Hi, I am a 3 year resident of Denver, CO. I enjoy the outdoors quite a lot since that is why I moved back here. I spent 2003-2008 here in College.
I am 31, male and married. I'm a mechanical engineer in the automated manufacturing industry, mostly selling machines to the medical industry. I am out of patience with the industry and how wasteful manufacturing is but that is another story. My wife is a supply chain coordinator working for a Denver start up at the moment.
We own (read: pay mortgage on) a property in a nice neighborhood of Denver proper which is expensive. We own 2 cars, a 2007 honda crv and 1996 volvo 850 glt. The only real financial burden we have is the mortgage but it is reasonable to assume we can rent this out after 1 more year here because there is a clause in the HOA aggreement stating we must occupy the property for 2 years before we can rent it out.
OK that's the background, I love outdoor pursuits and am relatively good at them. I can and do climb, bike (both mountain, road and commute), ski, hike and backpack. I regularly do these things too which means a lot of gear and a lot of wear and tear on gear. My gear budget each year seems to increase. I like my stuff to last so I usually consider the nicer options when purchasing gear however I will always look for used on either Pro's Closet ebay store out of Boulder, CO, craigslist or the Wilderness Exchange's outdoor equipment consignment room before buying new.
I have a hard time truly reconciling my desire to be frugal with the allure of new gear, good days in the backcountry nearby and traveling to new, hard to reach far off places. The way I see it, properly enjoying wild areas involves, for one, making safety a priority and two, having the tools to take you outside the normal boundaries. Now, when you look at it barebones, if all had left in me was the ability to walk gently meandering trails, then all i would need is some shorts, a shirt, shoes, a backpack, water pouch and some snacks. Then again, I love to go far out, travel fast, climb high.
I will never find driving to the mall and shopping in general to be a thing i or my wife needs to be doing. In fact i dislike shopping completely. I haven't updated my wardrobe at all in the past few years and only by a new shirt if an old one wears out. This is also, in my opinion, the thing with higher end outdoor clothing and gear. if you buy well, do your research and take care of it, it will last a very long time or forever. But i always feel the need to add a new specialized piece to my gear closet and i generally feel like my cycling kit is also not close to being complete. I ride my bike to work almost every day i work and have just started trying run commuting to add another transportation tool to the quiver.
OK so what do i need you all's help with? Well in your opinion, how much is too much? Should i do all of the sports that I love or should i cut back realizing that my time and also my budget are suffering because every year i need new things?
In general it is much better for the environment to spend time consuming miles or vertical ft. in the outdoors than it is to consume media, food or cheap mass produced consumer goods back in civilization. I have to drive to most trail heads but i hate driving because i hate contributing to our nation's fossil fuel addiction. If i bought a higher mpg car, then i would be spending more money on my hobbies. I buy gear that is most of the time made using petroleum products but i want to have good long lasting comfortable gear. Please, help me figure out where I should draw the line?