It's been an exhaustive year of trying to find what to do in quarantine. There have been puzzles galore, Netflix show after Netflix show, and an enormous amount of podcasts listened to on neighborhood walks.
It might be time to start looking at some new hobbies. If you're running out of things to do, interested in trying something new, or just plain bored, this is going to be the list for you.
But what's out there? Well, we went to Reddit to find out what are some hobbies or interests that are actually fairly easy to get into that maybe we haven't though of yet.
Redditor The_Pieces_Fit asked:
"What are some ridiculously easy and interesting hobbies that no one knows about?"
Reddit had some excellent answers, and a lot of these aren't expensive hobbies either. Let's see which one becomes your next creative adventure.
Learning is easy, mastery take practice.
"Guitar. People often think learning an instrument is too hard, but it's mastering an instrument that's difficult. If you're just making it a fun hobby you'd be surprised how easy it is to get into."
"This is what I needed to read actually. I should really dust off the guitar I got 6 months ago and practiced probably 2 times since then."
Sea glass collecting.
"Me and my wife collect sea glass. You literally just walk on the beach and collect pretty, smooth glass. It is wonderful."
"Favourite find was probably an almost perfectly preserved bottle of Iodine from like 1920."
"My grandmother had a large collection of sea glass, I always loved playing with the pieces as a kid."
"If you get a UV light you can find uranium glass easily in the dark."
- pab_guy
For those interested in transit mapping.
"I create fake Metro (subway) maps for fictional cities or cities that actually exist but are lacking in a mass-rail transit system. Sometimes if I'm interested enough in the particular project, I go as far as bus routes, ferry routes, and station designs."
- Frites69
"Have you played the videogame Mini Metro, sounds like its definitely up your alley."
- Floh2802
"You might want to check out www.transitmap.net; it's a cool blog about mass transit map design with some really helpful tutorials and tips on the subject."
- SDFDuck
"Check Nimby Rails, that game is for you!"
The art of folding.
"Origami. The paper is cheap and at its simplest the models are so easy almost anyone can make them but if you want to challenge yourself they can get insanely complex. John Montroll's and Robert J. Lang's books are particularly good for providing a range of models from 'so easy I could fold it with my butt' to 'how the hell is it even possible to do this with a sheet of paper?' I spent so much time with their collaborative Origami Under the Sea book as a kid that my copy was literally falling apart."
"[Ryunkin origami] a incredibly complex origami dragon that's notorious in the community for being ridiculously difficult to fold. It involves a lot of tessellation (a repeated pattern) for the scales that needs meticulous attention to detail, and some stupidly difficult collapses (sometimes in origami, you can't fold certain steps one by one. rather, you need to pre-crease your paper and all the folds sort of happen simultaneously to come together in a certain way. they can be really difficult to manage)."
"I'd strongly encourage you to google 'Ryujin origami'; It'll blow your mind. Remember, what you'll see has been made from a single piece of paper, no cutting or gluing, just folding."
"This is one of the rarer models that does involve glue, but it doesn't in any way detract from how incredulous the endeavor to fold one is."
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Treasure hunting in real life.
"Geocaching: a real world treasure hunt that has players finding and discovering containers placed by other players. All you need is a pen and a smartphone, and you're basically set."
"Wife and I started geocaching a couple of months ago. Wish we would have started decades ago, having a lot of fun and it takes us to places we wouldn't normally go. We're up to 42(!) found and only half a dozen dnf's. Mind you, we tried a 4.5(outa 5) difficulty yesterday and gave up after 20 minutes."
"Highly recommend to anyone but especially young families. Kids love the hunt and it's a great outdoor, binding activity. Our daughter got us started!"
Foraging.
"Mushroom picking."
"Hiking with a purpose. And it's not that tough to get into if you only look for a few very distinctive species."
- xmuskorx
"If you're getting into it solely for finding edibles, then sure, you can put yourself at higher risk. But I find enjoyment out of trying to identify different species. Or variants of the same species. Finding a rainbow of colors in one hike is pretty satisfying. As far as I've read, there's no known species to cause poisoning through skin contact in the US (but always wash one's hands afterward anyhow). Goal of mine is to compile enough good photos of personal finds to print and frame."
Maybe it's not as uncommon as once thought.
"Mushroom picking is definitely not unknown 😂 in Czech republic it's something like a national hobby haha."
Juggling.
"It's really just practice, takes a bit but I'd guess most people can do it to some degree, and at that point is almost like meditation."
"Yeah it's a lot of fun. Got to 7 balls at one point. You can impress people just by learning one or two tricks though."
"I am by no means a good juggler, but during covid I have learned a lot more than just the regular 3 ball cascade that I have known for years."
"In my opinion, balls are the easiest. Not just any balls, but get something with a bit more weight, that are easy to grasp and not very bouncy. (Don't learn with petanque balls, like I did. Almost broke my fingers. :D) Tennis balls are too light and too bouncy. I guess base balls, soft balls or cricket balls would work, or just get some actual juggling balls. Bean bags or hacky sacks (is that the word? Foot bag?) are good alternatives and can be made easily."
"I would not recommend scarves as some one mentioned, or balled up socks. Socks are too light and bouncy. Scarves are of course possible, but that would not translate well to juggling anything else, since they are so light and fly like scarves. ;) Starting with balls makes it easy to move on to other objects that do not spin when thrown. Juggling pins is an other matter all together."
"Also, look for Taylor tries from YouTube. She has some really good basic juggling tutorials."
Making your own chainmail.
"I make chainmail. Think of the shirts of metal rings that medieval knights used to wear."
"Modern mailling can make pretty much anything. There's also tons of different weaves that you can do. Right now, I'm making a scalemail purse for my wife, but I've also made tons of chainmail draw-string bags (dice bags), I've made pieces of art for my kids, and I've also made myself a steel vest."
"All you need to get started is some rings, and 2 pairs of pliers. If you want to start right now, head to your local hardware store, buy some 18 gauge copper wire. Wrap that wire around a circular rod, then cut it the wire so that it creates little rings. You can make copper chainmail by hand because it's so soft."
Disc golfing.
"Disc golfing doesn't get the attention it deserves. Low entry threshold with a high skill ceiling."
"Damn near free, too. Like fifteen bucks for a 3 disc starter pack, cheaper to buy used, and usually zero or five bucks to park at the course."
Foreign coin collecting.
Collecting foreign coins is a hobby that's forgotten nowadays, so maybe it counts as a hobby that no one knows about?
- yaspino
"The extent of it for me is a small tea tin in my closet with a handful of random foreign coins I somehow ended up having, all from places I've never been. Indeed, I tend to forget that I have that tea tin."
When's the last time you just did nothing?
"Chilling on the couch and doing (physically) nothing while going on an adventure in your mind. I love to let my mind wander and have some in depth thoughts about ideas, scenarios, creating "mind" music etc. Its like playing with what your mind is capable of."
- t_o_o_l
"I used to put a record or tape of something instrumental on and make 'movies' to go with the music. Spent a lot of time flaked out on the couch staring at the ceiling doing that as a teen."
If the idea of being alone with your thoughts sounds scary or unpleasant, you're not alone. This Redditor has some first hand advice:
"I couldn't imagine being alone with my thoughts most of my life. It was unbearable sad and dreadful and harmed my self worth. I'm still recovering from this 6+ year long severe depression, but I'm slowly climbing up. There are days where I make a step back or get a hit by truckload of emotions of my past, but that's okay, I'm a recovering human being."
"That being said, I recently discovered that being inside my head can be very entertaining, funny, interesting and wholesome. Not just sad, bitter, angry and anxiety."
"Its hard and it demands a lot of strength, but that's what molds your character and identity with time."
"We can do it :)"
Rock painting.
"Painting rocks is a sweet hobby for people who love being creative, and who like a more quiet way to spend their free time."
"Painting rocks can be done in a variety of ways - from faces, landscapes, shapes, and patterns."
"Just find some nice rocks - river stones work well - to paint some stones in whatever way you like."
If you're looking to get into some painting to make extra cash, you could try restoration.
"I've been restoring old faded lawn ornaments. Gnomes, statues, etc.."
"Same concept, really, acrylic paints...let it all cure then seal with a clear enamel."
"I get about $70 to $100 per, and I've got 2 cowboy statues in the wings that will bring $1500 each."
Magic.
"Learning magic tricks off the internet is so much easier now and its really neat to impress your friends or kids. And most tricks all you need are a deck of cards or some coins!"
"This is an odd one but here me out. Go to www.findagrave.com. This site has over 190 million graves documented by volunteers. Odds are many of your relatives are there. People go to graveyards and take pictures of the grave stone or marker. The inscription on the gravestone is also listed. In addition, people can send a request to find a grave of one of their loved ones that are buried near where you live."
"After my wife passed away from pancreatic cancer I started volunteering my time to go out and do this. For whatever reason, I find it peaceful to walk the graveyards and I especially like going to the really old cemeteries. Its also good exercise! If you are a genealogy buff you should visit this site even if you don't want to actually document anything."
Hobbies that don't cost a lot and allow others to join in are a great way to spend quality time with yourself and your loved ones. We hope this helped you get away from the Netflix specials and endless timeline scrolling and into something you've never tried before.
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