Skip Navigation
Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
stochasticity @lemmy.world

What are some good hobbies/interests for someone in their mid thirties to pick up?

When someone asked me recently what I'm into I didn't have answers. Existential crisis aside, what are some good hobbies/interests for someone in their mid thirties to pick up?

103 comments

  • I'm also a mid-30s dude and I can honestly say cooking and baking has probably been the best skill I have. I bake stuff for my coworkers every now and then and it's always a good time. And cooking a nice meal from scratch for a girl always impresses.

  • Probably some of these mentioned already:

    • Cooking more instead of buying pre-made
    • Learning some basic home maintenance like plumbing, keeping appliances cleaned, simple electrical stuff, etc
    • Growing some small veggies
    • Prepping for disaster - different time frames and scenarios like: fire, no power, poor air quality, floods, data loss, having to leave in a hurry
    • Simple exercise and stretching routine

  • Pick up an instrument. Start writing. Gardening. I'm just naming what I like to do. My s.o. does leather work and gardening.

    Music is my most fulfilling thing. Bit I love writing so much. Gardening just keeps me busy and I work out while I do it usually. The gardening I just started in my 30s.

    I'm sort of still figuring out how to be a real person, yknow.

  • Motorcycling. You’re old enough to not do the stupid shit that gets young riders killed.

    Take the MSF’s beginner course (or your country’s equivalent), spend more on your helmet, jacket and gloves than you do your first bike, and have fun. Spend as much on your helmet as you think your brain is worth.

    Remember, you’ll drop your bike, so start with a cheap used one. After a year (or less) with it you’ll have a better idea of what kind of riding you like, and that will inform your choice of second bike.

    You’ll drop that one too, by the way. Don’t sweat it. Maybe buy spare brake and clutch levers.

    Find a local moto community. Maybe get an intro to the Denizens of Doom. Heck, even a Facebook group can do the trick. You’ll meet new people and make new friends, while learning from people who’ve been riding for decades.

    If you survive your first year (you will), you’ll also have become a far better car driver. Riding without a safety cage around you does wonders for situational awareness and risk awareness.

    Last note: the car drivers are trying to kill you. They may not realize this, but you should. You’re invisible to them. Ride with a healthy dose of paranoia. But smile. You’re having fun.

  • Cooking, Painting, Woodworking, learn an instrument, read more, write more.

    Play a lifetime sport like golf or disc golf or softball.

    Hike and learn more about nature.Fish, Forage, Hunt or just take up shooting in general.

    Craft stuff. Knit, Crochet, Sew.

    Build a computer or a virtual pinball machine and play all the amazing games made over the last 30 something years.

    Run, Bike, Skate, Row, Swim, move!

  • Do you like beer? Is is legal to home brew in your country? If both are yes, brew beer.

    It's easy, it's delicious, it gets cheap quickly especially compared to most microbreweries, you'll always have a brew to share with friends without having to run to the store.

    Always brew with friends. You can drink beer and have fun on brew days. It's much easier when there are 2-3 people around to lift stuff. You can delegate responsibilities. Share the cost of ingredients and the resulting beer. You can even "associate" and buy the hardware together. Trust me, you will never run out of volunteers.

    Go all grain from the start instead of going extract. Start with something simple with as few ingredients as possible like a stout or a pale ale to get the feel for it. Then brew more complicated but tried and true recipes. Then you can start and go crazy with your own recipes.

    And if anything goes off plan, RDWHAHB. Relax, don't worry, have a home brew. It's hard to make a truly exceptional beer, but if you follow most basic principles it's even harder to fuck up so badly that you brew something truly undrinkable.

  • I subconsciously separate hobbies into two categories, inside the comfort zone and outside the comfort zone. Do you want to fill your hours doing something you enjoy with people you like (or alone is good, too)? Or do you want to expand your horizons, meet new people (or learn to be content alone), and try something new?

    That's a critical first question to answer, because any hobby can expand to fill the available time and budget.

    And those are the next two questions, both important. Do you have long stretches of continuous time and an unlimited budget? Traveling is a great hobby that will also help you find new hobbies.

    Do you have zero budget and unpredictable pockets of time? Crafting can be fun and an inexpensive creative outlet.

    Think about what you like, who you like to be around, and when it makes sense to be doing it. Do you want to play Warhammer in a comic book shop with people who are way into it? Would you enjoy playing golf every weekend at the local club? Hobbies are a great way to challenge yourself and meet new people, or it's a great way to get all introspective and grow as a person in your spare time.

  • Custom keyboards, hifi, vinyl, lightweight mice if you like collecting stuff and optimising setups and whatnot. I took up stenography lately too, some people can type upwards of 300 wpm with it.

  • I took up target shooting about a year ago, and have been in love with it ever since. I shoot 9mm open sight semi auto handgun and cowboy action shooting in .44-40 on an old Winchester model 94. It's a fantastic community and I've met some really great people through it.

    • How practical is it to do this without owning your own guns?

      • I can't speak for other countries, but in Australia where I live, I'd say not very. Hiring range guns plus ammo is easily $150+ each session, so owning my own firearms is the only practical way to afford the hobby. I also own a 12 gauge shotgun and a .223 Taipan pump action 'AR' style rifle to use on the property I own, which I'll also occasionally bring to the range with me.

        Competitively, I shoot a CZ Shadow 9mm, and while the upfront cost was high, the amount saved over time makes up for it, plus I can better compete knowing I'm more familiar with my own gun. Range guns are also generally quite battered (the Glock 19 I did my training on would jam literally every other round and was miserable to use.) There's also personal adjustments to sights and grip preferences that aren't possible with hired range guns. 9mm ammo costs roughly $25-$30 per box of 50, while the .44-40 is substantially more expensive at $75 per box for Magtech (hard to find the genuine Winchester brand .44 ammo here.)

        If you're interested in picking up the sport, I'd go into a range and try out a few different guns to get a feel for it, then go through the process of acquiring your own, whether that be a safety course and training like here in Australia, or the much simpler process in the US (although I'd still recommend training, as it helps you become familiar with and respect your weapon.)

        I hope that helped, even if my experience as an Aussie is likely to be far different from most of the world's.

  • Really anything can be a hobby, but I’ll be a shill for my own hobbies real fast: playing guitar, hiking, writing, reptiles/snakes, tea, and tabletop games.

  • I might as well toss out Amateur Radio Operator (aka Ham Radio). You can be as technical or non technical as you'd like. There is most likely a radio club near where you live so you can be social and learn about the hobby from others.

    You can talk to people in town, across the country or around the world. You can work from your home or you can setup at a local park. There are contests where you try and make as many contacts as possible in a day, or sit around and chat about whatever you enjoy.

    There are radio systems you connect to the internet if you dont have a desire to setup big antenna. If you don't like talking there are ways to hook up a computer and chat with people that way.

    If you like to get outdoors there are clubs where you work from local parks, islands, mountains, boats and lighthouses and with a whole point system if you're competitive. With a simple handheld radio you can talk to people hundreds of miles away by bouncing your signal off of satellites.

    Then there is the whole diy approach where you can build radios and antennas all from scratch or from kits of you're into the tech side. If you want to get into RC and drones you get a whole set of radio frequency that allows you more distance and functionally in that hobby if you use your Amateur Radio license along with it.

    Seriously they're is a ton of stuff to try in the hobby.

  • anything active. it'll help keep your body and mind healthy for the long run

103 comments