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.

I had been sort of curious about weightlifting for most of my life. But was kind of intimidated by the prospect. Eventually I set my mind to it and it turns out that learning how to lift a barbell was easier than I imagined. Now I have home powerlifting gym and I’ve never felt better in my entire life. It’s challenging and oh so rewarding, I recommended it to everyone

I woodwork, set up servers, build guns, garden,play guitar, design furniture, and teach others to do each of those things.

I try to do anything that regular people have figured out on their own. If someone can do something without training, I can probably figure it out in a few weeks.

I don’t watch things, and I don’t use social media outside of Lemmy on occasion. Because of that, I seem to have far more time than the average person.

You could check out this thread for inspiration

retro video game collecting just a warning it’s expensive as shit be ready with your wallet

Birding. Gets you outside and is healthy for mind and body. To get started, download the Merlin app 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.

Gloryhole visiting. Not saying you have to participate, but maybe check off on a map all the holes you visit. Some shops may even have a stamp or something you could get as a souvenir. I’m sure it would be a memorable and rewarding endeavor, either way. Or, you know Pickleball is really picking up steam.

Mine includes breeding birds, making software and self hosting.

Modding ipods and game boys, Collecting vinyls, firefighting in my community, biking in the mountains, I’m trying to learn how to properly swim a croll this year, roller skating is fun, boxing, and running outdoors are my current options. Hope something inspires you!

After playing a few musical instruments (bass, guitar, keys) for a few decades but never having satisfying experiences playing with friends, I joined an adult band program at a nearby music school. It’s been great! Three performances so far this year, and it got me in a separate cover band cuz one of the guitarists was in the same program, and we did an open mic night a month or two ago that was short but awesome, and we have a real gig coming up in a week.

Before 2025 I never performed music for anyone other than maybe a few friends who were already visiting me and thus had no polite choice to not listen!

The music school I do this with is a local “School of Rock” franchise but some other music schools have similar programs. Highly recommend!

Crafting, mainly stained glass and sewing

Meshcore ,reticulum and old rarre movies

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.

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.