Ask Lemmy

Reading

Thanks to e-books and the Libby app you don't even have to physically go anywhere or pay anything to find a good book these days.

Playing older video games via emulation. The barrier to entry gets easier and easier as time marches on. And as long as you have disc space to download the games, you'll likely find a repository somewhere on the Internet.

Doom scrolling

This was awhile ago, but playing dungeons and dragons! I showed up one night at the local gaming store, asked the group playing that night if they had space, and bam! I'm playing a terrifying monk in World's Largest Dungeon!

Blender. Not great at it, but there's so many fantastic tutorials on YouTube. I can use it good enough to design and 3d print simple things. Of course, there's may aspects / layers to it. It's both broad and deep. So it's good to kind of focus on one thing at the time, and then break that down even further.

Programming.

I first realized that I loved it at the age of 11. It's easy to get into but programming itself can be difficult or easy depending on what you are aiming to do and how. I love it both as a hobby and as a high school subject (hopefully as a job in the next few years as well)

Game Mastering for TTRPGs. Set up can take some work, but it's a great creative outlet and, once you find the right group, soooo much fun. I personally started off with Paranoia XP and moved from there to a couple different systems before landing on D&D 5e. There are some great rules-light systems like Kids on Bikes/ Kids on Brooms or Paranoia Perfect Edition if the behemoth of D&D (with its multiple text-book sized rule books) seems daunting.

ETA: there's also entire libraries of advice on GMing out there for assistance if you need it.

Cooking. A lot of really delicious foods have extremely simple recipes and as an amateur you have time on your side. You don't have to rush anything for most recipes. A lot of times I measure and cut everything before I even turn on the stove and this makes cooking super easy. Sure it takes a while to cook when you are just starting out but you can just go at your own pace. I really feel like anyone can cook almost anything. You don't even need fancy tools. I got started with a $12 wok and a wooden spatula. These days there's a huge amount of resources to teach you how to make just about everything. It's also really rewarding since you get to eat what you make and you get to make things you want to eat. Needless to say it's also a very important skill.

Sewing! My girlfriend is into it and had some machines already. It's way easier and more fun than I expected.

making mead:

honey, yeast, water, shake the carboy, pop on the airlock (fancy cork), wait two weeks.

wine making:

juice, sugar, yeast, water, shake the carboy, pop on the airlock, wait two weeks.

Kayaking was easy. Get one you can afford on FB Marketplace and go. Cheap paddles are just fine to start as are $3 thrift life vests, grab a whistle while you're shopping. Next thing you know, you're scanning Google Maps for water and new adventures.

houseplants and especially ferns: It all started with a gift: a bird's-nest fern and a blue-star fern. i was already into cultivating offshoots, but the bird's-nest fern does not generate those, and the internet said you can not divide a single plant into multiples. but how do they propagate then? the use spores and the internet said it is not easy to get new plants this way, but i gave it a try. and it was not that difficult...

currently i have about 12 nest-ferns of all sizes and fear the winter when i have to bring all plants into the small flat.

funny enough: the blue-star fern is easy to propagate via offshoots, but its even easier with spores: as soon as you have a medium moist pot near such a fern you get fresh ferns for free. they grow quite slow, but still look beautiful.

if your interested and German based, write me a PM and i can send you a letter with some spores to bootstrap your new hobby!

The bizarre culture (pun intended) around sourdough is maddening. The obsession over the "ear," bannetons, lames, daily feeding: all bro club bullshit. This is the bread humans have been making for millennia; the only tools you need are one hot rock and one not-hot rock.

Sword fighting. I joined an armored combat gym and just went consistently. They provide the equipment, at least til you get to the point you want your own armor and weapon. Good fun, good exercise.

Fly fishing

Got yelled at as a kid for playing with your pole too much? Then it’s the hobby for you. Can practice in your backyard and it’s fun just to whip shit around

Painting miniatures. Anyone can do it and make their board games look way nicer.

Whittling

Just buy a knife kit and some wood blanks, surprisingly affordable.

Cycling

I started biking to work after we moved closer and next thing I know I'm into mountain biking and have built 2 bikes

Helping cartograph the world

Tying fishing flies

Looks really hard. Not terribly hard to make some respectable flies with a little bit of instruction.

Photography. Cost of a used high quality DSLR + batteries + storage cards + cheap tripod = $500-ish. Lessons = free thanks to piracy and YouTube.

Making chainmail. All you need are a decent pair of flat pliers and some rings. A basic 4 in 1 weave is super easy to learn. There's more complex stuff of course, but starting out is ridiculously simple. I made a dice bag with probably a dollar or two worth of galvanized steel rings, leather string, and a plastic drawstring clasp.

Woodworking! Yes, you can obviously spend lots of money on equipment, but you'd be surprised by how nice furniture you can build with just a track saw and a trim router.

Foraging. Don't eat random shit from the wild without IDing it (intelligently, not just with AI apps), but also don't listen to the scary stories and harsh warnings. Dying by plant (or mushroom) poisoning is very rare, most bad eats will give you the trots and you'll be fine a day later. It's easy to find good foods without stress, and while a professional guide can help, there are SO many books that have virtually the same info. Start with local, easy foods like leafy greens, nibble small amounts and wait 24 hours, and you'll start seeing how simple and attainable forging is.

Photography. Always stayed away because people told me it would be expensive (it definitely can be) but you can have a ton of fun with a 20-year-old camera off eBay and lenses from garage sales.

Making desert coffee at home. I got a French press because i drink one cup of coffee a day at most and I wanted make sweeter more rich coffee.

I now can use all cream line milk or oat milk, soak my fresh ground beans (and chickary root sometimes), add sweeteners to taste.

Blame better coffee than most coffee shops (for me). No 1000 dollar machine

Drumming! Buy an electronic kit, have tons of fun playing Rock Band, watch videos for technique, download a few practice books. You can at least play along with easy songs and it makes you feel badass! :D

My first thought was sourdough too, and making fermented foods in general. I wanted to get into making my own sourdough bread for a while, but every time I started researching I just gave up. A lot of recipes out there make it look so intimidating and honestly, most of the steps are just not necessary for a basic loaf. Been making simple bread in loaf pans for months now and loving it.

Wine. Not making it, but just enjoying it. Trips to wineries, wine clubs, tasting rooms. All it requires is money.

I don’t even like red wine, but the hobby aspect of it all is very simple.

3d printing and even designing my own basic parts/items. Seems daunting as all hell to get right but honestly it wasn't that bad to figure out. Fusion360 was a dream to learn. I've been trying to make the switch to freecad and struggling though. :(

Speedcubing. There are good cubes for < $10 now and beginner’s method is easy to learn. There are many resources online and can be learned within minutes. Then you start improving and getting faster quickly.

In my case I then went to a local competition and just amazed at how quick and how young these kids are.