Photography is the best hobby!

[SquarePeg]

And on the other hand, it seems to me that in some respects, Photography need not become an ACTUAL hobby. If it's just something you do as you go about your daily lives, it's just what you do. And I love the old rangefinder 'street camera' for this. You just have it handy for when you see the shot.

I seem to go through phases. For a few months it will be a hobby that dominates my free time. I’ll take photography specific trips and plan my weekends around what I want to shoot or meeting friends to shoot. Then my motivation fades and it will become a background activity while I focus on other things. To your point, it is sometimes just something I do as I go about my day vs the center or objective of my plans. It’s a great hobby in that you can pick it right back up after a few months or longer.

 

[SunriseAvenue]

Great article and I agree wholeheartedly. even though usually I'm not the one to say if a hobby is good or bad. Unless it does no harm and keeps you entertained and motivated, it's all good.
However, I agree with the point he makes, because photography actually helps open new horizons you probably wouldn't even think of otherwise. For example, I got into genealogy thanks to photography and an attempt to restore old family photos (btw here is a great article on doing so, if you ever face this problem as well)