So, my boyfriend just texted me and said that when we move into the new house, we should try to find some new hobbies. In other words, we should grow up and do something with our time besides play computer games and wait impatiently for the rest of the Dragonball DVDs to come out.
Um…
Well. I agree with him. I don’t get as much enjoyment from the computer as I used to, especially since my arm surgery didn’t work as well as I had hoped.
The trouble is, I don’t have the slightest clue what we should do.
We will be getting dogs after the move, probably in mid to late January (assuming we can find two available corgis in the New England area). So, we’ll have dogs to play with. But, I think he meant something besides that.
Anyway, I’m at a loss. My life is so bland that I can’t even come up with ideas that don’t involve a computer. I had pretty much assumed we’d be playing with g-scale trains in the spring but we have the whole winter to get through first.
Y’all are dating, right? So start on Page 1 of the Kama Sutra, and work your way through the whole thing. Then go back and repeat the things you liked.
-Join a local rec-level team sport. Your town or county probably has a website with all the info.
-Join a hiking/biking/outdoorsy group
-Geocache
-Take classes in something you’ve wanted to try (knitting, ballroom dancing, art, pottery, a foreign language or whatever)
-Become a Big Brother/Big Sister
Do you enjoy food? Cooking? Gardening? I got started down a huge local food kick after reading Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” And that kick led me to doing lots of canning, more cookery, extending my garden quite a bit, and even now raising chickens (for eggs, not meat).
Surprising how one interest leads to others.
At any rate, even if what I’m into isn’t your thing, reading non-fiction can really help spark hobbies in your own life. What topics interest you? Those might lead to action for you.
Yes, and until then you won’t have any of that pesky free time to worry about filling either.
Seriously though, how outdoorsy and athletic are you? I am guessing in Plattsburgh the cross-country ski season will be starting before you know it and lasting for many months. It can be done for quite a bit cheaper and with less risk of injury than alpine skiing.
Not only does one hobby lead to another I try and combine them as much as possible. Among some of my interests are history, photography, biking and aviation. A good day for me would be to fly over an area I’m researching and take aerial shots. I bought a folding bike for the plane but alas, it’s too big.
Hobbies are something natural to feed the soul and cannot be forced. They can be inclusive of a spouse or a measure of personal space or a mixture of both. Biking is a great hobby both can share but artisitic expression is more personal and does not invite competition. You should both be aware of each other’s personal hobby and not try to compete but rather complement with a different one.
Hobbies are also a venue for different groups of friends. I have a partnership with a plane and belong to an historical group which brings unique groups of friends with each hobby.
I thought I had updated my location. I’m not in Plattsburgh anymore. I moved back to MA.
There are some good suggestions here.
As for sports - There are some sporty type things we’d both be interested in doing. But, until I get the ok from my doctor and PT, I can’t do any of the things I want to do. Stupid arm. The last time he visited me in Plattsburgh, we went snowshoeing. We both really enjoyed it. I’d love to give that a try this winter. Actually, the neighborhood we’re moving to would probably be good for that, depending on how well they clear the streets. I’d also like to try cross country skiing. I never got a chance to do that in NY.
Kids - No. Maybe in a few years or so. Not now.
Classes - There are classes I’m interested in. Baking, pottery, etc…I need a car of my own before I can look into any of those. But, he has mentioned getting an old car and teaching me how to fix it up. I’d get a car and some useful knowledge out of it.
As for photography, I know he likes taking pictures. I don’t particularly care about taking them. I’d like to develop them. I like playing with chemicals. He has wanted a dark room for a long time and the attic would be perfect for one. My step-dad has a darkroom and has been wanting to clean out his basement. If he decides to get rid of his old photography stuff, maybe we could make a deal.
You guys have helped to get my mental juices flowing. That’s quite a feat, considering I’ve been up for over 24 hours now. I’m starting to get ideas.
You still want to use a darkroom and chemicals and stuff like that for photography? You could go digital, and not spend all that money on film, paper and chemicals. Of course, you’d want to get Photoshop (or something similar), and then be back to spending hours on your computer
Volunteerism can be fun. Interested in history, art or photography? Contact a local museum or living history site. Animals? Zoos & shelters. Great way to meet people with similar interests, too.
When my SO and I moved into a new state, we found a local liquor store that had a wine tasting club. Met once a month, and included not just tasting, but lectures/lessons on all kinds of things wine related. One of the best $20/year we spent.
How about brewing? Beer brewing or wine making are both interesting hobbies, and you get to drink the results. You can even pretend it’s chemistry.
Meetup.com. Go out and meet some people. Find some couple meetup groups, that’s what we did here when we first moved here. We found a couple couples we hang out with regularly already.
There is always hiking, dining, theater going and tons of other social events. If you drink there is usually a mixer social group going on every day of the week (like happy hour things).
Bake bread. There are zillions upon zillions of recipes, try one a week.
Put up a bird feeder, I know it sounds like an old-peoples pasttime, but it’s interesting, and the birds appreciate it. Cardinals love sunflower seeds that fall to the ground, and if you put out peanuts, you’ll attract blue jays. And squirrels.
You will at least have the dogs to take for walks! (I only have a cat. He likes to go out on his leash but his idea of a walk involves investigating a neighbor’s open garage.)
We’re not very social people and we both rarely drink. We’re actually struggling with the fact that our new home is definitely an entertaining sort of home but neither of us likes to entertain. It almost seems wasted.
We’ll definitely put up a bird feeder. Already have one in fact. We’re more interested in a bat house though. That’s gonna be cool. Since the house has been vacant for almost a year, it already had bats (outside only, luckily). We don’t want them roosting right over the front door like they had been but we’d have no problem giving them a home on the side of the roof.
Oh, and I already bake bread. A lot. Almost to the point where I’m gonna have to cut back. I love making bread. I love baking in general.
The state isn’t new to either of us. He’s lived here his whole life and I’ve been here for all but 2 years of my life. So, we know a lot of what’s available to do. We just don’t do a lot of it.
