Jacqueslemac
Active Member
- Location
- Mostly Normandy, sometimes Norfolk
I'm tending towards the @Tin Pot perspective as I think mid-life crises are an on-going process rather than a one off event, and I take crisis in the Greek meaning, a decision or decision point.
So, in roughly chronological order from the mid-90s, my mid-life decisions have been
Buying an mtb
Buying a Laverda Jota
Quitting my job '99
Learning to play electric bass well enough to play paid gigs
Starting a band
Buying various basses on an n+1 basis
Quitting my job '05
Buying a road bike
Taking up rugby refereeing
Quitting the band
Buying several more bikes
Quitting my job '14
Burying the Aged P
Taking a temporary role in Scandinavia
I'd like a SAAB convertible, or a Triumph TR8 or even a GT6 or, or, or, but I don't have a garage or a driveway.
Hmm, not so very different from mine:
Quit my job and went to live in France for 18 months (working on a property we own in Normandy)
Returned and found another job much easier than I expected
Bought a decent bass and joined a band (Using the n+1 rule, I now have 18 basses and guitars)
Started gigging
Passed my motorbike test
Toured all over Europe on my motorbike (summers only, camping of course)
Sold one bike, but kept the other, bought a Mazda MX5 because my wife's not to keen on being pillion
Various trips to Austria, Italy, Sweden and Norway in my 2CV
Bough a camper van with the hope we can do longer trips one day.
Made redundant several times, but found other jobs
I've just been made redundant again, so it's back to Normandy next summer to try to make a go of it as a holiday home earning us some money.
The cycling's not been part of it because I've never not ridden. Mind you I did splash out on a full bounce MTB for my 50th.
My youngest daughter says none of this counts as a mid-life crises because it's all cool, bless her. Mind you, she has waist-length dreads, is covered in tattoos and has quit her job to go travelling for a year. I'm not sure what kind of role-model I've been!