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?
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.
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
I didn’t know the StreetComplete app. It’s so cool ! Thanks !
Mix it up by walking to local landmarks and public art.
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?
Groups and clubs. They exist, you need to find them. The public library is a good place to start looking.
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.
Look for volunteer opportunities. In my town I found a litter-picking group that met once a week. Then through members of that group I joined another one that maintains flower beds and planters around the town. Then joined an effort to rehabilitate an environment project on a nearby farm, and ended up in the beekeeping team. Another group I was in for a few years organises gentle walks for elderly folks. I learned a huge amount from all these things, and none of it cost me anything but time.
Have you got a seat filler company? It’s a company that you pay a small amount to go to gigs, theatre, events, etc that have been undersold. They just want people to fill the seats. I pay around £3 a time and I’ve seen bands like Kiss, Less Than Jake, Fun Lovin Criminals, not free but cheaper than a coffee.
How do you find one?
Google? Seat filler + name of the city
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.
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.
So just like take a chess board to a park or something?
If you see other players. Probably less awkward to try to find a club.
Search for
Boardgame club (insert your city name here)
Usually you’ll have a handful to choose from.
The ones in our city are:
$5 entry
Last for 10hrs
Go with friends or go alone and meet people on the day who want to play a boardgame
Mostly friendly/helpful people who want to teach and enjoy games with others
Choose your level of social interaction (no one will bat an eye if you only talk to play the game, and make no side chit-chat)
Fun everytime
Frisbee golf, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, gardening, cooking, painting, geocaching, hiking, fishing are all pretty cheap to get into.
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
CrossFit, running club, November project, hiking club, board game clubs, DND clubs, Meetup.com events. Coed sports leagues like: disc golf, infinite Frisbee, soccer.
There’s also things like live figure drawing, music jam clubs, acting in local plays.
Library.
Top tips: consider cooperative living and take group classes for one of your hobbies
