What are your hobbies? Changed in retirement??

[albireo13]

Hi,
Let us share what our hobbies are. Also, did they change in retirement??

I will start. Not retired yet but, right now my hobbies include:
- Astronomy and telescope building and star gazing
- hiking
-kayaking
- building cedar strip kayak
- piano (has been on back burner)
- biking
- being in the woods

I can see possibly giving up piano. I had planned to get
back into it in retirement but my hands and fingers are getting stiff.
Will likely also give up on astronomy. Too much money
tied up in gear. That plus skies are rarely good and staying out
late at night is less attractive as I get older.

 

[ckelly78z]

We aren't FIREd yet, but have an empty nest, so we get out in our travel trailer more often now. We have a 10 acre farm with many animals, like to paddle board local lakes, and rivers, and hope to set up a new greenhouse this year to replace the one that got torn up by the wind.

In retirement, I plan on getting a small 14' fishing boat with a couple of pedestal seats, and an electric trolling motor (very cheap, and plentiful around our place). I am also looking at taking up golf again after 30 years of not playing. I will probably ramp up my day trading during the Winter months also.

I also built myself a 29" mountain bike with a 36V 500W electric motor that I hope to get out on more this year.

 

[Doribe]

My hobbies haven't changed, but I did pick up learning an instrument shortly before retirement.
1. gardening
2. travel / camping
3. ukulele
4. book clubs
5. biking
6. hiking
7. scuba

 

[Keim]

I call myself a serial hobbyist. That means I take an interest, or have a need to learn about something, well enough to become mildly proficient at it. I meet my goals, or finish the needed project, and move onto another interest. Time comes that I need to refresh my skills in the old interest, or have a new project in that old area. As such, my hobbies have included:
1. Furniture repair and refinishing-I've refinished several antique dressers, bed, desk, etc.
2. Beer brewing-I brew roughly ten gallons a year
3. Home electronic building and repair-I've built tube amps from kits, homemade speakers, and also restored a 1958 Grundig Konzertschranke 9068. Modified a 1910 crank phone to work on a POTS.
4. In process of updating a 1970 summer cabin-Added fireplace, minor carpentry, lots of painting.
5. BBQ-I SERIOUSLY need to get back to this one...
6. Done some of the restoration work on a 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo-VERY minor engine work, and installed new upholstery. Hired out body work and any major engine work...

 

[Katsmeow]

Some have changed. Current hobbies

1. The major new one is helping others to use DNA to solve unknown parentage questions (sometimes other relations). Part of this is directly helping people with their results. In some cases I am a member of a Google group that seeks to teach people how to do this. I also assist in some online classes that teach this. As part of this I have also gotten interested in traditional genealogy as well.

2. Online video games -- World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. This is not new.

3. Thinking about getting back into playing duplicate bridge. Was a life master back before I had kids and now that kids are grown DH and I are thinking of getting back into playing.

4. Reading - Have enjoyed since childhood

I call myself a serial hobbyist. That means I take an interest, or have a need to learn about something, well enough to become mildly proficient at it. I meet my goals, or finish the needed project, and move onto another interest. Time comes that I need to refresh my skills in the old interest, or have a new project in that old area.

Oh, that's a good term for it. I've done this as well.

 

[Yoheadden]

Hi,
Let us share what our hobbies are. Also, did they change in retirement??

I will start. Not retired yet but, right now my hobbies include:
- Astronomy and telescope building and star gazing
- hiking
-kayaking
- building cedar strip kayak
- piano (has been on back burner)
- biking
- being in the woods

I can see possibly giving up piano. I had planned to get
back into it in retirement but my hands and fingers are getting stiff.
Will likely also give up on astronomy. Too much money
tied up in gear. That plus skies are rarely good and staying out
late at night is less attractive as I get older.

Although you plan on giving it up, I thought it was pretty cool that you list not only astronomy & star gazing, but telescope building as well.
BTW, did you hear we discovered a new mini moon, albeit a temporary one.

Not FIREd yet, so does fitness & exercise count ? I also have stacks of books waiting to be read upon ER.

 

[FlaGator]

Cycling-rode a lot of miles before becoming a single parent, serial dater and future spouse. Wedding is soon and the bride-to-be now has something going on everyday, so it's time for me to get back on a bike once it warms up.

Knives-pocket knives lately, but generally anything that is functional and used regularly. If it cuts food, boxes or string, I'm in. It's very satisfying to sharpen a dull kitchen or fillet knife to a level most people never see. Keeps the lady and my friends happy. It's one of the few things I do well that takes some mechanical knowledge and physical coordination

 

[rk911]

no change since retiring.

 

[Freedom56]

Hobbies are about the same as before but I'm devoting more time to them:

1- Photography/Videography including editing and scoring sound tracks
2- Music - Guitar, bass, piano, synthesizers and recording/jamming
3- Astronomy (have two telescopes)
4- DYI home improvements (new projects every year)
5- Travel
6- Fitness (running, hiking, biking, swimming, free weights)
7- Reading

We found that one of the best hobbies in retirement is photography/videography. It keeps us both mentally and physically active.

 

[Scuba]

My hobbies have changed a bit. Pre-ER hobbies that remain the same are:
- Scuba
- Travel
- Cooking and entertaining
- Mentoring local university students

New hobbies are:
- Much more into exercise and fitness. Traded walking for swimming, biking, hiking, going to the gym, and tennis.
- Reading, which I enjoyed in childhood but never had time for while working except when on vacation.

Hobbies given up are:
- Stand-up paddling - sold my SUP when we left the beach for the desert.
- Wine tasting - still enjoy wine but have reduced consumption considerably to lose weight so rarely do wine dinners or tasting trips/festivals any more.

 

[audreyh1]

I can see possibly giving up piano. I had planned to get
back into it in retirement but my hands and fingers are getting stiff.

I recently took up playing piano again after almost 40 years of not playing at all. One of the reasons was precisely to try to keep my fingers and hands in better shape. I would suggest that if your hands and fingers are getting stiff, piano playing is precisely what might help them improve, even if it’s nothing more than playing scales and warm-up exercises daily.

Been a little over a year now, but I have to say that resuming piano playing has been a great joy to me. It also came back super fast - way faster than I could have imagined.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

With a screen name of Alberio I figured you had to be an astronomer, but only other astro-geeks like me would ever get that. Like you, as I age I find loading and unloading the big scope and staying outside until 2:00AM in sub-freezing weather to take its toll.

Since ER I’ve upped my home brewing game by upgrading equipment and of course brewing a lot more since time and schedule are my own. I find home brewing to have a lot of parallels to amateur astronomy: there’s science, history, and equipment that’s often cobbled together in the garage. The beer club meetings are a hell of a lot more fun, though.

I’m also getting serious about researching my genealogy. The crap you sometimes find on the internet can be a bit frustrating though. Trust, but verify.

 

[Ronstar]

My hobbies haven't changed much in retirement - except that I now spend a lot more time at them.

Woodworking, photography, hiking, biking, kayaking, exploring the globe.

I used to brew beer pre-retirement, but I quit brewing after I retired. I hardly drink any beer now so I don't need to brew beer for my own consumption.

 

[Dtail]

Big change for me is now playing Pickleball 5-6 days a week.
Love to read and travel and sometimes just do nothing.

 

[neihn]

No change: photography, video/photo editing, drone

Change : studio recording, audiophile, little it of cooking, road trips, travel

 

[H2ODude]

Still do woodworking but recently added an HVLP sprayer for acrylic lacquer. Doesn't really have to do with retirement but have dropped photography for most part. Really enjoyed it when using film, then first 5 or so years of digital. Mainly confined then to grandkids and travel. Just lost interest in the digital, have a Nikon 750 sitting around have hardly used. Got tired of lugging SLR around, got a Panasonic Lumix that is great, but even THAT isn't as convenient as the smartphone. Now the technology of Lightroom that I rarely use gets frustrating after a trip because I haven't used it for several months. Oh well.

Upped the game of fitness, biking, hiking, and gym. Added a saltwater aquarium last year (probably needs to be under the blow the dough thread!) and it can be pretty frustrating. It's where fish go to die. I really like the corals though.

After 9 years of retirement there is nothing left to do project wise on the house. For a lot of reasons will likely retire here in place. One thing I could do and am contemplating is gutting the MIL addition for a first floor master suite. Since it would require rerouting plumbing and to be done right changing window placement, think I may pass on that.

Always looking for stuff to do. Daytime TV verboten except on weekends, but will admit to spending too much time on the laptop. Can I call that a hobby??

 

[mystang52]

My existing hobbies didn't change. I don't know of it's a "hobby" but I did add pickleball to my activities. It was tough to play Bridge while working since in my area most games are in the daytime; now of course I have plenty of time to pursue that particular passion. I now play 2-3 times a week.
I've also sort-of added bird watching. I enjoy doing it once in a while.

 

[dixonge]

Another serial hobbyist here.

Past hobbies:

- wine-making (hundreds of bottles)
- storm-chasing (10+ tornadoes, thousands of miles)
- mountain-bike cycling

Current hobbies:

- hiking
- photography
- birding
- genealogy
- piano
- language-learning
- web-site building

 

[Pellice]

No change. Birding, gardening, and cooking. Birding kept me sane during my w*rking years, and now I am so glad I have it.

 

[Music Lover]

I was in 2 regularly gigging bands when I retired and 1 "jam" band that got together every now and then. 4 years into retirement I'm still in 2 gigging bands although 1 of them is slowly falling apart. I expected to join more bands but it hasn't happened.

The only real change is that we've become 2/3 month snowbirds.

 

[DrRoy]

Primarily travel and photography (usually together). The only change was to do more of both.

 

[audreyh1]

Since I’ve been retired for 20 years I’ve definitely had gradual hobby changes over the years.

I did experience a big change in hobbies the year after retiring. Several things I enjoyed doing while working went by the wayside - mostly because I didn’t need the stress release.

I also experimented quite a bit that first year.

By the second year, things had settled down considerably, and most of those hobbies lasted 10 years or more.

 

[aja8888]

I'm one of those fortunate (or unfortunate) souls that can build or fix mostly anything. After a few years of retirement, the "word" has gotten around and I am routinely called upon by friends and family in time of their "need".

Just yesterday, I trouble shot an electrical problem at a friend's house and ended up replacing a bad GFCI breaker. Last week, I replaced a cold water supply valve on a neighbor's 10 year old fridge (in the door water and ice supply). And on and on...

My real hobby is old car restorations and those projects are getting harder to do because of physical limitations creeping into my abilities. Right now, I have no projects in this area, although I am always keeping my ear to the ground for a new challenge.

I still walk at least 10,000 steps per day,but that's not a hobby but a requirement to stay healthy.

 

[Midpack]

My main hobbies/pastimes: Sailing (much less racing), Golf, Cooking/Foodie, Fitness (resistance, walking, biking, hiking, rowing)

Second tier: Investing/financial planning, Kayaking, Causes (conservation, environment, animal rights), Theatre & Concert season tickets, Technology, Any excuse to be outdoors

Former hobbies: Woodworking (loved it, but stopped due to diminished eyesight and no room for it in new house), Videography, Century rides & marathon/running

Like some others here, I’ve always enjoyed many pastimes, not focused on one or two.

 

[T-Minus]

My hobbies have changed slightly since retiring. I looked at everything I was doing, and eliminated a few (photography, high-end audio - my hearing was getting worse) and added some (hiking, mountain biking, weight training). The hobbies that remain are travel, star gazing and cooking.