Quote Originally Posted by emily_in_nc View Post
+1 on learning a new language! I've spent extensive time over the past couple of years learning Spanish, and living in Mexico for a year gave my brain a real workout. However, I can tell that learning Spanish has been harder for me than French was back in high school/college. I just don't have as good a memory as I did back then, though I still understand the concepts, of course.
I'm trying to learn a new programming language for work, and am experiencing something similar. It seems to take more effort to learn complex things than it did years ago. Although I guess motivation and interest level is part of it -- I have no problem learning and remembering new roads in areas where I plan vacations or bike rides. And I agree that it is a great brain exercise dealing with maps and finding routes. (Honestly if I could find someone to pay me a decent wage to plan bike rides, I'd take it in a heartbeat.)