For me its probably Gaming - I've been trying to master civ 6 and Dots 2 lately and I also enjoy reading - Been trying to read the Singularity is near, but this book is just very academic and its taking a while lol
My latest big hobby has been Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), basically medieval sword fighting. It's a great workout for mind and body and is filled with nerds into swords and the history of it haha
Also big into swing dancing, ultimate frisbee, and board/video gaming
Tabletop RPG. There are other hobbies, but this brings me the most joy. Shout out to all sci-fi Fate players! There are dozens of us!
I collect ttrpgs. I haven't been able to play them all, some I haven't even gotten through reading them yet. I just like having fun books and being like "who wants to do a one night stand campaign? Pick a theme I've got a specific book for it!"
I've been there, but you can definitely find hobbies that cost nothing.
Hiking/walking/running is free and good for your mental and physical health (although if you dont have appropriate footwear, I'd stick to walking).
Music production is free (if you already own a computer) with free DAWs and free plugins. This is a great way to be creative, learning music theory is also free but not super necessary
Writing is free, this can include fiction, as well as journaling. I enjoy journaling but
Software hacking is free with ghidra and x64dbg, I've been working through crackers, which are pieces of software written specifically to be cracked.
Programming is free and the resources to learn programming are free. If you have no experience python is super easy to jump into.
3D modelling is fun to learn and again, free. Fusion360 will give you a free license for personal use, or there are other free options. I learnt this to 3D custom designs, and your local library probably has a 3D printer to use if you want to go that route.
Your city almost certainly has a free art gallery, I love spending days at the art gallery with headphones listening to beautiful music and looking at beautiful art.
Cooking can be a fun hobby, and although not free, it's money you were hopefully going to spend anyway, it can be fun to find new recipes and try them. And if you plan correctly and buy in bulk, you can save money this way.
Contribute to open street maps, this is free and helps the community.
Of course the more fun hobbies, and more traditional hobbies do cost money, and can get very expensive very quickly so I do understand your frustration, but finding free cheap hobbies was key to getting out of my depression and I urge you to find something, these suggestions may not be right for you but it just shows there are options
I didn't find any good enough hobby in this 35 years of life that didn't fade after some time. At moment I'm very empty inside, I spend half day sleeping and other half working, everything looks expansive to do, I give up on everything, I'm keeping myself alive because I'm just scared of the pain and I can't imagine stop existing.
You don't need to be a master of anything. The hobbies you've tried are facets of your interest, and they still lie within you ready to be awoken again. If you fear that not mastering them makes you bad at them, then you're hobbying for the wrong reason. Just have fun, no matter how shitty that fun is.
I like riding my bike a lot and camping. Just did a ride down the Oregon coast this last summer and it was a total blast
Self hosting and software of course, but that's probably pretty common on here
I am definitely someone whos hobby is exploring hobbies, but these are the ones that ive circled back around to:
Gaming, Programming, Go (an abstract strategy game similar to chess), 3D Art (Blender), DnD, and Warhammer 40k
You should! Its a ton of fun, plently of places to play online. Unfortunetly in person play seems to still be recovering post-COVID in a lot of places, so it can be tough to play in person.
a few hobbies I've kept up are reading, wildlife photography, and martial arts practice
Oil pastels, gesso, abstract expressionism.
Photography, surreal, trees blowing in wind, fire trucks lighting up a neighborhood.
Creative writing, dream journal.
Mixed media, found art.
Researching, reading.
Been playing same Sims save for over 3 years, building a complex society, realistic infrastructure.
Gaming, cooking, and reading. I've taken up dungeons and dragons recently, acting as DM for some of my friends, their first time playing DnD as well. Currently prepping for my second campaign, a cold war-inspired Song of Ice and Fire setting during the Andal invasion of the Vale. Almost done preparing the classes available, and nearly done with the overarching plot. Still have to do the maps and the wiki, though.
-Tabeltop gaming
-Videogames
-Playing Guitar
-Walking/hiking. Just casual stuff, I'm not hoofing it out in the middle of the forest
-Worldbuilding and story writing
-Watching anime, other cartoons, shows
-Not so much a hobby, but a probably unhealthy fascination and love for the victorian era. If a subject counts as a hobby, this is one of them
I really enjoy making ice cream. It’s fun coming up with a concept and trying to translate it into ice cream. My favorite idea so far was turning a black diamond ski run into a flavor: swirled herb blackberry and vanilla ice creams with broken pretzel sticks and crushed oreos. I call it Yard Sale.
I also enjoy trying to make classic flavors into non-dairy because dairy ultimately isn’t sustainable but ice cream should be sustainable.
- Painting Warhammer figures. Not really into playing the game, it’s too complicated for me in my old age, but I like building and painting the models
- my neighbour just got me started on playing darts. It’s a lot more difficult than I would have expected
- gardening. This week I put up new trellises and tied up the wild climbing roses
Omg finally another person who makes the models but doesn't play. I've never found another in all my years. I just think they look cool and I like the process of making some heavily modded things, learning the neverending techniques to make something look exactly how I want it to
We love darts. If you find a good dart bar you can have a couple of hours of fun for the price of a soda. During covid we hung our board on our backyard fence so we could have friends over for game night.
- Rock climbing (mostly trad, but I'll climb sport sometimes)
- teaching myself Japanese
- video games on occasion
