My dad told me to forget about being a pilot when I was 18
He said it was too expensive and unstable, and I should pick something practical. So I went into business school instead. I saw a small plane land at a local airfield yesterday and felt that old pull again (you know, the kind you can't ignore). Now I'm 34 and wondering if it's too late to even take a discovery flight. Has anyone else picked up a dream they shelved for over a decade?
That pull doesn't really go away, does it. A discovery flight is cheap and tells you if the spark is still there. Plenty of people start flight training way older than you.
You're right about that pull. My friend's mom always wanted to paint but put it off for years. She finally bought a cheap set of watercolors at 50, just to try. Now her kitchen is covered in her landscapes, and she sells a few at the local market. That discovery flight sounds like your version of her first paintbrush.
That line about "that pull doesn't really go away" from @luna_wright is spot on. My dad did the exact same thing with woodworking, bought a cheap jigsaw at 55 and now his garage is basically a small workshop. It's wild how just giving yourself permission to try something small can unlock all that.