Describe an expensive hobby you can’t pursue daily

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 359 with Model Answer:

Describe an expensive hobby you can’t pursue daily.

You should say:

• what it is
• why it is expensive
• why you wish to pursue it more regularly

and explain when you are planning on doing it in the near future.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

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Model Answer 1:
Although I like to consider “expensive” as a relative term, I do think that there is a thing called “expensive hobby”, simply because I am just not able to pursue them on a daily basis. Anyway, today, I would like to talk about one such expensive pastime activity that I really like but can't do on a daily basis.

The name of this hobby is “flying”. Now, I am not sure how in the world I started to like this “expensive” hobby, but I guess it must have something to do with too much reading about the hobbies of celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Tim McGraw, Dr Phil and Tom Cruise, who incidentally are celebrity pilots.

Anyway, “flying” is expensive because lessons on flying an aircraft may cost thousands of dollars, and getting a proper license can cost thousands of dollars even more. But, that’s not the end of costs at all as I would also need to pay a handsome amount of money, maybe not as much as the costs to take flying lessons or get a flying license, but still, it is a large sum of money. Finally, where I live, there is also a cost for medical check-ups on a fairly regular basis, when flying an aircraft, in order to make sure that I am fully physically fit to fly a “steel bird”.

Anyway, I like to pursue this particular hobby once in a blue moon because I really want to be able to get a first-hand experience of viewing our beautiful planet from above the ground. Besides, the adrenaline rush, associated with flying and roaming freely in the sky, seems to be unmatched with any other “worldly” experience.

Anyway, I am planning on doing it after a few years when I will hopefully be able to save up some money to learn and practice my expensive hobby. I might even manage to do it quicker if one of my good friends, who is also a commercial pilot himself, is able to provide me with some early lessons on flying. So, I guess, I will just have to wait and see! Until then, please just wish me luck!

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Sample Answer 2:

Hobbies define who we become and how we choose to live our life. It nurtures creativity and a man without a hobby is like a garden without a flower. I would like to thank you for letting me talk about a hobby I cherish but cannot follow on a regular basis.

I like travelling and it revives my spirit to a great extent. This is a hobby I wish I could pursue daily! But the reality is that I have to work and get back to my regular life once a tour is complete.

This hobby is expensive in terms of the money and time it requires. I love to explore different parts of the world and the prerequisites for a tour is overwhelming. I follow a few travel blogs and they are flooded with vivid travel stories and fabulous travel destinations. A travel enthusiast like me often finds contentment with reading about a place rather than being able to visit all these places. Travelling is not a pastime activity like drawing, collecting stamps or blogging that I can always manage, especially on a tight budget. Travelling involves a lot of preparation, expenditure on accommodation, food, transport and so on. However, I will take it more regularly when I get older and wiser!

Travelling is my way to refresh my mind and get away from the routined life for a while. It helps me adapt to different cultures and understand the people and places. It always opens a new horizon to me and fills me with unparalleled joys. It has enhanced my confidence and self-reliance and I am happy to have grown a passion for travelling.

Umm, I am planning to visit Malaysia, a country located in Southeast Asia. I will probably go there this December and stay for around two weeks or so. I wish to explore the life of Asian people and their culture and I believe visiting Malaysia would add some excellent memories.