board games, not only its nice way to get to social gatherings, but theres bunch of games with solo mode. So instead of spending tons of hours on your computer you can play some board game

Photography. I bought a second hand camera body, a couple of adapters and have been building up a roster of cheap old 70s-80s lenses. I can bring my camera whenever I go out, or go on more specific photography walks. It makes me look at things more closely, and therefore enjoy them more.

Whenever I’ve brought my camera to events and gatherings, the response has been very positive and people really enjoy the photos being “artistic” and “dream-like” (on account of the imperfect vintage lenses and my often poor manual focusing).

It’s been a fun journey of discovering what lenses I most enjoy using. For me it’s been either 40-45mm for walking around snapshots or 180-200mm for portraiture.

Maybe I’ll get some more modern gear some day, but then I’ll know exactly what I want, and have the skill to use it to the fullest.

Archery.

I garden poorly and do canning! I got into gardening because last year (technically two years ago) my mother for purim gave me a bag of things and one was some san marzano like seeds. So last year’s growing season I planted those and it worked! I can because we use to can growing up. I’ve been canning before the garden but they’re a natural fit.

Fursuiting is something I have very alowly been getting into, as in have had 2 chances to do it safely. Wouldn’t recommended unless interested/curious, furry or not, and you don’t have any health issues stopping you from doing it. Suit heads get hot, airflow can sometimes be an issue, and vision can be a big problem. It’s why I recommend fursuiting’s cousin cosplay more for more people.

I got my head/paws ( separate purchases ) because I was going with a college club I’m a part of to an anime con and have wanted to do this for a long time, as a furry. Got a tail at that con. Seller told me he just finished that tail that morning, so I got lucky. Still learning my limits in suit, especially with regards to vision.

Thought about going to my cities local pride parade with my suit, but didn’t feel like getting heat stroke. Also thought about going to the local comic convention in suit with my non-furry non-cosplayer dad, but I didn’t know it was happening the same weekend as the parade, so I missed my opportunity because I looked it up the Monday after, curious when it was gonna be.

I have also been in the process of trying to get back into writing. Specifically by rewriting/updating some old fanfiction. I know a few people who think fanfiction is nothing but slop, bit I absolutely disagree. It’s no different from fan art: another way to show appreciation for a show/book/franchise/whatever you like.

Kinda really got into fanfiction writing back in 11th/12th grade and started getting back into it more now because I think more people should appreciate and write it because it’s fun and it’s rewarding to read in general, fanfiction or otherwise.

This comment excludes the normal stuff ( gaming and watching shows ).

OpenStreetMap editing, photography for Panoramax

I’ll bite because I haven’t seen it yet!

Seems like everyone has taken up climbing which is awesome! Always love more people in the sport.

The one I haven’t seen is autocross. It’s a big empty space (usually a parking lot) with cones and your car one at a time. See how fast you can make it through the course. No, you don’t need some awesome car to participate! In fact, the more shitbox the better! We see old police interceptors, Miatas, Honda Fits, Chevy Volts, Porsche GT3’s, and everything in between.

I enjoy track driving as well but autocross is way more fun. You get out and learn the limits of your car and your skillset in a super safe and inviting atmosphere. No matter what you’ve brought everyone is excited when you get faster. Events are almost always run/work so half your time is spent chatting and setting cones back up when someone inevitably commits cone genocide.

Autocrosses always have instructors as well that are happy to ride along and give you pointers. If you’re comfortable, they’ll often even be willing to run a lap in your car to show you what it’s capable of. Usually going 80% of what they can do so it’s even more safe.

I got into autocross back when I was 17 and bought a $2000 Porsche 914 when they were highly undesirable and Porsche was almost bankrupt. I raced motorcycles after that for some years then got married and decided to give up the bikes. I wanted some more (safe) speed in my life about five years ago and found the local Porsche club running autocross in my area. No Porsche required! I took my Cadillac for the first few years and managed a third place finish overall my last year of driving it. Got the bug bad and a dream car crossed my path (Lotus Elise). It’s punishing and the electronics were horribly unreliable. I love it more than any other car I’ve owned.

Don’t be like me. Go buy a Miata like a sane person if you decide you want a dedicated autocross car! Parts are endless and cheap. Plus the car is near bulletproof to start with.

And that’s where we stand and how I got into then back into autocross!

Do you have any bodies of water near you? You could buy an inflatable paddleboard for ~$200 and just float in the middle of a lake reading, listening to music, or meditating. Or smoking weed. I’ve tried them all and they’re all great!

My free time is divided between audio books, video games, some TV, mostly YouTube, and learning bass guitar.

I try to skateboard once or twice a week in the summer, and snowboard at least twice a month in the winter.

I have a few motorcycles but those are more cheap transportation these days than a hobby.

The skating, snowboarding, and motorcycles are my “Screaming at the gods”. Dangerous activities that require total focus so everything else in life can be forgotten for a while.

Books and the bass are to keep my mind active and learn new things.

I play guitar and make music. I love it. It soothes my soul and I’m actually creating something. It’s very fulfilling.

My passion is horses and horseback riding, but it’s dangerous and expensive so I don’t recommend it to folks unless they have money and are into taking risks lol.

I love cross stitching and writing as well.

Reading. It’s always nice to stumble into a new book while browsing around the store. I generally go for science fiction or fantasy but really just go for what interests you.

Mechanical design and 3D printing. I’m mechanical engineer so it goes well with the hobby. I often end up making simple tools for things needed around the house. Making glow in the dark tooth brush stands that fit neatly in a sink nook, coat hangers, and replacement parts for knobs that break can help save you a little money (if you ignore the obvious cost of the 3D printer and filament).

Building Gundam model kits is also quite entertaining. I’m getting close to finishing all the models I want though so it might be a waning interest.

Archery is one of my latest interests. It can be rather cheap in the long run because every piece of equipment is reusable with proper care. It also overlaps neatly with my 3D printing hobby as I make quivers and vambraces to save a little more cash.

Lastly is video gaming. I go on just about any platform and even pirate but lately I’ve been buying DS/3DS cartridges because there’s something fun about the ritual of inserting a cartridge to original hardware to start a game. It makes it like you’re invested in the title you have unlike scrolling around a library list and launching it from there.

Cheap:
Felting is unexpectedly fun but probably not rest of your life fun.

Mid: Cooking, delving into other cultures dishes, learning to replicate a meal you eat out. If can be fun, but has an upfront learning curve. on the upside, you need to eat anyway.

Expensive:
RC drones/Planes are fun and get you outside.

Gardening (veges!), musical instruments (currently guitar), vidja games, cooking, bread baking, self-hosting, paddle boarding, wood working, and a life-long hobby of trying new hobbies.

There are thousands of hobbies out there. You never know which ones will click with you. Try as many of them as you can! If something looks interesting, go for it! Look for the least expensive entry point. If it requires equipment, rent, borrow, or go super cheap. Unless its safety equipment… Then don’t go cheap.

A fine example is guitar: don’t spend more than $100 on a used acoustic. If you stick with guitar long enough, you’ll eventually be able to make that shitty guitar sing while also understanding exactly how it’s holding you back so you’ll know what to look for when upgrading to something intermediate.

Also, “earning the right” to get better equipment is a badass feeling.

Apply that to any hobby that requires investment. If you invest a small amount of money and realize the hobby is not right for you, you didn’t lose much but gained a lot of insight about yourself.

Birding. Gets you outside and is healthy for mind and body. To get started, download the Merlin app (*or whoBIRD on FDroid) and walk outside. If you start getting into it, maybe buy or borrow some cheap binoculars. Meet up with a local Audubon group for a social outing with some generally chill people. And your observations can help gather data for science using eBird from the Cornell lab of ornithology.