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What are some free interests/things/hobbies you can do in the city?

I live alone and I’m just wasting away my time here. It’s actually making me very depressed to be honest. I do live in the city which makes think there ought to be at least something to do out here. Though I can’t really afford to spent money on it every day.

So unless it’s like a one time purchase or if the costs are actually that low. What do you think I should do?

CallMeM ,
@CallMeM@lemmy.ml avatar

chess or other board games are inexpensive and you can learn a lot and make friends along the way.

Fotography can be expensive, but if you do it just as a hobby, you could take your phone or get a cheap camera and try to get up early on weekends and take some photos of the city.

reading books, especially about animals (specifically birds) could be an option too.

DonBarzini OP ,

So just like take a chess board to a park or something?

Farvana ,

If you see other players. Probably less awkward to try to find a club.

adhocfungus ,

I agree on board games.

See if there are Board Game shops in your city. If they have tables for Magic the Gathering you can check their calendar and usually find open board gaming nights. In my experience people usually bring a bunch of their own games and are open to new players. Some of the people in our group don’t own any games; the rest of us are always bringing more than we can possibly play anyway.

chooglers ,

Frisbee golf, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, gardening, cooking, painting, geocaching, hiking, fishing are all pretty cheap to get into.

macattack ,

I want to second cycling. It’s a good way to explore your city for free as well as getting shape. There are often cycling groups that you can join as well if you want to socialize on top of it

late_night ,
@late_night@sopuli.xyz avatar

My first thought is going for walks around where you live. If there are green spaces along the way that’s even better. You can turn it into kind of a workout where you do longer and longer walks, or the same length but a little faster each time.

It’s a good way to clear your mind, it also never hurts to be active.

Nemo ,

Mix it up by walking to local landmarks and public art.

otter ,

Some more variants if a workout isn’t your thing

  • take photos on your phone when you see something nice
  • contribute to OpenStreetMap by doing quests on StreetComplete (you answer questions about things you walk past)
  • Geocaching, if you live somewhere with things to find
swab148 ,
@swab148@startrek.website avatar

Pokémon Go is also an option!

Cashmere ,

I didn’t know the StreetComplete app. It’s so cool ! Thanks !

sbv ,

Pick up sports, or adult leagues. It can be hit or miss, but I made some good friends playing in rec soccer.

Sterile_Technique ,
@Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world avatar

Try to identify your local ethnic/cultural organizations, and follow their events schedules.

There are pretty large Indian and Vietnamese populations where I live, and they each have an association to share their cultural highlights with the larger pop. The Holi and Festival of Lights celebrations (Indian) and Lunar New Year (Vietnamese) were all an absolute blast and had amazing food.

Good way to get intel on your local organizations is to hit up the respective restaurants/grocery stores from whichever cultures are well represented in your area - look for pamphlets and ask the staff.

As a pasty white dude who’s only recently started tuning in to events like that, everything feels very new and unique - highly recommend!

Postmortal_Pop ,

This! My area has a sizable Hispanic population and I wasn’t aware of how many street festivals they have until I moved here. It’s pretty great. Had the best churro ever the other day, and got an amazing poncho for day off the dead.

Melatonin ,

Groups and clubs. They exist, you need to find them. The public library is a good place to start looking.

Hammocks4All ,

Top tips: consider cooperative living and take group classes for one of your hobbies

tunetardis ,

The city where I live has a musical instrument lending library. I don’t know how common these are? Ours started when a cherished local musician passed away and his eclectic collection became the library. Over the years, more people have donated instruments and there is an annual festival to raise funds for their upkeep. (As a local musician, I’m actually playing at said festival today.)

Anyway, it works just like a regular library. You get your library card and check out an instrument and it doesn’t cost you a penny. And there are all kinds of videos online these days to give you pointers on how to play. I guess if you get really serious, you’ll probably want some one-on-one tutoring, but if you’re just doing it for kicks and don’t have any plans to join a band or whatever, you can just have some fun and see how far you can get on your own?

SecretPancake , (edited )

I like going for a walk around the city or to the Rhine river and watch the ships go by.

If you’re the social kind, go to the park and ask someone who plays frisbee or other activity to join in.

Running is a great sport that’s relatively cheap and also helps against depression.

Geocaching is fun alone and with other people, but not in the city (in my opinion).

Check your local newspaper and see what events are going on. Sometimes events are cheap or even free.

Achyu ,

Maybe getting a gym membership, if it’s cheap and you’re interested?
I’ve not gotten one, but have heard of friends n others who found decent friends in the gym.

And the exercise may help with the general mood too.

lemmyreader ,
  • The city where I live in has several few Little libraries that people have in their garden or hanging at the wall of their home. And I know that other cities have them as well. Today I went biking and brought back two books and I was pretty sure that I did not want to take any because I have more than enough to read, but I noticed an interesting book and took it home. This is something you can do yourself. Build a small wooden box, and have other people put or take books. You don’t have to do this yourself, you could ask friends, family and co-workers to help you build it or ask them to provide such. Then you could take a little bit care of it and promote the idea.
  • What I like about bigger cities are public parks. I like to go to parks and just sit, listen to birds, enjoy the green and in Springtime, Summer and Autumn enjoy the colors.
  • Public libraries here have magazines and books to read for any visitors. I’ve learned about open source software thanks to the Internet but also a little bit thanks to public libraries. I find that reading paper books or magazine can also be a nice break from staring at a screen of a device.
Today ,

I like to go to art craft market sales. Not the school gym type, the weird stuff on the sidewalk type. There’s usually interesting stuff and people to see, and sometimes food.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

We have a simply gorgeous greenhouse that is free to the public every day in the middle of a wonderful park.

Our city library cards also give you free access to all the city art galleries, which is a wonderful thing to do. You should check out your city library to see what they offer.

Not_mikey , (edited )

Id recommend disc golfing. You can start if with just a mid range disc and that’ll cost ~$15 then your good to go. Most major cities will have at least one course that’s free at a park so you don’t need to spend more after that. It has a pretty low skill floor so you can pick it up pretty easily but a very high ceiling so there is a lot to learn and grow which can help with depression. Also gets you walking outside in nature which can help with depression too. It can be as social as you want it to be, you can invite friends, or just go solo, and even if your solo you can strike up conversation with the people in front of you and sometimes they’ll even let you throw with them.

Hukka ,

skateboarding

a decent starter one will run you $100 at the most, pads can be found for cheap; all you need is a flat surface and a non-rainy day. you will fall a lot but enter into a worldwide community that has its own very real culture. keeps you fit, gets you outside, lets you meet people. best investment in my life

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