The next frontier?

Now that the whole wedding thing has come and gone, I am primed for my next adventure. After spending an afternoon at the San Diego Air and Space Museum, I once again got that itch to get my pilot's license. The practical side of me thought that I should probably wait until all the wedding bills are paid off before embarking on another expensive endeavor, and besides, don't I already have enough expensive habits? The fun side of me thought that I'm living in a city with beautiful weather, easy access to airports, numerous pilots and flying clubs, and I've got more free time on my hands than I probably will once Tracy finishes up her residency.

Naturally, the fun side is starting to win out. This afternoon, I went down to one of the local flight schools and picked the brain of the owner with all the questions I could possibly come up with. One of the most important, for me, is how much money I'll be out when it's all said and done. Flying ain't cheap. Each person I ask this to replies the same way: it depends on how fast you pick it up. The bare minimum (which nobody hits) to get your private pilot's license is 40 hours of flying. National average is about 70 hours. And, like most people, I like to think I'm better than average ;). So unfortunately, that huge variability makes it nearly impossible to budget for. The other day, I had convinced myself that it is unfeasible. Today, I have decided to try saving for a few months and seeing what happens. At the very least, I know that I have Tracy's blessing in all of this, and that is worth so very much. Apparently, girls like that don't come around very often. How'd I get so lucky?