Hobbies

[gayl]

I need a hobby. Refinished all wood cupboards (kitchen & 3 bathrooms). Replaced 1/3 of floors. Ordered replacement furniture. Cruising every 4 months. Luncheon every weekend. Basketball on weekends. Dog park 3 times a week alternating with hiking. Music several times a month. And still bored.

What do you do?

 

[aja8888]

I need a hobby. Refinished all wood cupboards (kitchen & 3 bathrooms). Replaced 1/3 of floors. Ordered replacement furniture. Cruising every 4 months. Luncheon every weekend. Basketball on weekends. Dog park 3 times a week alternating with hiking. Music several times a month. And still bored.

What do you do?

You asked:

1. I restore classic cars...but between projects right now.

2. Play golf. (once or twice per week)

3. Walk 10,000 steps per day.

 

[ChiliPepr]

Let’s see…
Martial arts, bee keeping, motorcycling, and now learning blacksmithing and knife making

 

[Lewis Clark]

Bicycling

Watching old movies we get from the library

Reading about topics of interest

Trying new food recipes. The pandemic has helped us discover many we probably would not have even looked for otherwise.

Kayaking

Volunteer for activities or organizations meaningful to you. I'm involved in several organizations.

Attend concerts and live theater productions, both indoor and outdoors (weather permitting)

Search Meetup.com for events in your area.

What do you like to do? Try getting Ernie Zelinski's "Get a Life Tree" exercise. It helped me. This web link shows an example, but the book has a better explanation.
https://cornerstonefinancial.ca/Get-a-life Tree.pdf

You like hiking. Perhaps hike in different locations, or take a trip to new hiking destinations. Volunteer with (or start) a local hiking club.

Look in your local newspaper's "things to do" section for events you might like.

Go to some museums.

How about basketball during the week? Cruising more often? Go to the dog park more often? Become a basketball referee?

Try learning something you have long wanted to learn. Musical instrument? Computer programming? Sewing? Painting?

Take a class? Some states allow seniors to take classes for free at community colleges.

 

[Trailwalker]

Pickleball is my newest hobby. Growing sport, healthy, and easy to find other players. DW and I play several times per week. She also plays once per week in a women-only group. DW gave me a choice of pickleball or ballroom dancing.

 

[CindyBlue]

Pickleball is my newest hobby. Growing sport, healthy, and easy to find other players. DW and I play several times per week. She also plays once per week in a women-only group. DW gave me a choice of pickleball or ballroom dancing.

My hubby and I took up pickleball last year, two years into retirement. Love it! (I have knee problems, though, because of it...sigh...got an unloader brace and I'm still playing!)

We haven't found it easy to find other players. We have a group of six that play together when we can, usually once a week. But we are trying to find other people to play with, too, and for some reason we are having a hard time. Working on it!

 

[Car-Guy]

Take more naps...

 

[Walt34]

Take more naps...

Yup, doing that.

Radio control model airplanes, especially this time of year. Lately I've taken to placing one or two cameras on them and making a video. I'm also active in the club as an instructor and looking after safety issues. Here's a video I did a couple of weeks ago with cameras looking forward and rearward.

Although less active with photography than I was I haven't given it up entirely. And we're making up for lost time with family gatherings. I'm fortunate in that we actually like each other's families, although I'll grant that a few on each side are "half a bubble off center" from time to time.

 

[street]

I have been very fortunate in life to be able to keep myself busy while I was working and during retirement. I have a lot of hobbies and just outdoor things that keeps me busier than I sometimes want to be.

Since retirement I took on many tasked that I wouldn't not have because of time didn't allow me to do so.

For example, last year I tore down a Maytag washing machine gas engine and rebuilt it. They are a rare find these days. The size of it was 7.5 inches high and 7.5 inches wide. What an adventure I had doing the research, finding a few parts and learning about being a mechanic. Lol I learned so much and it was so rewarding after I completed it and it runs like a charm.

I'm not saying you need to do something on that order. If one can find a new adventure and tackle the unknown can be a start to other new things to try.

I have done many things like that with no knowledge of the task but it was so fun.

That would be my advice to find something and try it. Good luck!

 

[Katsmeow]

1. I use DNA and genealogy to help people searching to identify unknown relatives. Many are adoptees looking for birth parents, but can also be someone with an unknown father, or their parent was adopted or they don't know the identity of their grandparent's parents, etc.

2. I play video games. Two primary games for me are Hearthstone (online card game) and World of Warcraft.

3. Once we move, DH and I plan to get back into playing duplicate bridge. We used to play a lot (several times a week). This is how I met DH over 30 years ago. We used to go to tournaments and played at local clubs frequently. Then, kids. The last time I played bridge in person was in 2002. Then, kids took over and we dropped it. I've played a little bit online (at BBO) but we want to get back into playing in person.

Interestingly, the growth in duplicate bridge nowadays are retirees taking up the game. Some are people, like us, who used to play and now have time once they retired. Others are people who are picking up the game for the first time.

4. I don't know if this is a "hobby" but I read for pleasure almost every day.

5. Posting here and other places online.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I walk my dogs daily, read, go online, get together with friends for games and other activities, see my kids weekly, talk to my long distance friends on the phone and go to my meetup group.

 

[OldShooter]

... What do you do?

When I retired I learned to fly, joined Civil Air Patrol, flew and managed air search & rescue for about 10 years. Ended up with a commercial/instrument rating and about 130 airports in my log book. Also did this fantastic trip: https://www.flyinn.co.nz/

I am no longer flying because I found that I wasn't flying enough of it to maintain proficiency. I guess that's a flaw because flying cannot be a completely random and casual hobby. But you could take the training and get a private pilot rating just for the braggin' rights, then stop flying if you found you weren't doing enough of it.

The Red Cross has a huge and well managed volunteer program. Lots of opportunities locally and to deploy to disasters like hurricanes, floods, etc. https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html#step1 The degree of commitment is quite controllable.

 

[COcheesehead]

We like training for an athletic challenge - usually something bicycling related, but it could also be a running event. One or two a year keeps you motivated to train.
We hike several times a week.
I work a few days a month at a local winery - a passion of mine for a long time.
We have another couple over a couple times a month and entertain.
We will take excursions an hour to three from home. Seeing petroglyphs sites, national parks or just browsing cool Colorado towns.
We like to thrift and flip on eBay.
Sprinkle in a movie or series, some books, time with the doggy, regular house maintenance/chores and our lives feel complete.

 

[silvor]

“With all the good stuff on TV now, there’s no reason to go out.”
- Archie Bunker

 

[Ronstar]

Hiking, biking, kayaking, woodworking, photography. I’ve spent time on hobbies almost daily and for the past 8-10.

 

[Freedom56]

Hobbies: Photography/Videography, Music Composition, Astronomy, Electronics

Physical Activities: Biking, Running, Swimming, Diving, Hiking, Climbing, Traveling

 

[mimitabby]

this is my first post. I am really enjoying my retirement because I have time to paint, learn violin, and currently working on 4 languages. there is do much to do, if you make it part of your daily routine.

 

[travelover]

Write angry letters to the editor of the local paper

Chase kids off my lawn

Post here

Post on Next Door about suspicious people I see through the blinds.

 

[Souschef]

Like Oldshooter, I was in Civil Air Patrol for 35 years.
I also flew missions for Angel Flight West and Pilots n' Paws.
Recently, I was involved in restoring a 1941 GE diesel switch engine.
Also a lot of travel. DW wanted to see the world, so I accommodated her. It was interesting to see places through her eyes. However, after 12 years, 41 countries, 51 trips and 17 cruises, we are done with long travels.[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Aafterfte2 years, 41 countries, 51 trips, 500 travel days, and [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]trips, 500 travel days, and 17 cruises, we are done with lengthy travels[/FONT]2 years, 41 countries, 51 trips, 500 travel days, and 17 cruises,[/FONT]

 

[W2R]

Take more naps...

That's mine, too. Well, and also video gaming.

 

[skyking1]

another former CAP pilot here.
I do metal and wood fabrication and design for fun. I was an avid cyclist and will be picking that back up soon.

 

[njhowie]

Go outside for a walk and enjoy your surroundings while getting some exercise.

Our township has lots of preserved land, either purchased or donated. They've cleared many hiking/biking trails with parking lots strategically placed. We'll go out for an hour or two and just hike the trails. At the height of the pandemic during the lock downs we'd go once or twice a week. A bit less often now as more things are opening up. Still, it's a great activity and since we're paying for it with our property taxes, it's nice to get some use out of it.

 

[Pellice]

I don't have the variety of hobbies that most people have here. I'm pretty devoted to birding. I guess I've put in my 10,000 hours now, and have become quite good - but I still want to get better, and I'm inspired by other birders who are much, much better than I am. There's always more to learn! And ways to express my knowledge and interest. I keep a diary, not so much a journal, but a regular diary, where I write about where I've been and what I've seen. I like to look back at former years, when I find myself asking, "what have I been doing all this time."

But, I admit, mine is a less well-rounded life than is ideal, though I love to cook and to read. My cultural life is isn't what it should be. (Who can go to performances when you are in bed at 9 pm, lol!) I think most here go for a range of hobbies rather than one absorbing one.

And, OP, it sounds as though you have plenty of hobbies. Maybe you just need to find ways to further express them? Play an instrument? Do some re-finishing for payment of some sort? Get involved in the organizational end of your sports?

*Njhowie, I agree that NJ townships try harder than most to preserve open space, perhaps because there is so little farmland left. The townships often tax themselves, and the land obtained isn't always used for more ballfields, thank goodness! Exploring the various township preserves, privately owned preserves (Nature Conservancy, Conservation Foundation), state hunting lands, semi-state organization lands (Delaware and Raritan Greenway) - haven't reached the end of it yet.

 

[Pellice]

Write angry letters to the editor of the local paper

Chase kids off my lawn

Post here

Post on Next Door about suspicious people I see through the blinds.

Travelover, bless you for both a good laugh and a well-timed shove! I just trashed before sending a well-crafted comment on a controversial subject on an online news site because I read your post! I am cutting and pasting it as a reminder to myself to move along!

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Guitar lessons/practice (maybe I'll get good enough to jam sometime), bicycling, running, Paddleboarding and kayaking, hiking, working out regularly (trying to reach bodyfat goal and time is not an excuse) Euchre (play with two groups), also stay active catching live music and attending various events. I still have paints out and stained glass tools and materials that I aspire to learn/relearn when I have the time. Early Retirement is quite demanding of my time... I don't even know how I'd fit in a real job. I also jump on various meet ups if the activity is interesting (and post events if there is something I want to do and none of my friends are available... Minor League Baseball, festivals/local events, etc)



I've yet to try this Pickleball!