hi. chemistry has started to interest me for a couple months now although i never really knew anything about it because computer science was always my focus.

i've been fucking around with a gen chem textbook for awhile now and i just wanted to know if it was worth it to consider real schooling just to be a hobbyist in the far future. money isn't an issue and the extra time (currently doing a CS degree) isn't an issue if i need to double major.

i'm not set in stone about anything or really gung ho about it but i was wondering if chemistry continued to interest me over the next few months if it would be a batshit retarded idea to consider paying for the legitimate schooling just for hobbyist stuff?

ideally i'd like to get to a point of being at a hobbyist level of organic synthesis and fuck around with energetic materials (in the vein of stuff they do at science madness forums) but i don't want to act like a shithead and do stuff without knowing what i'm doing. i'd like to really learn about this stuff and get experience in a lab and be able to fuck around with a home lab in the far future, but not as a career. also to be safe about it.

is this feasible? completely stupid? i don't mind putting the work in and i know it's not going to be simple, but it is something that has started to be really interesting to me. should i get a chem minor, or would i need an actual major for the things i want to do? how important is lab experience beyond college classes?

any input appreciated, big spanks