A review of all my hobbies over the years

27 hobbies (and counting)

I have had a lot of hobbies over the years. Even before I realized that I’m essentially a bonafide hobbyist, I was always engaged in some sort of activity I found interesting. So, I thought it would be interesting to do a roundup of all the hobbies I’ve ever done and/or want to do and categorize them by retired, revisit, present, and future. There are also some quirky stories that have resulted from these hobbies, and I will share those too. With all this established, here is a review of all my hobbies.

Retired Hobbies

These are the hobbies I am more than likely discontinuing indefinitely.

Book Writing

Over the years, I have written a few books in a few formats. The books I took from start to finish include a poetry book, workbook, and family history book. The books I started but decided to discontinue include another poetry book with creative writing and a children’s book. I still enjoy writing to this day but decided to redirect it into Hobbyisms and my music, since A. neither require me to constantly be in front of my computer and B. both are significantly less demanding projects.

The three book projects I completed

Longboarding

There was a period where I really got into longboarding because my sister had started doing it and it looked fun! So, I got my own longboard and really put some miles on it. I would often longboard 13-mile stretches at a time, which I would actually find quite meditative. I discontinued longboarding because A. I think I wore my board out and B. I think I started realizing that it’s kind of dangerous after happening to get lucky with a couple (or few) crash landings.

Painting

I was never too serious of a painter, but I’ve done a project or two at some point(s). One project included painting a Metallica Ride the Lightning-inspired skateboard when my husband and I were first dating, which he still has on a bedroom dresser. I enjoyed the sporadic painting projects I did when I did them, but I have since ventured into other types of creative projects.

Here’s how that turned out

Photography

This used to be one of my top hobbies for several years. Whenever I went to state parks (which was very frequent back then), I always brought my camera along and took a lot of beautiful photos. I also took many nice photos from my dad’s backyard. The problem was, I was a bit irresponsible and caused at least three of my cameras to become water damaged! After my last camera fell into the body of water that my husband and I were visiting in 2021, I decided that that would be my last large-lens camera and that he’d be the photographer in our relationship. Now I just have a small point and shoot, which I use occasionally. I also don’t really see myself taking up photography again as my interests evolved and I discovered what I’m most passionate about.

I used to like to photograph waterdrops on leaves quite a bit

Video Production

Creating videos was also a pillar hobby of mine. I had various YouTube channels way back when, where I would create goofy video skits with friends, film nature and vacation videos, and some music-related videos here and there. I eventually decided to discontinue doing this a bit prior to the end of my photography journey so I could spend less time on my computer from this as well.

Hobbies to Revisit

These are the hobbies I’ve done in past years and would like to revisit in the present or future years.

Kayaking

Some of my first experiences with kayaking were when I moved to South Carolina in the summer and kayaked in the ocean. When I returned home, I knew I wanted to bring that with me. So, I rented kayaks (and paddleboards) at parks until I decided to buy an inflatable kayak. Fun fact: I did a 20-mile river float trip in that inflatable kayak (when I was younger and clearly wasn’t thinking about what could happen)!

A couple years later, I bought a recreational kayak on a snowy day when I must have had warmer times on my mind. Some of my other kayaking adventures included kayaking with my new kayak on a miniature float trip with my husband when we were dating, along with doing a guided kayaking cave tour with my boss (there was even a section where we needed to lay flat in our kayaks to pass through the cave on the tour!). I haven’t kayaked in a few years but want to take it back out on the water. I plan to do that this year.

Here’s a photo that shows just how close my foot was to the top of the cave

Hammocking

This is less of an active activity per-se but one that I plan to get back into this spring nonetheless. Several years back, I started seeing people stringing up hammocks at state parks and thought it would be fun to start stringing my own up at various locations. So that I did, and I have taken it to some interesting places.

I actually thought to myself a day prior to writing this post that it would be a win/win/win to start hammocking again because A. I’d be getting around to something I haven’t done in a while, B. It’s another way to get outside and get some vitamin D, and C. I can write from my word processing device on my hammock. Excited to start doing that again!

Drawing

I used to draw a lot when I was younger. One day, it must have occurred to me that I wanted to be able to look at something and be able to draw whatever that is exactly how I see it, so I bought the book How to Draw What You See. I wanted to follow the drawing prompts in sequential order, so the furthest I got was drawing in charcoal. My drawing actually looked pretty similar to how I saw it. I would like to come back to drawing at some point in my life, but it is more important to me right now to stay focused on the hobbies I have more concrete objectives for.

A lamp shade and pencil holder I drew for indoor still life

Yoga

This was also an important hobby of mine back then. When I started doing yoga and continued with it, I became serious about the practice. This led me competing the RYT-300 yoga teacher training in 2019. How I practice and view yoga now is very different to how I did back then (and much more sporadic), but I would like to practice the postures a bit more because they are effective for maintaining flexibility and mobility.

Yoga Trapeze

Now this is a type of yoga that I have really wanted to get back into for many years. Yoga trapeze involves suspended movement and postures, some of which involve flipping upside down (which is great for the back). I actually have my own yoga swing, but what makes it challenging to use it that you need A. very high (and secure) beams to secure the swing from, B. portable yoga swing poles (stable ones are hard to come by), or C. a bolted setup on the ceiling. I look forward to whenever I can get back into this hobby and will share more information about this on Hobbyisms when I do.

Also – I was really hoping to insert a photo for this hobby, as I once had this really good photo someone took of me that demonstrated what yoga trapeze is. I have looked everywhere I can think to look but unfortunately cannot find it. I will provide photos in the future once I start this back up again!

Biking

This has always been an important hobby to me. When I was in high school, I biked myself everywhere before getting my first car, and I especially biked a lot when I lived in South Carolina. My husband and I have biked a few flat trails before, but we don’t currently have a garage for storing bikes or a car hitch setup for driving bikes to these trails. I can definitely see us biking more when we have a house and can more easily transport them.

Hiking

Over the years, I have spent a lot of time at parks. I’m unsure how to accurately estimate just how many miles I’ve hiked, but believe me when I say that it’s a lot. I still go on hikes from time to time, but I would definitely like to get back into it more as the weather becomes warmer. Hiking holds an important place for me because I would definitely say most of my creative inspiration occurs when I’m in the middle of the woods. As someone who mostly focuses on creative pursuits now, it is beneficial to also have one or two activities that encourage new ideas to emerge.

A photo I took on a hike a few years back

Present Hobbies

Here are the hobbies I am focused on now.

Knitting

This is a hobby I never foresaw myself getting into but one that I am heavily vested into now! I have knit many different things before, but my favorite things that I have knit thus far are sweaters and anything I have cable knit, lace knit, or fair isle knit. I love learning new knitting techniques that result in beautiful handmade items and challenge my current abilities. I can definitely see myself continuing to knit for the long haul. Read My Knitting Journey if you’d like my full knitting story.

The most recent sweater I knit

Singing

Of all the hobbies I currently do, singing is what I’m most passionate about. There was a time that I thought that I just wasn’t a singer and that my voice was just what it currently was, but this I’ve pleasantly proven wrong to myself over the last year. Turns out I just needed proper (and healthy) vocal technique! Similar to knitting, I also plan to learn a variety of interesting vocal techniques to add more variance to my voice and also challenge my vocal abilities. The ultimate goal is to do the vocals for two music albums I currently have in the works. Read My Singing Journey if you’d like full singing story.

Song Composition/Songwriting

These are also important music hobbies of mine, which go hand-in-hand with my singing. I unintentionally started writing a music album several years back and fleshed it out into a full concept, from the preliminary songwriting to bringing the songs to life as proof-of-concept song compositions in MuseScore. This is one of my favorite hobbies as well because there is something quite amazing about initially conceptualizing a song and turning it into a finished song that sounds exactly as it’s meant to. Read My Music Journey if you’d like my full music story.

Playing the Native American Flute

This has been a less frequented hobby of the hobbies I’m currently focused on, but I also enjoy playing the Native American flute. I have two Native American Flutes, one in A minor and one in G# minor. I purchased these two Native American flutes specifically for the two albums I’m working on, and I am excited to continue improving upon my abilities to play them and seeing what I can improvise from these flutes as well.

Future Hobbies

These are the hobbies I have not yet gotten to that I want to embark on down the line.

Quilting

Ever since I embarked on my needlework journey, I knew that I wanted to make some quilts at some point. My grandma had some beautiful, handmade quilts that she made in her adult years, and those really inspired me to want to do the same for my own home.

Cross Stitching

I also want to learn how to cross stitch and create some cross stitch artwork. I also saw some cross stitch artwork in my grandparents’ home growing up, and, to me, there is something about cross stitched artwork that really makes a house a home. I look forward to making my own one day.

Embroidery

I think it would also be interesting to learn how to embroider so I can embellish some of the knit garments I make, along with any other ideas I come up with. Not the highest priority on my down-the-line list, but a skill I want to learn nonetheless.

Birding

Birds have always been my favorite animal, and my husband and I may get into birding at one point or another. For me, that would include keeping watching for various types of birds, and my husband would take pictures of the birds. He would then upload those to a birding app where we could then identify and keep track of all the birds we come across. I would have never considered logging the birds with a birding app had it not been for a video he showed me of some others doing the same.

A photo I took of a bird when I was unofficially “birding”

Traveling

I have been to a few different places in my 25-year life, but I would definitely like to explore regions that are at the top of my travel list. This includes the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and the non-contiguous US. America has such diverse geography and subcultures, and I would definitely like to experience more of it.

Honorable Mentions

There are some hobbies I also thought of that don’t necessarily need to have their own section, but definitely deserve an honorable mention. This includes boxing (retired), crocheting (retired), playing my tank drum and balalaika (revisit), jump roping (present), reading (present) and gardening (future). There may be a couple (or few) that I’m not even recollecting; I’ve just had so many hobbies!

That’s Just About All of Them

As you can see, I was not joking when I said I had a lot of hobbies over the years. Hobbies are what have enabled me to keep my life as interesting as it has been, and the great news is, most are pretty accessible!

With just a little bit of imagination, inspiration, and motivation, you can do just about anything you want to. If there is one takeaway from this post, it is: go on and do something interesting today. The possibilities await.

Happy hobbying!