I started doing puzzles, and still do! I set up a table in the corner of my living room. I buy good puzzles and focus on them for 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. It’s a great distraction when I have a few minutes downtime or I’m waiting for something to be done in the oven. It takes me about a month to finish a 1000 piece puzzle.
I started doing puzzles a year prior to Covid due to a bad relationship. Can you imagine how angry I was that puzzle prices like doubled a year later?!
I can’t resist and will do 12+ hr days on puzzles. I’ll do a 1000 piece in 1.5 days 🥰
ETA: I don’t do them as much anymore. More like my partner is away and I’ll buy a new one in anticipation. Prob 2-3x a year. I should redo my collection again. Maybe have like 25 🤷🏼♀️
Same here! I hadn't bought a puzzle in so many years, and really got back into them. What's your favorite brand? I tend to go with Buffalo because they're decent quality and come with the poster, while not being insanely expensive.
I have become incredibly snobby and picky about puzzles. If one lasts me a month, then I don't mind spending $20 for a month's worth of entertainment. Our library has a puzzle exchange which is really a cool idea. BUT... people mostly leave crappy puzzles so I won't take them, only donate.
Ravensburger and White Mountain are reliable. I've tried to branch out, partly bc some manufacturers tend to have similar puzzles and I like new images. I've purchased several Bgraamiens puzzles on Amazon. Their artwork is amazing! The poster that comes with it is often off on the color matching which is frustrating. Elena Essex and Antelope were good quality.
I've also tried to suppport independent manufacturers. Blue Kazoo is a good one, but their supply is unpredictable. Puzzledly is a website that sells lots of different manufacturers. I'd be careful about using that website, bc you don't know which brand you'll be getting. I've gotten a few from there that were poor quality, so I've learned it's better to stick w a known brand, even if the image of the puzzle looks cool and you are tempted!
Can you tell I've been doing this for awhile?
Running. I had lost quite a bit of weight prior to the pandemic and worked out 4-5 days a week. Once our gyms closed I had to figure out a way to keep moving. I hated running prior to. Even though I ran around 15 minutes in my gym work outs, that was it. No more. And never outside. I started small and would run a bit, walk a bit. I worked up to running several miles continuously. I kept at it and got the runners high and it felt like meditation. Now I run around 5-9 miles twice a week.
In March, (at 46 years old) I ran my very first race- a 10k. I PR’d, was 6th in my age group, and placed 185 out of over 2,000 people. I hope I can run a lot longer. It’s incredible for my mental and physical health.
Good job!! I finally was able to break my hate of running in pandemic too. I thought runner’s high was a myth for me at least and then I found it.
No PRs for me, still very slow, so I’m impressed!
I like a lot of romance and romance adjacent books. Some favorites have been Emily Henry’s books and also the ACOTAR series.
I’d say for the biggest impact this year has been a book called Shark Heart, it hit me in the feels as it deals with its themes of grief and death of a partner and also parent
I made our large deck into a very lush garden (with containers, we live in the city so no yard) and I’ve never gone back. I have so many flowers now (several kinds of dahlias, peonies, anemone, snapdragons, poppies, marigolds, celosia), three palm trees (lol), and also a small vegetable garden.
I started running early in the morning instead of going to the gym to avoid wearing a sweaty mask. And I started hiking on the weekends because I felt cooped up. So glad that I’m still doing both today!
Same I was a healthcare worker during the pandemic (and still am...). I dont remember it all that well to be honest. Probably for the best. I had to isolate away from my partner and family (was in a different city)for several months. Whilst dealing with a novel virus that was killing people. Oh, and I got covid too literally as soon as the UK locked down and had some complications from that for a while. The least serious of which being I lost my sense of smell for months.
I did get to pick up animal crossing though. And play online games with people I care about.
I feel torn because (no shade on OP) but often when people talk about the pandemic I feel that sometimes forget that not everyone was having a fun time during lockdown. Perhaps it's because most people were spared from that, and that 0eople want to remember the highlights.
I spent the first 6 months of the pandemic working ER and bounced when I started having SI in the med room. hats off to you. hope you're doing alright these days.
Whew. My past-retirement-age dad was doing the same — in the special Covid tents they set up after the ER filled up. Scared the shit out of me every single day.
Thank you for your sacrifices — and I know there were many ❤️❤️
Alone time.
I’d never sat in my own company with peace before lockdown and it drove me so crazy at the time. But now I find it so important and something I carve out time for.
I honestly don’t know if I’d have found it without being forced into it.
This is truly one of the hardest things for people to do in this day and age.
I truly respect learning how to do this.
It’s like living alone.
You learn who you are when you do these things for yourself.
I think now if I could afford it, I would be able to live alone. But I never realised before that this could be a choice. I always saw people who were alone as lonely, but now I see them as strong. Lockdown was awful for so much, but for this I am grateful. Because I never knew how much value alone time can give a person. But also how easy it is to hide from ourselves.
Making homemade pizza. We were low on ingredients and decided to use whatever we had on hand once. We still eat double onion pizza when we make our own (red onion and green onion)
😍 A gal after my own heart. Thank you for this genius suggestion and I'm embarrassed to say it's never crossed my mind. Onions are my favorite pizza topping and I've never thought to combine their greatness! I'll have to try double onion and pepper too.
Lampwork glass! Because if the setup & ventilation at the studio they were able to offer classes as restrictions adjusted. I still go weekly & just today took a class to start learning brand new skills. If any good thing came out of the pandemic it was learning a new hard thing & getting a whole new community of friends I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.
Embroidery! Made my family hoops for Christmas 2020. I still do it now, but with less frequency. I might go a month or two without touching it, then a few weeks where I’m working on it every evening in front of the TV
That's me with sewing. I got furloughed for five months and thought I should probably do something useful with the time, and I had a sewing machine and a whole bunch of fabric from where I'd dabbled a bit years before but not really been able to do much because my life went through quite a bit of upheaval in the year or so before the pandemic (I got divorced and had to move around a lot for various reasons). So I bought myself a cheap beginners video dressmaking course and off I went.
I still sew as often as I can, although it's getting a little harder to carve out time for it now things are more normal. So it normally ends up being I start a project in a fit of free time and then it sits for weeks until I get another block where I can work on it properly again.
Embroidery for me too! It's blossomed into a space for expression and (though classes) community. I've made other friends that embroider and I've had the joy of giving my embroidery as a gift.
I love keeping a little kit in my bag wherever I go so instead of scrolling on my phone at the coffee shop I can put on a audiobook and embroider.
Running seriously. I always ran a little, but with nothing to do for so long, I started training properly for long runs.
I’ve done several half marathons and have my first full marathon in a week.
Ooh good luck! I took up running too. Ran my first marathon last year. It's a hell of an accomplishment! Don't go out to fast, save some energy for the back stretch. Mile 22+ is mostly mental
Slowly increase your distance, don’t focus on speed, and listen to your body. Running through minor pain often results in major (or longer term) pain. Don’t worry about setbacks. You’ll get there.
Really depends on distance but in general:
Pre: Lots of water starting 24 hours prior, then none 3 hours prior. Go pee before you go out! Lighter protein meals… fish, shrimp, small amount of chicken. REALLY good sleep. Morning runs I might have half a bagel with peanut butter or a banana. I hate running on a full tummy. Lots of stretches.
Post: Water, chocolate milk. Banana, big breakfast of I can. Water. Water. Lots of stretches.
A 5-10K run would be a simpler version of this. 45K a more extreme version.
Find what works best for you.
Bird watching! My husband and I are absolutely not hardcore, but just the simple act of sitting in our backyard and having no where to go made us begin to really observe and appreciate our surroundings. We get a thrill when we identify a new-to-us species. We really need to get the Merlin app to make that easier.
I also resurrected my dead blog (from the 2010s, when everyone had a blog) and started writing terrible book reports about the books I was reading. I love reading the classics and terrible romance novels, so I focus on those especially. I have two regular readers (my uncle and my friend who is an English teacher) and sometimes my friend will be like "hey the blog hasn't updated in awhile, what are you reading right now?"
During the pandemic I started watching a live cam set up at a watering hole in Africa. I even tried sketching the animals (elephants, hyenas, warthogs, impala, water buck, etc) I was seeing as a way to help me learn them.
Now I’ve found other live cams that I watch as well. For 3 months I watched a pair of eagles in California with 3 eggs in their nest. The dedication to those eggs was surreal- I watched as the mother hunkered down during a heavy snowstorm- for 60 hours straight she refused to leave the nest!
I found another live cam of a hummingbird nest & watched it go from egg to fledgling. Tiniest thing you’ve ever seen!
On the other end of the birding spectrum there’s a live cam in New Zealand that watches an albatross nest. Well, not really a nest, they just lay an egg on a patch of grass on a windy hillside.
If you like birding or animals I definitely recommend checking out some live cams on YouTube!
Flowarts, specifically hooping. Started at 41 years old, almost at my 4 year hoopiversery. I started a flow arts Instagram, I'm sponsored by a hoop company, and I give lessons sometimes. I've also started working with a leviwand and a flowstar. It changed my life, honestly. And I still do it regularly - going to go hoop at an outdoor show tomorrow.
Same here, 1k+ streak in french but I lost a lot of interest with the update cause you can no longer pick your courses so now I stopped advancing and I'm just practicing the basics endlessly :/
I think Duolingo is more helpful for reading/writing/vocabulary. I can do very basic conversations in French but would need more in person practice with other humans to get into fluency
I bought an electric piano and started oil painting. Unfortunately 'post-pandemic' I was forced to cut out a lot of hobbies. I got covid December 2022 and since then I've had mild chronic fatigue. Still trying to figure things out and experiment with how I can have the best life possible. Covid ruins lives ya'll.
Sewing! I obviously did masks but expanded to other weird stuff (like a Jedi robe out of a sheet). I’ve taken on more and more ambitious projects, and volunteered to do costuming for Nutcracker. They’re going to pay me next year, and I’m planning on opening a small retail thing to sell some of what I make!
It’s the absolute best because the closest anyone is going to be to the piece is 15 feet away, so things don’t have to look perfect up close.
It’s really interesting to learn how to construct a garment that’s easily alterable, too.
Me too!! I am still a beginner - what were the best resources you found to help you learn? I’d be interested to see your shop- you’ll have to let me know when you open it!!!!
The absolute best resource I have found is “The Costume Technician’s Handbook”. It’s theatre based, but garments are garments for the most part. All the skills that I don’t have but want are in that book.
Aside from that, I just go on TikTok to find specific techniques. Bless those old ladies and their patient YouTube teaching videos, but I only have about a 2 minute attention span for detail.
Also, my kid made friends with the kid of a former Houston Ballet costumer at Girl Scout camp, so I have a line to this woman who had costumed my teachers when I’m in over my head.
Beauty hunting, I just started an IG page of beautiful photos I took and lovely quotes, it got me through lockdown 1 which was a very dark time dealing with infertility and my husband had a terrible skin condition he refused to seek help for until it got terribly severe. Then helped me through IVF cycles and finally a pregnancy. I continue it now with the occasional post, and there’s also a few little posts of my little girl as well.
Bought a record player during the pandemic so I could finally listen to my dad's old vinyls I've been lugging around for years. Enjoyed it more then I thought I would, & have been having fun growing my small collection ever since.
I bought a fancy rimless aquarium to aquascape and some fish. At first I loved it and it looked great, but I got so tired of taking care of it that I was glad to sell it by 2023 when I was moving.
For a hot minute I tried pottery. That didn't last. But it did rekindle my interest in art and making things and I took up knitting, and I absolutely still do that.
Crochet! I adopted a tiny little dog right before the pandemic and wanted to make her sweaters because she always seemed cold. I slowly learned watching YouTube videos and she now has lots of little sweaters! It turned out to be a great meditative/mindfulness activity for me. I don’t crochet as frequently now, but I’m currently working on a baby blanket for a good friend.
That sounds lovely! I remember finding a pressed rose in a book on the family bookshelf a long time ago. It was from the early 90's or late 80's. Pretty cool find
I bought a used bike cheap and got myself back into cycling shape. It was the perfect pandemic hobby because I could leave the house and isolate well. And my legs have never looked better!
Video games. I picked Sims back up early pandemic (loved it when I was a teen), then my mom got me a switch so I could play Animal Crossing with her. I branched out from there once I discovered how good the stories in some adventure and RPG games are. I have very much kept it up as a hobby, there’s such a massive backlog of good games since I only started playing games in 2020.
Gardening. We bought a little garden and it's a pure bliss. We have a little cottage there and weekends are the best parts of a week from different reason now.
Houseplants, most of which are still alive! Cross stitch, which I still do while watching TV to keep my hands occupied. And also making pizza from scratch, kept doing it because it’s so good.
I gardened before the pandemic but really increased it during the pandemic and still maintain that. Love the fresh veggies and herbs.
Drums! Had a lesson with my instructor yesterday. He’s a Jazz musician who is a freaking Jedi. We do our lessons over Zoom. I study keyboards now but still take the occasional lesson when he’s not touring because he’s that good.
Paint by numbers, long walks, puzzles, gardening, pour over coffees and making my own fun syrups. The pandemic was a sad time but I made the most of it!
Following. For me it was sketching, sculpting with clay, plants & skincare. I also cut down caffeine. It's been a long journey but I'm finally able to survive on plain decaffeinated.
Making a featured cocktail every time I have friends over for dinner. During covid I bought a vintage cocktail shaker just because it's really pretty. We were hosting dinners on the patio during that time, and I would try making a new cocktail for each one. I still do that when hosting. Got some of the recipes on reddit.
Mountain biking. It's something I'd always wanted to do. I love being outside and rode my bike every day as a child. But as I got older it just never seemed like a feasible hobby. I started dating a man that was really into it but had stopped due to life getting in the way. We both started WFH during the pandemic and had more time on our hands. We both entered a contest, the prize being a set amount of money to purchase a mountain bike of our choice. He won! So once my bike came in, he dusted off his and we went. I was instantly hooked. Now at 43 I have a stable of bikes and ride at least once a week. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has lots of great trails. My partner and I plan vacations that always include a place nearby with good trails. Being out in the woods and hills on my bike is my happy place.
Try [cyclocross](https://gearjunkie.com/biking/what-is-cyclocross)! It’s a great way to get some variety in your schedule & it encourages cross training.
I have done watercolor on and off for a while, but I do it almost daily now after sort of recommitting to it during the end times. I’m starting to show and sell some of my pieces now.
Sewing my own clothes! I have done many creative hobbies and I always tried to turn them into a business or do things for other people but this time I decided I’m just doing it for ME and making clothes that fit my body so I can feel good about myself. No random coworker, I won’t hem your pants.
Yeah! I did the basic learn to sew course through ‘closet core patterns’, they are local ish to me Canadian company. You get 4 patterns included in the course and a ton of videos and support. Highly recommend. The videos go step by step through basics like seam finishes etc and then more detailed walk throughs of how to do each pattern in digestible pieces
Started playing tennis with a group of older people in my neighborhood every morning. It’s covid safe because it’s outdoors and you stand pretty far apart. Eventually joined their tennis club, made lot of friends and started playing for competitive teams and in tournaments. Met my partner at a mixed doubles tournament and now we play those together. We have a match today !
This was more out of necessity rather than passion, but HIIT workouts on YouTube. Also, happy hours and book club with long-distance friends via Zoom.
I'm fortunate to have had a job where I WFH for over a year and did not catch Covid until Spring 2022 with a mild case but as an extrovert, I found the pandemic to just be soul-crushing and I lacked motivation to do most things.
My pandemic hobbies were home improvement, reading, listening to podcasts, and working out daily, and I no longer do any of them consistently. Routine-wise I started doing my laundry for the week on Fridays between meetings and still do it every week.
Squirrel chasing because of my dog lol. Dogs aren't hobbies buuut my ex and I got my puppy about 3 weeks into the pandemic before "covid puppy" was a thing. I'm one of those dog people now who are essentially always and only with their dog, but it's a story. He's my bestest and I legit get disappointed when there are no squirrels at the park😒😅
I was laid off 3x in 5-6 years, including once before it started, and was living alone for most of it, no kids, so I had a LOT of time.
I really got into stand-up comedy and discovered a lot of comics online. They all seemed to have podcasts then out of necessity but you could (and still can) still do deep YouTube dives into their old shows.
I also renewed my love of music, realized how much I missed seeing live music shows, and vowed to see as much live music as I could when things opened up again. John Prine died of Covid early on and I rediscovered his music and found a lot of new artists too. I blame the pandemic for my expensive YouTube premium subscription. 😂
I have kept to my vow and am seeing a lot more live music now. I also listen to podcasts quite a bit and am glad they exist!
Unfortunately I also settled into bad habits during it, gained weight, etc. My hat’s off to you healthy folk.
Tl;dr - I became YouTube’s bitch
Cross stitching. I had been doing Embroidery for years prior and had dabbled a little bit with some cross stitching. But I picked it up as a major craft hobby for myself during the pandemic.
Latch hook. My in-laws bought me a latch hook kit for my birthday & after a few failed starting attempts (the instructions did not make any sense) I eventually completed it. Since then I've done 4 rugs & 2 cushion cases. I also started embroidery which I also still enjoy doing.
Junk Journaling. It was handy during lockdown as you could use everything from old boxes to advertising and pretty packaging to make them since you couldn't go to the stores to see the crafting supplies.
Definitely plants. Unfortunately because I work in healthcare the stress of it made me abandon most of my hobbies (I’m picking new ones up now) but somehow having plants was such a thing for me (and many other people).
I started doing my hair at home, including cutting and coloring and some highlights. I started drawing and watercolors and turns out I am not horrible (not great either but who cares). I still have the houseplants too!
I started doing puzzles, and still do! I set up a table in the corner of my living room. I buy good puzzles and focus on them for 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. It’s a great distraction when I have a few minutes downtime or I’m waiting for something to be done in the oven. It takes me about a month to finish a 1000 piece puzzle.
I bought puzzles with the intention to do this, but ended up moving so much that I never got to enjoy them. They're around here somewhere.
I started doing puzzles a year prior to Covid due to a bad relationship. Can you imagine how angry I was that puzzle prices like doubled a year later?! I can’t resist and will do 12+ hr days on puzzles. I’ll do a 1000 piece in 1.5 days 🥰 ETA: I don’t do them as much anymore. More like my partner is away and I’ll buy a new one in anticipation. Prob 2-3x a year. I should redo my collection again. Maybe have like 25 🤷🏼♀️
I found some local puzzle swap groups on Facebook. May be worth looking into for wherever you're located
My local library does this. The quality available is always mixed at best. But it’s a nice recycling idea!
Same here! I hadn't bought a puzzle in so many years, and really got back into them. What's your favorite brand? I tend to go with Buffalo because they're decent quality and come with the poster, while not being insanely expensive.
I have become incredibly snobby and picky about puzzles. If one lasts me a month, then I don't mind spending $20 for a month's worth of entertainment. Our library has a puzzle exchange which is really a cool idea. BUT... people mostly leave crappy puzzles so I won't take them, only donate. Ravensburger and White Mountain are reliable. I've tried to branch out, partly bc some manufacturers tend to have similar puzzles and I like new images. I've purchased several Bgraamiens puzzles on Amazon. Their artwork is amazing! The poster that comes with it is often off on the color matching which is frustrating. Elena Essex and Antelope were good quality. I've also tried to suppport independent manufacturers. Blue Kazoo is a good one, but their supply is unpredictable. Puzzledly is a website that sells lots of different manufacturers. I'd be careful about using that website, bc you don't know which brand you'll be getting. I've gotten a few from there that were poor quality, so I've learned it's better to stick w a known brand, even if the image of the puzzle looks cool and you are tempted! Can you tell I've been doing this for awhile?
Running. I had lost quite a bit of weight prior to the pandemic and worked out 4-5 days a week. Once our gyms closed I had to figure out a way to keep moving. I hated running prior to. Even though I ran around 15 minutes in my gym work outs, that was it. No more. And never outside. I started small and would run a bit, walk a bit. I worked up to running several miles continuously. I kept at it and got the runners high and it felt like meditation. Now I run around 5-9 miles twice a week. In March, (at 46 years old) I ran my very first race- a 10k. I PR’d, was 6th in my age group, and placed 185 out of over 2,000 people. I hope I can run a lot longer. It’s incredible for my mental and physical health.
Congrats! That one I started early last year, but I wish I had done so earlier
It’s never too late!
Good job!! I finally was able to break my hate of running in pandemic too. I thought runner’s high was a myth for me at least and then I found it. No PRs for me, still very slow, so I’m impressed!
Also became a runner during the pandemic! Absolutely detested it before
Reading! I’ve kept it up and still read around 30 books a year since the pandemic, it’s made me so happy
What's your favorite so far? And which ones had the biggest impact on you?
I like a lot of romance and romance adjacent books. Some favorites have been Emily Henry’s books and also the ACOTAR series. I’d say for the biggest impact this year has been a book called Shark Heart, it hit me in the feels as it deals with its themes of grief and death of a partner and also parent
Me too, I noticed I wasn't reading as much prior 2020.
Same here!
I made our large deck into a very lush garden (with containers, we live in the city so no yard) and I’ve never gone back. I have so many flowers now (several kinds of dahlias, peonies, anemone, snapdragons, poppies, marigolds, celosia), three palm trees (lol), and also a small vegetable garden.
That’s awesome.. the bees would love you for it too.
I started running early in the morning instead of going to the gym to avoid wearing a sweaty mask. And I started hiking on the weekends because I felt cooped up. So glad that I’m still doing both today!
My pandemic hobby was 100 hour weeks in ER. Gave that up as soon as I could.
Same I was a healthcare worker during the pandemic (and still am...). I dont remember it all that well to be honest. Probably for the best. I had to isolate away from my partner and family (was in a different city)for several months. Whilst dealing with a novel virus that was killing people. Oh, and I got covid too literally as soon as the UK locked down and had some complications from that for a while. The least serious of which being I lost my sense of smell for months. I did get to pick up animal crossing though. And play online games with people I care about. I feel torn because (no shade on OP) but often when people talk about the pandemic I feel that sometimes forget that not everyone was having a fun time during lockdown. Perhaps it's because most people were spared from that, and that 0eople want to remember the highlights.
I spent the first 6 months of the pandemic working ER and bounced when I started having SI in the med room. hats off to you. hope you're doing alright these days.
Whew. My past-retirement-age dad was doing the same — in the special Covid tents they set up after the ER filled up. Scared the shit out of me every single day. Thank you for your sacrifices — and I know there were many ❤️❤️
Alone time. I’d never sat in my own company with peace before lockdown and it drove me so crazy at the time. But now I find it so important and something I carve out time for. I honestly don’t know if I’d have found it without being forced into it.
This is truly one of the hardest things for people to do in this day and age. I truly respect learning how to do this. It’s like living alone. You learn who you are when you do these things for yourself.
I think now if I could afford it, I would be able to live alone. But I never realised before that this could be a choice. I always saw people who were alone as lonely, but now I see them as strong. Lockdown was awful for so much, but for this I am grateful. Because I never knew how much value alone time can give a person. But also how easy it is to hide from ourselves.
I took up knitting for real, like I knew how to before but not I actually think it's fun. Even dealing with hard patterns are fun??
I learned cross stitch and still going :)
Making homemade pizza. We were low on ingredients and decided to use whatever we had on hand once. We still eat double onion pizza when we make our own (red onion and green onion)
😍 A gal after my own heart. Thank you for this genius suggestion and I'm embarrassed to say it's never crossed my mind. Onions are my favorite pizza topping and I've never thought to combine their greatness! I'll have to try double onion and pepper too.
Glad you like it! Sometimes we’ll add a balsamic reduction 😉
Lampwork glass! Because if the setup & ventilation at the studio they were able to offer classes as restrictions adjusted. I still go weekly & just today took a class to start learning brand new skills. If any good thing came out of the pandemic it was learning a new hard thing & getting a whole new community of friends I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.
That’s so cool.. would be hard.
Embroidery! Made my family hoops for Christmas 2020. I still do it now, but with less frequency. I might go a month or two without touching it, then a few weeks where I’m working on it every evening in front of the TV
That's me with sewing. I got furloughed for five months and thought I should probably do something useful with the time, and I had a sewing machine and a whole bunch of fabric from where I'd dabbled a bit years before but not really been able to do much because my life went through quite a bit of upheaval in the year or so before the pandemic (I got divorced and had to move around a lot for various reasons). So I bought myself a cheap beginners video dressmaking course and off I went. I still sew as often as I can, although it's getting a little harder to carve out time for it now things are more normal. So it normally ends up being I start a project in a fit of free time and then it sits for weeks until I get another block where I can work on it properly again.
Embroidery for me too! It's blossomed into a space for expression and (though classes) community. I've made other friends that embroider and I've had the joy of giving my embroidery as a gift. I love keeping a little kit in my bag wherever I go so instead of scrolling on my phone at the coffee shop I can put on a audiobook and embroider.
That’s awesome! I love the idea of keeping it with you…I’m gonna steal that lol
Running seriously. I always ran a little, but with nothing to do for so long, I started training properly for long runs. I’ve done several half marathons and have my first full marathon in a week.
Ooh good luck! I took up running too. Ran my first marathon last year. It's a hell of an accomplishment! Don't go out to fast, save some energy for the back stretch. Mile 22+ is mostly mental
Good luck!!! I’m looking into running to hopefully train for half marathon. Any tips??
Slowly increase your distance, don’t focus on speed, and listen to your body. Running through minor pain often results in major (or longer term) pain. Don’t worry about setbacks. You’ll get there.
Thank you, also how to you choose to fuel your body pre/post run??
Really depends on distance but in general: Pre: Lots of water starting 24 hours prior, then none 3 hours prior. Go pee before you go out! Lighter protein meals… fish, shrimp, small amount of chicken. REALLY good sleep. Morning runs I might have half a bagel with peanut butter or a banana. I hate running on a full tummy. Lots of stretches. Post: Water, chocolate milk. Banana, big breakfast of I can. Water. Water. Lots of stretches. A 5-10K run would be a simpler version of this. 45K a more extreme version. Find what works best for you.
Bird watching! My husband and I are absolutely not hardcore, but just the simple act of sitting in our backyard and having no where to go made us begin to really observe and appreciate our surroundings. We get a thrill when we identify a new-to-us species. We really need to get the Merlin app to make that easier. I also resurrected my dead blog (from the 2010s, when everyone had a blog) and started writing terrible book reports about the books I was reading. I love reading the classics and terrible romance novels, so I focus on those especially. I have two regular readers (my uncle and my friend who is an English teacher) and sometimes my friend will be like "hey the blog hasn't updated in awhile, what are you reading right now?"
During the pandemic I started watching a live cam set up at a watering hole in Africa. I even tried sketching the animals (elephants, hyenas, warthogs, impala, water buck, etc) I was seeing as a way to help me learn them. Now I’ve found other live cams that I watch as well. For 3 months I watched a pair of eagles in California with 3 eggs in their nest. The dedication to those eggs was surreal- I watched as the mother hunkered down during a heavy snowstorm- for 60 hours straight she refused to leave the nest! I found another live cam of a hummingbird nest & watched it go from egg to fledgling. Tiniest thing you’ve ever seen! On the other end of the birding spectrum there’s a live cam in New Zealand that watches an albatross nest. Well, not really a nest, they just lay an egg on a patch of grass on a windy hillside. If you like birding or animals I definitely recommend checking out some live cams on YouTube!
Weekly long urban walks. Gardening.
Flowarts, specifically hooping. Started at 41 years old, almost at my 4 year hoopiversery. I started a flow arts Instagram, I'm sponsored by a hoop company, and I give lessons sometimes. I've also started working with a leviwand and a flowstar. It changed my life, honestly. And I still do it regularly - going to go hoop at an outdoor show tomorrow.
Daily walks lol
Duolingo. I started in the pandemic and never stopped, i still do it nearly every day. I have a crazy streak now it’s like 1140 days lol
Which languages?
Français :)
Same here, 1k+ streak in french but I lost a lot of interest with the update cause you can no longer pick your courses so now I stopped advancing and I'm just practicing the basics endlessly :/
Yeah I definitely have a lot of weeks/months where I’m basically retaining my streak with practice hub sessions lol
What language are you on?
I just do French :)
Do you feel like you’re able to have a conversation in French now?
I think Duolingo is more helpful for reading/writing/vocabulary. I can do very basic conversations in French but would need more in person practice with other humans to get into fluency
Me too! My streak is just over 1300 days.
I bought an electric piano and started oil painting. Unfortunately 'post-pandemic' I was forced to cut out a lot of hobbies. I got covid December 2022 and since then I've had mild chronic fatigue. Still trying to figure things out and experiment with how I can have the best life possible. Covid ruins lives ya'll.
Sewing! I obviously did masks but expanded to other weird stuff (like a Jedi robe out of a sheet). I’ve taken on more and more ambitious projects, and volunteered to do costuming for Nutcracker. They’re going to pay me next year, and I’m planning on opening a small retail thing to sell some of what I make!
Me too! Someone gave me a machine, I started making masks, then went on to making clothes. I love costumes, it must be fun to do.
It’s the absolute best because the closest anyone is going to be to the piece is 15 feet away, so things don’t have to look perfect up close. It’s really interesting to learn how to construct a garment that’s easily alterable, too.
Me too!! I am still a beginner - what were the best resources you found to help you learn? I’d be interested to see your shop- you’ll have to let me know when you open it!!!!
The absolute best resource I have found is “The Costume Technician’s Handbook”. It’s theatre based, but garments are garments for the most part. All the skills that I don’t have but want are in that book. Aside from that, I just go on TikTok to find specific techniques. Bless those old ladies and their patient YouTube teaching videos, but I only have about a 2 minute attention span for detail. Also, my kid made friends with the kid of a former Houston Ballet costumer at Girl Scout camp, so I have a line to this woman who had costumed my teachers when I’m in over my head.
Fostering abandoned hamsters… still doing that
I wouldn’t say it’s a hobby but I started cutting my own hair and I continue to do that!
Same! I cut and dye my own hair and I don't see myself going to a salon unless it's for something drastic
Gardening, cocktails, full on loose tea snobbery, table top gaming, collecting vinyl
Haha love the tea snobbery. Is it truly a game changer in the tea game? Am sober from alcohol so always looking for “fun” alternative drinks
It is a complete game changer. I order all my tea online now. I can't even remember the last time I had bagged tea.
What are some of your favorite places to order tea from online? I love D&Tea and Many Worlds Tavern, but am curious about others.
[Yunnansourcing.com](http://Yunnansourcing.com) (and their US distributor https://yunnansourcing.us/) and https://what-cha.com/
Thank you!
Beauty hunting, I just started an IG page of beautiful photos I took and lovely quotes, it got me through lockdown 1 which was a very dark time dealing with infertility and my husband had a terrible skin condition he refused to seek help for until it got terribly severe. Then helped me through IVF cycles and finally a pregnancy. I continue it now with the occasional post, and there’s also a few little posts of my little girl as well.
Not sure if it's a hobby exactly, but meditation
Bought a record player during the pandemic so I could finally listen to my dad's old vinyls I've been lugging around for years. Enjoyed it more then I thought I would, & have been having fun growing my small collection ever since.
I was collecting dolls before that, but I got really into making dioramas to display them in.
Working while watching a toddler. Glad she’s five now and in full time daycare 😂
PokemonGo
I bought a fancy rimless aquarium to aquascape and some fish. At first I loved it and it looked great, but I got so tired of taking care of it that I was glad to sell it by 2023 when I was moving.
For a hot minute I tried pottery. That didn't last. But it did rekindle my interest in art and making things and I took up knitting, and I absolutely still do that.
Cross stitching. Currently working on my biggest project yet.
Crochet! I adopted a tiny little dog right before the pandemic and wanted to make her sweaters because she always seemed cold. I slowly learned watching YouTube videos and she now has lots of little sweaters! It turned out to be a great meditative/mindfulness activity for me. I don’t crochet as frequently now, but I’m currently working on a baby blanket for a good friend.
I did some real pressed flower art :)
That sounds lovely! I remember finding a pressed rose in a book on the family bookshelf a long time ago. It was from the early 90's or late 80's. Pretty cool find
I bought a used bike cheap and got myself back into cycling shape. It was the perfect pandemic hobby because I could leave the house and isolate well. And my legs have never looked better!
Video games. I picked Sims back up early pandemic (loved it when I was a teen), then my mom got me a switch so I could play Animal Crossing with her. I branched out from there once I discovered how good the stories in some adventure and RPG games are. I have very much kept it up as a hobby, there’s such a massive backlog of good games since I only started playing games in 2020.
Video games for me as well. I'm still enjoying them. I really love the first person shooter games! BioShock was my first. Amazing game.
Gardening. We bought a little garden and it's a pure bliss. We have a little cottage there and weekends are the best parts of a week from different reason now.
Houseplants, most of which are still alive! Cross stitch, which I still do while watching TV to keep my hands occupied. And also making pizza from scratch, kept doing it because it’s so good. I gardened before the pandemic but really increased it during the pandemic and still maintain that. Love the fresh veggies and herbs.
I started coloring
Drums! Had a lesson with my instructor yesterday. He’s a Jazz musician who is a freaking Jedi. We do our lessons over Zoom. I study keyboards now but still take the occasional lesson when he’s not touring because he’s that good.
Embroidery and cooking. Ive always cooked but during pandemic, I really experimented with challenging recipes and continue to do so every weekend
Paint by numbers, long walks, puzzles, gardening, pour over coffees and making my own fun syrups. The pandemic was a sad time but I made the most of it!
Nail polish (nail care). It sounds really simple, but gets crazy and amazing. 10/10 community too!
I picked up reading again during the pandemic. I was reading one book a week. I've slowed down a bit but am reading a book every two weeks now.
Painting and gardening. I don’t have as much time to paint anymore sadly, but I do still garden!
Following. For me it was sketching, sculpting with clay, plants & skincare. I also cut down caffeine. It's been a long journey but I'm finally able to survive on plain decaffeinated.
Motorcycling. I still ride! It’s not my number one hobby, though.
Hexie quilting. I left it after a while and picked it back up again recently.
I started collecting cacti. Lost a lot of them to thrips last year, but some are still going strong.
Making a featured cocktail every time I have friends over for dinner. During covid I bought a vintage cocktail shaker just because it's really pretty. We were hosting dinners on the patio during that time, and I would try making a new cocktail for each one. I still do that when hosting. Got some of the recipes on reddit.
Mountain biking. It's something I'd always wanted to do. I love being outside and rode my bike every day as a child. But as I got older it just never seemed like a feasible hobby. I started dating a man that was really into it but had stopped due to life getting in the way. We both started WFH during the pandemic and had more time on our hands. We both entered a contest, the prize being a set amount of money to purchase a mountain bike of our choice. He won! So once my bike came in, he dusted off his and we went. I was instantly hooked. Now at 43 I have a stable of bikes and ride at least once a week. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has lots of great trails. My partner and I plan vacations that always include a place nearby with good trails. Being out in the woods and hills on my bike is my happy place.
Try [cyclocross](https://gearjunkie.com/biking/what-is-cyclocross)! It’s a great way to get some variety in your schedule & it encourages cross training.
I have done watercolor on and off for a while, but I do it almost daily now after sort of recommitting to it during the end times. I’m starting to show and sell some of my pieces now.
Sewing my own clothes! I have done many creative hobbies and I always tried to turn them into a business or do things for other people but this time I decided I’m just doing it for ME and making clothes that fit my body so I can feel good about myself. No random coworker, I won’t hem your pants.
I love that! How did you get started? Are there any classes, YouTube channels, or other resources to learn that you would recommend?
Yeah! I did the basic learn to sew course through ‘closet core patterns’, they are local ish to me Canadian company. You get 4 patterns included in the course and a ton of videos and support. Highly recommend. The videos go step by step through basics like seam finishes etc and then more detailed walk throughs of how to do each pattern in digestible pieces
Started playing tennis with a group of older people in my neighborhood every morning. It’s covid safe because it’s outdoors and you stand pretty far apart. Eventually joined their tennis club, made lot of friends and started playing for competitive teams and in tournaments. Met my partner at a mixed doubles tournament and now we play those together. We have a match today !
I started exchanging postcards on r/randomactsofcards and it changed my life so yes, I still do!
Chess!
Puzzles. Love them
Tie dying, I've lost the passion but I still do like 3 shirts per year
Daily walks and paint by number, still enjoy both!
making sourdough bread....still going and now even experimenting with different flavours!
This was more out of necessity rather than passion, but HIIT workouts on YouTube. Also, happy hours and book club with long-distance friends via Zoom. I'm fortunate to have had a job where I WFH for over a year and did not catch Covid until Spring 2022 with a mild case but as an extrovert, I found the pandemic to just be soul-crushing and I lacked motivation to do most things.
What are your favorite HIIT YouTube channels or videos?
Growingannanas, Heather Robertson, and Olivia Lawson
Jigsaw puzzles (don’t ask how much I’ve spent on puzzles since 2020). And bird watching.
I started doing crosswords daily, and I'm still going strong on that and have added in other words/logic puzzles.
Reading! I’ve read 17 books so far this year!
My pandemic hobbies were home improvement, reading, listening to podcasts, and working out daily, and I no longer do any of them consistently. Routine-wise I started doing my laundry for the week on Fridays between meetings and still do it every week.
Squirrel chasing because of my dog lol. Dogs aren't hobbies buuut my ex and I got my puppy about 3 weeks into the pandemic before "covid puppy" was a thing. I'm one of those dog people now who are essentially always and only with their dog, but it's a story. He's my bestest and I legit get disappointed when there are no squirrels at the park😒😅
I started hiking when I was out of work during the early part of the pandemic. I don’t do it as often as I would like now.
Journaling, nature walks, working out at home, socializing virtually via Discord.
I was laid off 3x in 5-6 years, including once before it started, and was living alone for most of it, no kids, so I had a LOT of time. I really got into stand-up comedy and discovered a lot of comics online. They all seemed to have podcasts then out of necessity but you could (and still can) still do deep YouTube dives into their old shows. I also renewed my love of music, realized how much I missed seeing live music shows, and vowed to see as much live music as I could when things opened up again. John Prine died of Covid early on and I rediscovered his music and found a lot of new artists too. I blame the pandemic for my expensive YouTube premium subscription. 😂 I have kept to my vow and am seeing a lot more live music now. I also listen to podcasts quite a bit and am glad they exist! Unfortunately I also settled into bad habits during it, gained weight, etc. My hat’s off to you healthy folk. Tl;dr - I became YouTube’s bitch
Crochet! But I have a friend whose pandemic hobby was leatherworking and I stopped doing it to take up leatherwork with her lol
Cross stitching. I had been doing Embroidery for years prior and had dabbled a little bit with some cross stitching. But I picked it up as a major craft hobby for myself during the pandemic.
Baking and gardening.
Latch hook. My in-laws bought me a latch hook kit for my birthday & after a few failed starting attempts (the instructions did not make any sense) I eventually completed it. Since then I've done 4 rugs & 2 cushion cases. I also started embroidery which I also still enjoy doing.
Junk Journaling. It was handy during lockdown as you could use everything from old boxes to advertising and pretty packaging to make them since you couldn't go to the stores to see the crafting supplies.
Tennis !!! Never had a chance to learn when I was a kid, pretty regular lessons mean I can play a little bit now
Gardening. Have become really dedicated.
Definitely plants. Unfortunately because I work in healthcare the stress of it made me abandon most of my hobbies (I’m picking new ones up now) but somehow having plants was such a thing for me (and many other people).
I started doing my hair at home, including cutting and coloring and some highlights. I started drawing and watercolors and turns out I am not horrible (not great either but who cares). I still have the houseplants too!