The high cost of education

When I set up the aforementioned sea kayak training and posted it on our club’s event board, there were the usual questions about the cost. I hesitated to answer.

I knew the price of lessons and lodging, and could estimate the gratuity, but do I footnote the potential hidden cost? Or, is that universal and understood?

As example, some time ago, I attended a seminar on road riding (long distance bicycle). I already had a bike that I had been using for a couple years. However, with what I learned in the course, it seemed inadequate for getting the most out of my enhanced skills. I’d have to take it up a notch with frame and equipment.

My children were both musicians. As they progressed to higher levels, it became incumbent upon us to upgrade the instruments commensurately. The cost of lessons was being eclipsed by that of equipment.

I think that’s the norm and everybody knows that. A friend of mine is a gourmet cook and had all the bells and whistles required to turn out a drop-dead feast. And yet, after taking a few days to study under a renowned chef, she came back and ordered an expensive new stove, pots and pans, and other implements.

It is necessary to distinguish here between the enthusiast who develops skills and acquires equipment to leverage those advanced abilities, and the one who fails to build proficiency and buys more sophisticated gear, thinking that’s an easy way to improve results. That’s often a fool’s errand because that gear is designed to deliver for a higher level of competence and punishes those at a lower level.

Going into an advanced sea kayaking course, I thought it was safe to assume that participants would be aware of the possibility of the outcome. I joked with some about that, warning that the instructor was also an equipment dealer, so bring your checkbook. I already had a good touring boat, capable of hauling a good deal of gear for multiweek trips. And, a top-of-the-line speedster. So I was, of course, immune. Of course.

Glad I didn’t take the checkbook. By the end of the first day, I had the fever for a kayak that could really surf and play the rough stuff, leveraging my augmented skill set. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a checkbook with me that spared me. Credit cards are welcome. But, the instructor was one of those people who is in the field for the love of the sport and didn’t have much of a business or sales mentality. When I inquired about a particular model, he simply said that he didn’t have one in stock and let it go at that.

The kayak is just one aspect. When you take lessons or tour with an outfitter, you become aware of the equipment they use. You notice their gear (paddles, tow bags, wet gear, etc.) and their facile use of it makes it appear superior to yours. Plus, there’s the implied endorsement of a pro who relies on the equipment every day. Again, we were spared by the provider’s disinterest in selling.

Or, were we? We did get out of town without our plastic seeing the light of day. But, as we banter about practicing to apply the new skills, I detect the seed of desire to do some shopping.

That will be the real cost of the course. But, money well spent.