Discussion
Hi all
My daughters are getting older and need/want me less so I’m starting to think about developing some new hobbies for myself that can stimulate and interest me a little
Only hobbies I’ve really had was playing sport (which I did a lot of, probably too much if you ask my ankles and knees) no real interest in the middle aged versions (cycling, golf, fishing etc) so starting to think about new options
Thoughts so far are photography, guitar, arduino, new language….
I’ve always hated the idea of being one of those people whose learning the guitar this week, bored of it, put it down and now learning french, bored of it, looking for something else
Plus there’s the cost of all of these
Just wondered if anybody else had been through this and stuck with a hobby that is a bit more unusual/niche?..
My daughters are getting older and need/want me less so I’m starting to think about developing some new hobbies for myself that can stimulate and interest me a little
Only hobbies I’ve really had was playing sport (which I did a lot of, probably too much if you ask my ankles and knees) no real interest in the middle aged versions (cycling, golf, fishing etc) so starting to think about new options
Thoughts so far are photography, guitar, arduino, new language….
I’ve always hated the idea of being one of those people whose learning the guitar this week, bored of it, put it down and now learning french, bored of it, looking for something else
Plus there’s the cost of all of these
Just wondered if anybody else had been through this and stuck with a hobby that is a bit more unusual/niche?..
Instrument is a good one. I'd pick something that genuinely interests you. I need to crack on a bit more with learning my banjo. I've absolutely nailed two tunes and can play them all day long quickly without error but really need to play a lot more and varied stuff. It's quite a complex instrument to play.
The thing I'd say (from experience) is that cheap instruments are generally quite poor. You don't need to spend a fortune, but you do need to research. Buy a second hand quality instrument. Then if its not for you, sell it at what you bought it for. Cheap instruments are more difficult to play and lose their tuning easier and it will frustrate you, and the second hand market is flooded with cheap s
t that no one wants.
My other thought is model making or model engineering. Again, there's a fairly broad range of subjects. Most people start off with ships or aircraft (airfix, tamiya). But if you have an interest in film or history then a small diorama or scene can be modelled up in a shoebox or similar. Likewise a small railway scene can be done over a long time with not much time dedication. 10mins here, an hour there, doesnt really matter how long it takes. Doesn't need a full loop and loads of space. Could do a junction or interchange.
The thing I'd say (from experience) is that cheap instruments are generally quite poor. You don't need to spend a fortune, but you do need to research. Buy a second hand quality instrument. Then if its not for you, sell it at what you bought it for. Cheap instruments are more difficult to play and lose their tuning easier and it will frustrate you, and the second hand market is flooded with cheap s
t that no one wants.My other thought is model making or model engineering. Again, there's a fairly broad range of subjects. Most people start off with ships or aircraft (airfix, tamiya). But if you have an interest in film or history then a small diorama or scene can be modelled up in a shoebox or similar. Likewise a small railway scene can be done over a long time with not much time dedication. 10mins here, an hour there, doesnt really matter how long it takes. Doesn't need a full loop and loads of space. Could do a junction or interchange.
For music & instruments go to the Music forum where there are various threads about guitar choice, for model making there's a very lively Scale Models Forum on PH. If that doesn't get you into modelling nothing will.
If you want to get back into sports - running, etc have a look in the Sports Forum or investigate your nearest Parkrun where all ages and levels turn up every Saturday and is very friendly. You'll soon make some friends there too.
If you want to get back into sports - running, etc have a look in the Sports Forum or investigate your nearest Parkrun where all ages and levels turn up every Saturday and is very friendly. You'll soon make some friends there too.
Edited by Skyedriver on Sunday 7th August 09:57
I have recently resurrected my interest in RC cars. Childish I know, but bear with me. I enjoy my full size cars, but i get frustrated with the crap weather here preventing me working on it, plus car jobs tend to be dirty and involved. So I wanted something I could do in short bursts of free time in the evening after my son has gone to bed, when it’s dark, when it’s freezing in winter etc. I’ve found building, rebuilding, repairing, modifying and running RC cars to be really relaxing. I can just go to my bench for an hour or 2 in the evening, and I completely forget about all the normal stresses and pressures. Helps me go off to sleep, gives me something to look forward to after the chores are done. I just mess about driving with the cars on a small bit of land I’ve got, but there is a club with a permanent outdoor track not far away that I might look into joining.
Languages - use DUOLINGO to get started. It’s free and offers a number of languages to learn. I’m currently learning Modern Arabic and Russian to add to my existing knowledge of English, French, and German. It’s fun and you learn without realising 
Music - gear is very cheap now so you can afford to “give it a go” rather than thinking “why did I spend £500 on this instrument that I’d not use?”. Lots of online learning options too with things like Yousician, FenderPlay, SimplyPiano etc or just find tutorials via YouTube. I don’t think there has been a better time to learn an instrument with the help available and the affordability of instruments.
Music - gear is very cheap now so you can afford to “give it a go” rather than thinking “why did I spend £500 on this instrument that I’d not use?”. Lots of online learning options too with things like Yousician, FenderPlay, SimplyPiano etc or just find tutorials via YouTube. I don’t think there has been a better time to learn an instrument with the help available and the affordability of instruments.
A bit leftfield, but when I was looking into a hobby that I could take up it was as you said, hard to find something you could get your teeth into. So rather than a hobby that would end up with stuff piled in the loft I tried to volunteer as a fundraiser.
Raising funds for the RNLI started with a bucket collection and now I am branch chair, surrounded by new friends, hopefully doing some good and the Lifeboats are the icing on the cake, getting to see them up close etc and now I also collect memorabilia and have got some very rare stuff trough pople in the RNLI. Best thing I have ever done,
Raising funds for the RNLI started with a bucket collection and now I am branch chair, surrounded by new friends, hopefully doing some good and the Lifeboats are the icing on the cake, getting to see them up close etc and now I also collect memorabilia and have got some very rare stuff trough pople in the RNLI. Best thing I have ever done,
shirt said:
Try motorcycling. Mine gets used for the odd commute but mainly going nowhere in particular or on a 200mile round trip for a coffee. You’ve got the tinkering /building aspect, the freedom to explore, and potentially grow that to the point you’re doing euro trips etc.
Also a great shout. If you don't want to invest too heavily in a full licence and all the power ranger gear, then you can get an older vespa or something even older with a 110cc Villiers or something to pootle about on a CBT. Theres something really relaxing about going to the next village for a coffee or a paper on a rickety old 2smoke at 25mph with not a care in the world.
Babber101 said:
I’ve always hated the idea of being one of those people
Nothing wrong with trying different things until you find something that sticks. Just don't be a mug and chuck thousands into it, buying all the best kit then realising you find that hobby boring once you've had a play with all the kit.As for ideas, well, in terms of sport, unless you're say, 70 (which doesn't seem to make sense with your post), you could probably pick up a non-middle aged sport eg tennis, squash, football, karate. But even at 70, you can still play those sports but more carefully. I'm 50; started playing tennis at 42 or similar and still enjoy playing.
Other ideas - how about a musical instrument that you fancy. I play the lyre (ancient musical instrument); just fancied trying it, picked it up during Lockdown 3 (Jan 2021) and still play it. Started with a cheap (£30) jobbie and found I enjoyed it so started buying more expensive ones (I have about 6). I will sell the cheaper ones.
Learning a new language is always a good one - you can then have an excuse to travel to the relevant country.
Computer games - I've always played them. I tend to play older ones these days - Diablo 2 and Battlefield 3. Typically 8 hours a week.
As this is PH, what about trackdays? You could either buy a cheap car (doesn't matter what - if you enjoy driving, chucking anything round a track is going to be fun) or do one of those experience days where you ruin other people's tyres.
Learning the guitar and computer programming are both good hobbies to take up if you can get into them.
Guitar is relaxing and very satisfying as you progress, toughen up your fingers and memorise the chords and then start to learn bits of songs, and you can pick up a guitar dead cheap initially. Another good thing is cheap guitars usually have large string actions, which require you to build up strength in your fingers more to hold the strings on the fretboard/neck firmly, so buying a cheap guitar over a more expensive one initially has its benefits. Lots of resources on YouTube now to help you too.
Programming is immensely satisfying when you try things out and they work. The amount of problem-solving in it can be very rewarding; I used to write computer games online for companies and would often go to bed trying to work out the best way to do something, then wake up with a solution and couldn't wait to get to the office to try it out. Apple have a great App for iPad called 'Swift playgrounds' which is like a game that teaches you some of the fundamentals of coding, then you can quite quickly move on to develop iPhone apps which can be very satisfying too, even if they're just simplistic.
It's a huge area and there are lots of routes you can take which have their own benefits eg Swift, Python, C, C++, Java, or even database programming in SQL. The other good things are that once you understand the fundamentals like variables, strings, looping, arrays and so on (and to a lesser extent memory, addresses and pointers), you can learn new languages more easily, and you also learn more about how a computer actually works.
Guitar is relaxing and very satisfying as you progress, toughen up your fingers and memorise the chords and then start to learn bits of songs, and you can pick up a guitar dead cheap initially. Another good thing is cheap guitars usually have large string actions, which require you to build up strength in your fingers more to hold the strings on the fretboard/neck firmly, so buying a cheap guitar over a more expensive one initially has its benefits. Lots of resources on YouTube now to help you too.
Programming is immensely satisfying when you try things out and they work. The amount of problem-solving in it can be very rewarding; I used to write computer games online for companies and would often go to bed trying to work out the best way to do something, then wake up with a solution and couldn't wait to get to the office to try it out. Apple have a great App for iPad called 'Swift playgrounds' which is like a game that teaches you some of the fundamentals of coding, then you can quite quickly move on to develop iPhone apps which can be very satisfying too, even if they're just simplistic.
It's a huge area and there are lots of routes you can take which have their own benefits eg Swift, Python, C, C++, Java, or even database programming in SQL. The other good things are that once you understand the fundamentals like variables, strings, looping, arrays and so on (and to a lesser extent memory, addresses and pointers), you can learn new languages more easily, and you also learn more about how a computer actually works.
Edited by robsa on Sunday 7th August 12:54
Babber101 said:
I’ve always hated the idea of being one of those people whose learning the guitar this week, bored of it, put it down and now learning french, bored of it, looking for something else
Plus there’s the cost of all of these
I'm a bit like that and it's something I try to stop myself from doing. At some level it's fine because you don't know if you'll enjoy it before you do it for a bit but I do try to avoid telling people I've started something for that reason.Plus there’s the cost of all of these
It's quite cheap to try some of those things though - I pay about £100 for 8 language lessons on italki (it depends a lot on wages in the country of the language), you can buy a second hand DSLR and lenses etc for £100 or less, a pi costs £100 including the case, or much less if you can use a pi zero or pico for your use case. If you decide to stick with it, you can always upgrade your kit without spending thousands straight away.
We have a scheme at work whereby you can pay into a learning fund and they'll match it - effectively giving you lessons in anything you like for half price.
I went for vocal coaching and it's bloody brilliant - real eye opener what you can achieve with proper technique.
Don't dismiss fitness stuff either - running / cycling clubs (for example) are fantastic social opportunities
I went for vocal coaching and it's bloody brilliant - real eye opener what you can achieve with proper technique.
Don't dismiss fitness stuff either - running / cycling clubs (for example) are fantastic social opportunities
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