Help Me Find A Hobby

[mortalsatsuma]

As the title suggests, I am looking for a new hobby both in order to have fun and make some new friends seeing as my old ones all buggered off to uni. The basic details are I'm a 20 year old bloke living in south East England looking for something sociable, so nothing like reading, computer games etc, I already do that. Also, no physical sports etc. I do have an interest in Archery/kayaking but no interest in football or rugby though I did used to play the latter.

Basically if you guys and gals could maybe suggest a few ideas for hobbies, or even list your own, It would be a great help as at the moment I really want to get out there, socialise and have fun but just can't seem to find anything yet that interests me.

Apologies if the post sounds demanding but hopefully it might help others to find a new hobby too.

 

[farscythe]

if you have a games workshop or some such in your area warhammer might be worth looking into (dont play myself but love the models) there always seem to be people playing in there.
other than that im a lil stumped as physical sports are the only social type hobby i can think of really...

that said. the rc racing crowd seems quite close knit to but i honestly dont know how big that scene is in the uk (also..rc racing is not a cheap hobby...)

 

[Able Seacat]

A class of some sorts? Cookery, martial arts or horse riding?

 

[SinisterGehe]

Take up a instrument. I suggest brass or woodwind there are always junior/beginner/student orchestra's around and they have lot of interesting people.

Learning a instrument is also extremely rewarding and fun.

And don't give me excuse like "I am too old" "I am tone deaf" "I am rythm deaf" "I cant read music"
YOU CAN LEARN ALL THESE ABILITIES! I have seen 54 years old retiree learn to play violin because he was bored, no music experience and then after some time of practicing joined the junior orchestra in which I work as an conductors assistant. And seeing him amongst 10-12 years old kids and doing just fine was really inspiring.

"Instruments are too expensive" No they aren't. You can get beginners instrument online for little as 5-10 euros (Plastic recorders) and basic beginner instrumetns start from 100 euros. (A orchestra flute, at cheapest I have found. 110 for cheapest plywood violin... etc) Guitars and basses are really common and cheap. Of course these aren't amazing in their quality and workmanship, but they serve their purpose.

The orchestra I teach in (I am in many orchestras) only gives out cheap instruments for 1st year student then 2nd year students get better and 4th year students get access to the fancy instruments. (And we have adult and senior students amongst our ranks)

But starting a sport is easy and good for you so....

 

[Lynx]

Sing in a choir, join the scouts, take a Japanese class, do volunteer work, go bird watching, learn to salsa, join a book club, go to church, take a photo walk, go hiking? First decide what you're interested in doing, then find a way to do it!

 

[lechat]

Sing in a choir, join the scouts, take a Japanese class, do volunteer work, go bird watching, learn to salsa, join a book club, go to church, take a photo walk, go hiking? First decide what you're interested in doing, then find a way to do it!

yup salsa
buddy of mine joined specifically to pick up chicks (met his probably future wife) and it's a good way to meet ppl and a skill you can use to look cool!!

 

[Vicarious Reality]

WHERE IS THE DELETE BUTTON

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Fishing, hunting, skinning, metalworking, cooking.

The hot, smart, fun and well emancipated women your age don't do cooking anymore, they need someone to feed them.

Good lick luck.

 

[SirDeadly]

Try some fantasy sports, the AFL Dream Team is starting up soon and I find it very enjoyable to research the players to make the best team possible, it also takes up a lot of time when you're bored. Even though it is an Australian game anyone can play it if they have general fantasy sport knowledge. If you're interested in that let me know and I'll help you get started.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Take up a instrument. I suggest brass or woodwind there are always junior/beginner/student orchestra's around and they have lot of interesting people.

Learning a instrument is also extremely rewarding and fun.

I endorse this guy's idea. Instrument all the way. For many...reasons.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Fencing.
An elegant sport for a more civilised age.
You can't get more sociable than smacking someone upside the head with a broadsword.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Volunteering at an animal shelter. There's heaps to be learnt, it's very rewarding, and you can make some awesome friends. I work with endangered native animals in Perth, Australia, and it's THE best thing I did in 2012.

 

[AJvsRonin]

As somebody above mentioned fencing is good, I also recommend other martial arts, specifically Aikido. It's a very low contact martial art that that is fairly cerebral and focuses heavily on attaining a zen like level of perfection rather than any form of domination. You can defeat your opponent easily and still get it "wrong".

I did Karate for 5 years, Ju Jutsu for 8 years and Aikido for 4 years and dabbled in Kung Fu, of them all Aikido was the most challenging but also the least likely to end with an injury. If you're lucky like me your instructor will also be able to teach you Iaido or something similar, a hell of a lot of fun and a fairly cheap hobby that will introduce you to lots of new people. I even met (and had relationships with) a few girls out of it.

 

[saxxon.de]

What about Paintball/Gotcha? Many nice People in that. Although it is a bit expensive.

 

[Nickolai77]

Archery's quite good for socalising (at least in theory) because for most of the time you're stood behind the line waiting to shoot or waiting for other's to shoot- so it's kind of natural that you speak to other people there, hence doing archery's probably a good way of making friends. Plus, archery isn't that much of a physical sport.


When it comes to deciding what you want to do though, draw up a short-list of things that would interest you (say, pick 3 or 5 activities) and try each one in turn to see which one or ones you like and stick at them.

 

[Idlemessiah]

Take up a instrument. I suggest brass or woodwind there are always junior/beginner/student orchestra's around and they have lot of interesting people.

Learning a instrument is also extremely rewarding and fun.

I endorse this guy's idea. Instrument all the way. For many...reasons.

Heh, sure pick up an instrument. Just DON'T get a guitar. That's the mistake I made. Everyone and their dog plays guitar. Pick up something more interesting like, accordion, or trombone or cello.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Archery's quite good for socalising (at least in theory) because for most of the time you're stood behind the line waiting to shoot or waiting for other's to shoot- so it's kind of natural that you speak to other people there, hence doing archery's probably a good way of making friends. Plus, archery isn't that much of a physical sport.


When it comes to deciding what you want to do though, draw up a short-list of things that would interest you (say, pick 3 or 5 activities) and try each one in turn to see which one or ones you like and stick at them.

I have to second this. You can also go to the pub after shooting and socialise there, or meet people at competitions.

I take it that you aren't at University yourself? Even so, maybe see if a local Uni (if there is one) will let you join some of their societies. I know that you could become an associate member of my Students Union and join clubs that way even if you weren't a student, although it might be different elsewhere. You could join a few clubs/societies and meet people of a similar age that way.