20+ Skaters, How do you guys balance skateboarding with a career?

[Thomas]

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Skateboarding is often a spicy subject between my girl and I because I skate almost everyday after work and on weekends too.
In the end she is just bored because when I'm not skating I'm tired, editing videos, watching skate videos, or chilling at the skateshop...
I often let her alone at home for a week while I'm on a trip with my friends to skate/film.
So yeah, maybe I should just spend more time with her if I don't want to end alone in my bed...

[close]

Or if you dont want someone else taking your place in bed with her

Yes, exactly. She warned me several times already...

To get back to the topic, I'm working full-time as a mechanical engineer, but I don't have any fix hour to come and leave, so I can come early if I want to skate after work, or skate during the lunch break in winter.
I travel to Spain every two months for work and managed to take my board with me lately so that's very cool.

At the end of the day I'm not tired because my job is almost 100% seated in front of a computer, but sometime being so static just break my body and I feel like a piece of wood. I'm considering taking a Yoga class to improve that a be able to skate more...

[Jollyoli]

Don't have a career, have a succession of jobs.

[jomeara1]

Gipper and Soda Jerk got it made. 

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Gipper and Soda Jerk got it made.

Plenty of open positions in my district. If you think its such a sweet deal, let me help you get in on it!

[jomeara1]

I was strictly just talking about your girlfriend situation.  I don’t think teaching is for me honestly. 

[Powdered Toast Man!]

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Gipper and Soda Jerk got it made.

[close]

Plenty of open positions in my district. If you think its such a sweet deal, let me help you get in on it!

I turned 29 and Been substitute teaching since 2015. About to start my teaching credential this fall, really looking forward to teach high school and finally have something stable! Benefits aside, What stokes me the most about this *certificate is the freedom to teach anywhere in California... 
(winks at Gipper)
But yeah, i agree with the maryland dude i usually skate after school and hang out with the wifey as soon as she’s off work around 7
*edit

[jawano]

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So yeah, maybe I should just spend more time with her if I don't want to end alone in my bed...

[close]

Or if you dont want someone else taking your place in bed with her

[close]

Yes, exactly. She warned me several times already...

So your girl was like "if you don't spend more time with me I might end up fucking some other dudes."
It's fucking savage out there these days.

[AitchBeeGayBuh]

For those saying you skate less because of kids...well how about you skate with your kids.

The kid is 2 years old so that's not an option, the world is one big playground to him... Could do about one flatground trick then immediately step off the board because he's runnin away somewhere and will get hurt. He most likely pooped himself too so then I gotta go change him which kinda ruins the flow.

For a bit of years in my 20's I worked for the Forest Service up in Big Bear as a wildland firefighter. It was barely any classes and the physical test wasn't bad. Next thing I knew I had a job for the next 6 months. They were tiresome 12 hour days (at least) but also a lot of  time just makin money for doing nothing as well. Hell, it took the bus about an hour from Victorville to Big Bear everyday and back and we were still on the clock gettin paid. Another half hour drive till I got home and I would skate the parking lot ledges and bumps at my local supermarket parking lot solo in the dark. It kept my skate muscles good for whenever I would take breaks or have a few days off I would go out to LA and have fun. Every job lasted 2 weeks so if I got burnt out on it I wouldn't go for two weeks and just sell weed to make up for it.

After six months of work was over all the fire dudes went out and bought new trucks and new toys or whatever. Come back next season and everyones showin them off. I on the other hand went out and skated/couch surfed/lived outta my car/went to a lot of shows/did whatever I wanted and it was alot of fun.

Just also wanted to say I'm 35 and landed my first noseblunt pop out in the middle of a ledge drunk as hell the other day. Even did a few more that session... There's still time to progress and have fun, u just gotta want it.

[Tommy G]

This is one thing I'm gonna make sure of after I get my foot fixed at the end of the summer. When I'm finally recovered I'm not taking skateboarding for granted. Considering I'm gonna be taking 6 classes at my university next semester, I'm gonna need my stress reliever, and I'm gonna make time to skate during the week. I've got a group chat of homies around the city that are down to skate all the time, so I'm definitely gonna take advantage of it. I feel bad for not skating as often as I used to, but I was getting used to getting back into full-time college mode, but now that I'm used to the scheduling and stress, I'm gonna get back into it full force.

Also Ronald Reagan your girl is cool as fuck, sir. I got a homie whose wife isn't really down for skateboarding but we usually convince her to let him go for a couple of hours during the weekend. Dude needs it considering his developing anxiety problems and terrible work hours.

[duster1]

I balance it like a nose wheelie

[Joust Ostrich]

My two year old is obsessed with my leaf blower. I just make sure it's fully charged up and we hit up the driveway together. Funbox, small quarter, flat. Every once in a while I'll bomb a hill that leads to a couple of decent street spots downtown. I've been able to maintain a decent level of comfort on the board with this even with long hours (tech), travel, family, etc. Just fit it in, doesn't have to be a 6 hour session to be fun.

It's wildly impressive that your two year old can skate a leaf blower.

[j....soy.....]

I'm gonna guess at least half of chicks who give a guy a hard time for skating would do that no matter what the guy is doing.....what's shocking is how many guys for some reason have to be with a girl like that.....it's actually a pretty common pattern...

[Francis Xavier]

I'm gonna guess at least half of chicks who give a guy a hard time for skating would do that no matter what the guy is doing.....what's shocking is how many guys for some reason have to be with a girl like that.....it's actually a pretty common pattern...

I learned a long time ago to date girls with hobbies,that way there aren't issues with time spent together. My wife gets it,and is cool with it...I skate a lot more now too. Work is great because I have a perfectly rub bricked curb with hella lacquer on it to skate on lunch or after work. I'm a sheet metal fabricator, so being sweaty and all that shit doesn't matter. My friend is in school,has two kids,a wife, and works while making time to skate once a week to keep his sanity. Make the time.

[VHS ERA]

My fiance is very cool and 90% of the time loves that I skate. Only once did she say some shit like “I feel like all you care about it skateboarding” because I was prioritizing it over some shit she wanted me to do. If it’s all I cared about I would probably do it more than twice a week lol stfu.

[VHS ERA]

But yea you don’t wanna be with a chick who gives you shit for going skating. If you’ve got your shit together in other aspects of life and spend time with her etc she shouldn’t be complaining.

[expired]

I just graduated my first degree at the end of April, and as people have said, just make time for it and make it a priority. Even if I just go out for a smoke while at home doing other things ill ride around for 5 minutes, when ever I can I get on my board, my work is a 10 minute skate away from the biggest skatepark in the city so I plan to hit it as often as possible once I'm done work for the day.

[bo golden]

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So yeah, maybe I should just spend more time with her if I don't want to end alone in my bed...

[close]

Or if you dont want someone else taking your place in bed with her

[close]

Yes, exactly. She warned me several times already...

[close]

So your girl was like "if you don't spend more time with me I might end up fucking some other dudes."
It's fucking savage out there these days.

it just means she already has someone in mind

[Sleazy]

i'm 45, married with 3 kids and run a small business and it's kind of sucked for me last two years but i'm currently on an up swing. i've never really filmed but lately i've been trying to self film some things or homie film and it's really helped me a lot to find motivation. maybe it's the wrong reason to get motivated but it kind of gives me a project and something to strive for and motivation for trying to learn something new so i can get a clip.

my decline honestly started when i quit smoking weed like 5 or so years back. i went from skating 4-6 times a week for 2 hours a pop to 1-2 times a week for 30 mins to 1.5 hours. i just get over it and bored way quicker when i'm not faded and want to move onto something else. also, my wife used to get mad if i would come home too blasted so i skated long enough to skate off my buzz. i guess it's kind of like video games, i used to play some but never touch them anymore cause i'm never faded with time to kill.

skating mornings is huge. i've tried after work and these days i'm never feeling it when i go at end of day. lately i've been driving to the skate park in the morning when i'm on calls and then i get a session and will jump back in my truck and work some more and then skate some more.

it's been said a few times, it's just priorities and unless you want you life to be nothing but skating it will unfortunately become more exercise and hobby and less lifestyle.

also just skating more parks and finding one you like the vibe at goes a long ways as you can go solo and just skate with the park homies you make over time.

[calvinsdream]

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So yeah, maybe I should just spend more time with her if I don't want to end alone in my bed...

[close]

Or if you dont want someone else taking your place in bed with her

[close]

Yes, exactly. She warned me several times already...

[close]

So your girl was like "if you don't spend more time with me I might end up fucking some other dudes."
It's fucking savage out there these days.

more than no time doesn't seem like a whole lot

[stephop]

Barley skate then act like your are going to skate a ton this year with the few people that still skate because everyone else quit.

[streetsoup]

Ditch your responsible career bro friends and continue hanging with the derelicts at the skatepark.

[Sundaynuggets]

Well, my job is extremely physically demanding, so aside from the usual time constraints, I have to be really careful to sleep well, eat well and take enough recovery time on my days off. If I don’t do that stuff I get super burnt out really quickly and my body gets busted up.

Also have to make sure that I don’t cross a line with the stuff I try on a skateboard. Small injuries are no big deal but big injuries will cause some huge problems for my work life.

[verylowimpact]

I fucking love being childless. It's seriously the best thing for my responsibly selfish life. You will always find time to skate and do anything else you want to do in your short life, without kids. Every single time I see people with kids, I thank my lucky stars I don't have them.

[PeggyHillsShittySpanish]

I don’t skate as much as I’d like to, but I still skate. I am curious if there are any other active duty slap pals out there? Between working full time, taking a couple classes, having a toddler and another on the way, I still have a slither if time to ride my skateboard. I don’t skate any extravagant spots or anything, mostly flat in my driveway while my daughter plays. I still love it.

[TD]

Best option (from experience) is waking up early as fuck and hitting your favourite spot/park/whatever.  Get up at 4:30 and get in a good session before you head out to work. Yeah it's regular but if you really want to get time in to skate, you'll find a way.

I second building a box ledge or a ramp, if you have a smooth driveway all the better to just skate at home. 

You could also join the 40+ curb union. Empty parking lots abound after dark.

[Bristol_Palin]

I am 27, engaged, work 10 hour overnight shifts, and sorta always have a pretty busy schedule. My designated time to skate is 8 am- 10 am Saturday and Sunday. I get other times here and there in the week but not too much because it can vary. Every once in a while I get a whole Saturday and do a small skate day trip with some of my buddies. Sometimes, we plan a skate trip for a long weekend (Like once or so a year). Honestly you'll be able to find time. I didn't get to skate much at all during college. I skate more now.