Can you afford your special interests?

What periods and places are you interested in, Becca? I find many people who are interested in history are either generalists or they're interested in the bits that I'm not, like the industrial revolution or napoleononic wars, or even big engineering, which just makes my eyes glaze over. One of the reasons I like the late antiquity/early medieval stuff is there's so much we don't know and so much thats coming to light, those post Roman centuries are no longer dark and the picture although not yet clear is far more interesting than just people poking swords into each other. I also like the neolithic and bronze ages, what were they doing with all those huge stone monuments? Why did they move and sort the bones of ancestors in burial mounds? Who got to be buried and memorialised and why, what happened to everybody else? Did you choose how you wanted your remains treated, rather like you can today?  

As I said in my previous comment, my barrier is mostly my lack of energy due to work. Also I don't have a car so I can't drive to places of interest (natural and historical) that I would want to go to. Luckily there are some nice walks near me, and I get my history fix where I can.

I would absolutely love to go on one of the archaeological digs that volunteers can apply to go on, but they are never near where I live, so in addition to the expense of paying for the dig access, I would also have to pay for accommodation and transport. 

Not being tech savy at all I don't think I'd know how to cope with a digital university, I'm not even sure they'd have anything on the areas of research I'm interested in, the OU don't really do proper history, the earliest date they go from is 1500CE, they don't seem to do anything earlier than that.

I would love to do a Phd, but I can't afford it.

I don't do social media either only here.

I didn't intend this thread to be all about me, but about how others cope when there are barriers to them persuing their interests, whether they're financial or transport, whatever.

I guess new guitar strings aren't that expensive, you're lucky, does anyone complain about you playing?

I'm ok, My guitar Strings don't cost much and i only change them every few months ;-)

Ooh that's a really good idea! I've missed having access to an academic library.

To get cheap access to a really good academic library, I'd find the cheapest Open Uni course and sign up for it, even to the point of failing it and re-studying next year...

It sounds to me like you'd love doing your own research as part of a PhD...

I don't have enough money to buy the books and Lego I would like...

What about social media? Are you on Facebook at all? When I can't physically do stuff relating to my interests, I find it helpful to be able to browse my history or mudlarking groups on Facebook or follow people with similar interests on Instagram. Even if I can't physically go find stuff myself, I can still see things that other people have found, and comment on them, maybe even help them identify stuff if I've found something similar before.

I also found lots (most) of my history books in my collection secondhand in charity shops, or through online second hand bookshops like Abe Books or the Oxfam website. You can put in what you are looking for and they'll send you an email when one pops up. 

Another place you could try is Project Gutenberg. They digitise old books and have a fantastic selection of history related texts on their website. You can either read online or download the text onto a tablet or kindle. 

I would need the books to write my own book on the subject as I would need to reference everything I wrote properly and I'm a useless storyteller so I couldn't do a novel.

I don't live in the same town as I went to uni in, and as it's about 140 miles away from here I couldn't just pop in for the afternoon.

Our libraries computers are so ancient and slow I'm not sure they'd be able to cope, the signal is also very variable. I have problems using computers with overhead strip lights and I can't concentrate when there's loads of stuff going on around me. Jstor's not the easiest site to use at the best of times either. Our library is limiting interlibrary loans and loans from the British Library are so expensive they've stopped doing them.

Could you not write your own book about it?

Ooh also, as an alumni you might still be able to access university library services. I know some universities do have this option for alumni. You have to apply for it, but it should be free for former students.

Ooh what about inter library loan? I know public libraries offer it too, but there may be a small fee to use. Not a lot,I think.

I love history too!

Could you maybe be able to get free access through your local library? Many libraries will offer free access to things like JSTOR as part of their services. They might be able to do it for other journals or research materials too. 

My problem is that while I do have interests and projects that I want to work on, and engaging in them makes me feel so much better, I'm so burnt out from work and housework that i have no energy (physically and mentally) left at the end of the day to do anything. And the weekend is spent catching up on housework I've not been able to do while working, and then recovering from the week so I'm not starting the next week in an energy deficit.

It's cheap for me at the moment because burnout is severely limiting my interest in my interests.

I thought that I has found a possible answer for you - sadly, I haven't. I looked up libraries that post books. The London Library does but it's really expensive to join. £565 a year!