The real question if you leave aside the affordability of private flying, is why any of us carry on with it.
Lots of points have been raised including cost, risk assessment, family and work responsibilities etc
It can be an unforgiving hobby if you make a mistake and it comes with increasing red tape.
If you have an all consuming job it can be difficult to make the time. I have thought long and hard about this at times.
Do you fly to achieve qualifications, tour, visit new places or just to get airborne ?
I have wrestled with all the above. I have done about 650 hours and Sep, night, mep, taildragger, Imc, most of jaa ir theory and practical. But then I thought, what do I really want to do with this. Do I have to always do something new ? All of these qualifications were really about raising my game and making my flying safer.
I have now reached a point where I am totally happy with what I do when flying. It's all too easy to forget how much work it took to get to the point where a 1 hour flight might not seem challenging enough. I am not likely to fly for work, do regular long tours (though I have done a few) or be a professional.
I now fly, knowing that I am totally addicted to the view of the uk coast from the air.
I don't want to fly jets, be a sky god or airline pilot. I just want, as long as health and finance allows, to go flying on whatever routes weather allows, to experience being airborne.
I only have to see a plane or smell the avgas and I am wish to get up there.
My flights and routes might be similar but the wind the weather or other factors always change. I learn something new every flight.
If it's not the costs, but the loss of that passion for flying however you maintain it, then maybe a break is the right thing.
I know when I am past it all and sit on the verandah in my rocking chair as an old man, that my flying will be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable achievements of my life.