Feeling bored now that you have all that extra time? Don’t worry! You’ll love these retirement hobbies.
Entering retirement opens up a whole new world of possibilities. And what better way to savor this chapter of life than by delving into fulfilling and enriching retirement hobbies?
These hobbies are often the key to maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle, bringing joy and purpose to each day. This is why Golden Years Bliss has decided to explore some of the delightful retirement hobbies that promise to kick the golden years blues to the curb.
Whether you’re a seasoned retiree or just beginning to embrace this new phase of your life, there’s something for everyone. From clever pursuits to outdoor adventures, we’ll uncover activities that make the most of your free time and contribute to your overall well-being.
So, join us on this journey as we dive into the world of 15 retirement hobbies, discovering the perfect pastime to make your golden years fulfilling.
Retirement hobby: Travel
Traveling is one of the most fun retirement hobbies once you stop working. You can experience new cultures, see beautiful new places, and meet lots of interesting people. And you don’t always have to go far away.
If you don’t have a huge travel budget, you can be a tourist within your city or state. Travel is all about going to places you’ve never seen before. So if you haven’t seen many places nearby, now’s the time to do it.
And if you DO have a fixed travel budget for retirement, begin traveling and make it more of a hobby now that you have the time. Many seniors also love to hop in their RV and travel through our nation or go on a cruise.
Retirement hobby: Painting
Get creative and begin painting as a retirement hobby. If you don’t know where to start, you can get a beginner’s paint kit with different paints and watch a few tutorials on YouTube about techniques. This way, you can explore the side of painting or drawing that fits you best.
Did you know that painting has many benefits? According to an article in Harvard Health Publishing, it boosts memory recollection skills and strengthens your mind through conceptual implementation and visualization.
It’s also a great way to express your emotions and can used as a way to mediate. People who frequently paint have a lower chance of developing memory loss when they’re older.
Retirement hobby: Genealogy
Many retirees like to truly dive into their past and search for their ancestors. According to research, genealogy is currently the second most popular hobby among US residents. You can build a family tree for free through websites like Ancestry and Findmypast.
Another way to dig into your past is by visiting your local library and asking them for help. It’s beneficial if your family has lived in the same area for many generations. You can end up tracking down old birth certificates and many other records about your lineage.
Retirement hobby: Crafting
Finding a creative hobby doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Crafting is fantastic because you can start a project, finish it, and begin something entirely different. Most importantly, you’re working with your hands and doing something new and fun.
When you turn crafts into a hobby, you can make gifts or decorations for the holidays, new accessories for your home, gifts for upcoming events, or handy hacks that make your life easier.
And if you’re good at it, you might even be able to earn some extra money by selling your products on platforms like Etsy. But, when you prefer to keep crafting as a hobby, we recommend signing up for CrateJoy.
You can get the Arts and Crafts boxes sent to your door monthly. And each month is a different craft that allows you to learn a new technique.
Retirement hobby: Photography
Photography is admittedly one of those retirement hobbies where you need to be creative and have technical expertise to capture a beautiful photo. But it adds value to your life by capturing people, special events, and incredible places.
You can use any place or occasion to practice your hobby. And you don’t always need expensive gear to capture some beautiful shots.
Obviously, it helps to experiment a bit more with all the optional technical features of high-quality photography gear. But a smartphone can also capture spectacular photos.
Retirement hobby: Gardening
Gardening is one of the most sought-after retirement hobbies out there. It’s fun when you’re an outdoor lover and like working with your hands. It’s also a healthy hobby to have in your golden years.
You do a lot of lifting, spading, tilling, and raking, strengthening your muscles and keeping yourself more flexible. Gardening is also a way of mindfulness. You must be present and mindful while planting, digging, pulling, or watering.
Practicing mindfulness activities are integral to creating the right balance in your retired life. This is also a hobby you can divide into categories, such as flower gardening, vegetable gardening, bonsai gardening, and many others.
So, all in all, you might say that gardening is the perfect hobby for a retired individual. You can enjoy nature, it helps you to stay active, and it can ultimately be a very relaxing activity.
Retirement hobby: Geocaching
Did you like to go on treasure hunts when you were little? Then, you should definitely try out geocaching as a retirement hobby. It’s pretty much a modern way of treasure hunting.
It also happens to be a fantastic outdoor adventure to go on when you’re retired and have time to spare. Here’s how it works: You search for hidden treasures, known as “caches,” through GPS Coordinates. You can begin whenever you want.
Just visit Geocaching.com and type in your address or the address where you’ll be. The next step is that you’re likely to find a couple of geocaches in your area.
Choose whichever one you’d like, add the coordinates to your GPS, or utilize a geocaching app on your smartphone, and head on out, letting your GPS device or phone serve as a treasure map!
Retirement hobby: Camping
If you love the outdoors but have never had the time, now’s the perfect time to make camping your retirement hobby.
It can even lead to other fantastic pursuits like swimming, hiking, sightseeing, kayaking, hunting, biking, and many other enriching hobbies for your golden years.
Perhaps you’re already a camper, and you can take your hobby to the next level by going a lot more often or upgrading your camping gear. You can even consider making camping a retirement job through Workamper and travel for free.
Retirement hobby: Cooking
You obviously need to eat once you retire, right? So why not make cooking your next retirement hobby? How great would it be if you learned to cook like a chef? It’s a creative, fun, and practical pursuit as well.
You’ll be eating healthier meals, and it can save you a ton of cash on ordering or eating out. A wonderful way to learn is by following the many cooking Masterclasses on the Masterclass platform. There are different cooking classes available.
And you’ll learn the best skills from renowned chefs. You can even learn how to make restaurant-style recipes at home from Gordon Ramsay himself. Or become a superstar in Texas-style BBQ, thanks to Aaron Franklin.
When you become more experienced with cooking as a hobby, you can also start testing out famous family recipes and things you’ve never tried before. Or learn to use different cooking methods like campfire cooking, grilling, or baking.
You can combine numerous hobbies with this one, like gardening, and begin a vegetable garden to grow your fruits and veggies. Or you can take your new skills on the road with a camping trip!
Retirement hobby: ReadingÂ
Reading is the most inexpensive way to travel. While reading a book, you get to go to another world without ever leaving your seat. It’s an inexpensive hobby because there are so many options out there, and it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money to read.
For instance, you can borrow books from your local library. Retirement is the perfect time to enjoy rereading your old book, as well. Before we retire, we’re constantly too busy to relax, sit down, and take time to read.
You may have a list of books you still want to read but never got around to it. With more leisure time, you can finally begin reading the books on your list! We suggest getting yourself an Ereader to save money, space, and time.
You can subscribe to Amazon Kindle, which gives you access to millions of titles on your e-reader. Reading books has many benefits, including:
-Improves your concentration and memory
-Helps you relax
-Makes you more open-minded
-You can do it anywhere and anytime
-It’s an affordable hobby
-Relieves stress
-Makes you sleep better
-Improves your vocabulary
-Enhances your knowledge
-Improves your imagination
Retirement hobby: Swimming
Swimming is one of the best retirement hobbies but also exercises you can have. It’s an excellent all-round activity because it builds muscle strength, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness. And the risk of getting an injury from this sport is very low.
Also, swimming improves your circulation, reduces your blood pressure, and even lowers the risk of heart and lung disease. You can go swimming at a local swimming pool, lake, ocean, or any other body of water close by.
Usually, the fee for a swimming pool is much more affordable than a gym membership. And when you live near a lake or beach, swimming is free, and you can do it any time of day you want.
You can also apply for swimming or aqua aerobics lessons at a nearby swimming pool or join a swimming team to make some new friends.
Retirement hobby: Hiking
Another great retirement hobby, especially when you love the great outdoors, is hiking. You can make it part of a daily, weekly, or monthly routine and share it with someone else, too.
You might already live in a beautiful environment with beaches, lakes, or forests nearby and endless hiking trails of all levels to explore. Or you can make it an integrated hobby with camping and traveling to all the National Parks of our beautiful country to explore hiking trails.
And, of course, hiking isn’t just a fun hobby; it benefits your health, too. According to WebMD, some benefits are that it lowers the risk of heart disease, it strengthens your core, builds strength in your leg muscles, and boosts your overall mood.
When you’re looking for a few retirement hobbies that also benefit your health, this is definitely one of them. Just remember that when you begin, you must use proper hiking gear. And your first investment should be to get good-quality hiking shoes.
Retirement hobby: Boating
You can enjoy spending time on the water during your retirement by making boating your main hobby. Invite your family and friends to go on a boating trip together.
Or, if this already a hobby of yours, spend some more time on the boat you already have and add some accessories to make it more fun now that you have all that free time.
It’s easy to make new friends on the water, and you can do varied activities, from snorkeling to more adventure-filled activities like wakeboarding. Simply relax, enjoy the sun with a good book, and throw something on the BBQ in the afternoon.
To explore boating even more, you can go night-boating and bring a star map to glimpse the stars. Or you can go boat gating to pre-game on your ship if you’re into sports.
Many stadiums have nearby harbors specifically designed to let you enjoy the game. Just look up if your favorite sports team has a boat gating experience available at their stadium. Here are some fun accessories for boating:
Inflatable Kayak
Towable Tube
Kneeboard
Snorkel Set
Hoverglide
Water trampoline
Boat Grill
Retirement hobby: Volunteering
Many retirees begin doing volunteer work once they enter their golden years. They have a desire to help others, remain active, and be surrounded by people a bit more. It can be a very fulfilling retirement hobby.
Volunteering will allow you to try something different, acquire experience in a new field, build confidence, develop some new skills, practice your talents, and meet new folks along the way. Also, doing volunteer work can have benefits for your mental health as well.
It helps balance the effects of anger, stress, and anxiety. It’s been proven that the social contact element of helping others makes you happier and gives you greater overall satisfaction in life. Suppose you’re interested in doing some volunteer work.
In that case, you can ask for work at your local community center, soup kitchen, animal rescue center, church, or favorite charity. You can even check out volunteer jobs online at:
-Volunteermatch.org
–Volunteer.gov
-Justserve.org
Retirement hobby: Golfing
When most people think of retirement hobbies, they likely think about golf. It’s one of the oldest sports that’s still being played and is also expanding in popularity worldwide. Golfing is a traditional hobby. It’s not only a fun pursuit but also a great form of exercise.
When you walk the 18 holes, you’re spending time outdoors accompanied by a friend or making some new ones at the golf club. So, it benefits both your social circle and your overall health! Now, we’ll admit that it’s not the cheapest hobby to do in retirement.
According to the Golf Channel, the average cost for an 18-hole round is $36, including the cart. And that’s the average cost price at a public golf course. If you’re golfing at a private one, it’s more expensive due to the annual membership and any additional fees.
These costs can range anywhere from moderately priced to six-figure initiation fees. So check out the prices of several courses near you and see what’s best for your budget. You can find an extensive list of golf courses on 100golfcourses.com, including reviews for each one!
Many people think that Golfing equipment is expensive. And sure, it can be. But there are many affordable golfing products you can find online. For instance, this complete golfing set from Callaway is the #1 best-selling on Amazon in the category of golfing club sets.
So which of these retirement hobbies will you try first? Be sure to let us know in the comments. And if you liked this article, don’t leave yet! We’re positive you’ll love the other posts Golden Years Bliss has to offer! Check ’em out here.
One Response
Traveling and painting. !