Intense Special Interest

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I have an intense special interest in commercial air travel. I spend vast amounts of time researching airlines, airports, aircraft etc. I feel I need to focus on other things and take life more seriously and lessen the hold this has over my life. The problem is its almost like an addiction, it consumes me. Are special interests to this extent normal for an adult?

What do you sacrifice in order to indulge in your interest in commercial aviation?

Pretty much everything, I don't have any friends (mainly just acquaintances) or romantic relationships. I spend so much time on the internet researching things and then spend my free time (and money) traveling to different airports.

Yep. That's a "special Aspie interest" all right.

Do you feel lots of pleasure when you research? Or do you feel "compelled" in some way?

Pleasure, its really the only thing that gives me pleasure at the moment. I don't necessarily feel compelled its just the only thing I feel I know/care about. I have had this obsession since I first flew when I was 12 I now feel its somewhat childish.

As long as you're not harming anybody, or harming yourself, I actually don't see anything wrong with you pursuing your interest.

Do you have employment? If you don't, I won't judge you.

I do but my current job is pretty menial, I am trying to get into vocational rehab. I have a BS in Geography.

Having a job is much better than not having a job.

I love geography! I don't care if a BA in it is "impractical."

I have a BA in English and Speech Pathology.

My "special interest" is the weather. I wish I would have gotten my degree in meteorology, so I can be like Jim Cantore and follow the storms!

I actually have a BS I studied GIS (Geographic Information Systems), but I have never been able to get a job in the field. Weather is cool.

You should continue to try to get a job in your field, while you're doing your "menial" work.

Any employer likes someone with a stable work history.

How do you feel about Kennedy Airport? I live about 15 minutes from there by car.

I haven't been there in about 10 years, even though it was kinda run down then (holes in the roof, pigeons in the terminal etc) I loved it as there were still remnants of the the PanAm WorldPort era in the Delta terminal (Terminal 3). Its sad they completely tore it down and rebuilt. I'd love to go back my sister just moved to NYC so maybe I will get a chance. Planespotting there is amazing.

I grew up with Pan Am and TWA constantly advertising....They were the most dominant airlines back in the 60s and 70s.

You might be interested in the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

I don't know what might be considered "normal" for an adult special interest, but the intensity of my "trivia gluttony", as I call it, doesn't ever seem to diminish.

I had a couple of really important tasks to get done today [looks at the time, erm, I mean yesterday], but I did neither of them because I've been half asleep since waking up very late. I had been up until the early hours ploughing through the Wikipedia pages for every military aircraft flown by Japan in WWII (again!) Another time it might be the details of every single British railway disaster (again!) This will, of course, include multiple long, winding tangents - the engine in that plane, the history of the company that made the engine for the plane, the biography of the head designer of the company that designed the engine for the plane....

I'll go to bed when I finish this page. Oh dammit. Well, I'll go to bed at the end of the fighter planes section, then. Oh dammit. I'll just finish reading this one, but I mustn't click on any of its links. Oh dammit...

The most bizarre part to me is that I have absolutely no idea why these things fascinate me so much. I abhor war and violence and hate to see them glorified, so why is military hardware so fascinating to me? Who else do I know who cares about a boiler explosion in the nineteenth century? Why do I read the same facts over and over again, many of which I committed to memory already as a child? What am I going to use these facts for once I have committed them to memory? Why can't I ever seem to apply these research skills to something more beneficial?

Aviation and space have always been one of my "special interests"; I was lucky enough to get a job in the industry.

I've also always been very interested in geography, maps, etc. A lot of that grew out of stamp collecting when I was a kid. Working in GIS might've been a great fit for me.

And I still spend a great deal of time reading about and studying this and that. Part of my problem is I have so many interests, and only so much time.

I wouldn't worry about pursuing those special interests as long as it makes you happy, and you still manage to hold down a job to support yourself. Forcing yourself to do "what you're supposed to do" can be a recipe for a miserable life. You can pursue a higher-paying career; but you'd have to balance the extra money (to travel to see planes!) against the possible loss of time to pursue your interest. Then again, you could have both with a job that involves a fair amount of air travel...

Without people pursuing their special interests intensively, we wouldn't have most of our art, philosophy, and technology...

I decided to go where life takes me. I was interested aviation as well and eventually found my career in aviation. It's rewarding financially and makes me happy. If you can get a job at an airline, then you can travel free. There are many different different jobs - maintenance, planning, air traffic control et. al. I'm sure you can find something that works for you and you will be around people that have a similar interest. You can also join an aviation club. There's no reason to deny yourself what makes you happy when you can combine your life, hobby, and career.

Special interests have always been my strongest autistic trait.