have our priorities in order it's easy to put something off that's a hobby but much more difficult when it's a passion. Amateur Radio is a different breed of hobby, contesting can be a passion within the hobby and while you might be able to slow down your ham radio activity due to personal obligations you will still miss it on contest weekends. Golf is another hobby that many have a passion for. A friend of mine had to cut back his golf activities quite a bit because of family obligations and every Wednesday he mopes around all day because that's when his league played. DON'T GET ME WRONG, personal obligations trump hobbies every time I am just saying if your a casual all around ham and do not have a passion for the hobby or a certain segment of the hobby it's not as tough to walk away from as it is for those of us who have a passion for it. I understand why he posted the question as I think he has a passion for contesting and while cutting back won't be easy of course it's the right thing to do. Gotta go now and do some work on my DVK so I'll be ready for the 10 meter contest this weekend.

[AD6KA]

Yeah, I did take a contesting hiatus a few years
ago when I returned to school for another degree.....
while still working Full Time.

I love contesting but it's hard when your
job requires you to work weekends. So when
vacation "bid requests" (times off awarded based on seniority)
are posted at the beginning of the year,
I have to balance contest weekends I want to bid
on versus the times my XYL wants me to bid on. 
It can get hairy, but she's a good sport about it
and knows how much enjoyment it brings me.
Of course it helps to have a job with 5 weeks a
year paid vacation.
73, Ken  AD6KA

[AI7RR]

Looking back over the years, I've had several hobbies and some I have been quite passionate about. One thing I discovered was that the hobby will always be there in one form or another. Family, on the other hand, requires.......demands your attention. Don't miss out on weekend events with your children and family because of a hobby. It will become regrettable.

73, Roger

[K2TTM]

Looking back over the years, I've had several hobbies and some I have been quite passionate about. One thing I discovered was that the hobby will always be there in one form or another. Family, on the other hand, requires.......demands your attention. Don't miss out on weekend events with your children and family because of a hobby. It will become regrettable.

73, Roger

Nobody has said it better.

[KO4NX]

I had been really active in contesting from my home station. My primary interest was SO2R CW and RTTY contest.  I have since decided to build my own contest grade transceiver, which has required me to take about a year off thus far, but I am nearing the end! It has been a dream of mine to complete such a construction, thus I do not mind taking a break.

In the interim I have been doing DXpeditions with a group for contest, but that has been about it.  Hopefully by the end of this winter I will have the rig fully constructed, and placed into service, as I think it would be really neat to put up a decent score with a homebuilt rig!

73

Rich, AJ3G