It is all well and good for a person to have a hobby but some hobbies are obviously more physically exerting than others, more expensive and sometimes downright dangerous.
If you are not partial to physical exertion and are risk averse here are some hobby ideas you can pick up:
Learn a language
Aside from the national or main language in your area try learning another local language or go for a language that might come in useful one day like Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese or French. Being able to communicate in another language exposes you to and gives you an appreciation for the traditions, religions, arts, and history of the people associated with that language. And communicating with someone in his or her language is an admirable gift.
Learn to program
You may just want to understand how software and services work or would like to write code one day yourself but nonetheless pinpoint which programming language you should tackle as well as what sort of commitment (in time and money) your goal may require.
Some computing languages are more user-friendly (HTML and CSS) others are more intricate and interactive (JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and Python) but learning how to program efficiently can be fun and also a valuable and marketable skill.
Pick up an instrument
Most commonly the misconception is that learning to play a musical instrument as an adult is too difficult, if not impossible but do not buy into this. It is possible and never too late to learn!
Of course, you’ll need an instrument. If you cannot buy one try to borrow one. And couple learning an instrument with listening to music.
Try to be the one who can identify what instruments are used in the piece you are listening to. Challenge yourself to identify as many instruments as possible or start learning the history of drums, guitars, marimba, xylophone, pianos etc.
Learn to Draw
Pencil and paper is the cheapest and easiest way to start and later if you like you can switch to painting or digital drawing. FYI you can also do colouring if you think drawing is too difficult. Yes colouring is not just a child’s pass-time. Grown-ups buy colouring books and colour them in with crayons.
There is a growing section of artists around the world that produce colouring books for adults and are making a good bit of money selling them. You never know, you may one day be one of them.
Learn a Board Game
Two enduring and popular board games are chess and checkers (Draughts? Drafts?). Other popular games are Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk and Trivial Pursuit. Choose one as there are thousands of board games out there. Whichever you choose make an effort to learn the history of it. Find out some facts about the game like who invented it, how it became popular, and how many people in the world play it.
Be an expert on the most obscure aspects of the game so that you can regale your friends and family as you play.
Listen to Podcasts
The new way to catch-up on current and popular topics is via the podcast. It is normally run by one or two regular presenters. Some podcast presenters get outside guests to contribute but no matter the format; podcasts are usually focused on a particular topic or theme. It could be trends in Technology, money, football, parenting, a series of short stories or simply a few friends chatting about something that they’re all into.
Once you pick a genre you like it will not be long before you are a fan and keeping abreast with your favourite voices via an app on your phone or PC.
Join the internet community
You probably don’t need any help with this, but while you are at it educate yourself. Learn how to do things, keep abreast of news and current affairs: Find out about what’s going on in your city or learn about the local political candidates and try to dig behind the headlines.
Combine the surfing with becoming a Wikipedia editor. Everyday many people go to Wikipedia for information and some pages are lacking or none-existent so why not become an editor and help them stay current and fact checked.
Oh, and please do follow @kwachalelo
