A hobby of collecting hobbies
For a while I've had a habit of collecting hobbies and moving from one thing to another. Sometimes I stay in the hobby for a long time, but eventually I move on. Even within a hobby I have some subhobbies that I move between (in TCG's I've moved from MTG to Flesh and Blood to now Riftbound, but I'll still jam some MTG games too of course). I used to be more into weightlifting, now I only go to the gym for chest day because I've been doing rock climbing for a year and have recently picked up archery.
For people who kinda do similar things, what's a favorite hobby you've collected? Have you dropped it or pulled back from it once you found a new hobby? What's your latest hobby that you've been into? Do you still keep your old ones, and how do you balance everything and find new hobbies to try?
I just allow myself to enjoy what I love while I love it and don't feel guilty when I'm ready to move on. I find most of my hobbies are just the natural evolution from past hobbies. Sometimes I feel like going back, and I do, but not always.
What's been your latest hobby that you've enjoyed?
I've shared recently that I've started to learn English Paper Piecing, a form of quilting. It's not a big leap from sewing to quilting, especially since I'm doing it with scraps from past projects.
My hobby order is:
FIBER: crochet > knitting > spinning yarn > mending by hand > machine sewing > embroidery > EPP
ART: coloring > sketching > inking > illustration > watercolor > digital sketching > digital illustration/sticker design > designing my own tattoos
Edit: and while cooking has always been a way of sustenance, it's also a hobby I grew up with. I cook and bake for fun, not just to eat. Every weekend, I do a project cook or bake where I make something new, or big, or special, or batch make. This weekend's batch cook didn't turn out because the ADHD monster got the better of me and I forgot I had something in the slow cooker on high....
cooking as a hobby resonates with me tbh, i love cooking but it's so much work sometimes, i'm usually just cooking for sustenance but when i want to i go all out, my favorite is ramen from scratch!
Due my ADHD I’ve been a longtime collector of hobbies. My rotation is:
Languages; both constructing my own and learning existing ones (in order of proficiency, more or less: French, Spanish, Swedish, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin)
Music; playing, learning existing pieces, some light composing but no real skill at it
Games; playing, but more creating. Usually I don’t go beyond designing a white paper, or tinkering with an old project. If I’m going to play a game, it’s usually going to be a video game. If I’m going to create a game, it’s usually going to be either a TTRPG or interactive fiction.
Programming; video games dovetail into this. My primary knowledge and skill is in web design, but of course I know some Python, and I’ve dabbled in probably every major language out there and has my reasons for not liking them. Lately I’ve been studying Odin, which I’ve been enjoying.
Prose Writing; I’ve been writing in some capacity or another since I was a kid. Much of it nonfiction, but the greater part has always been fiction. Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery, those are my usual haunts. They dovetail into the game creation thing. I’m not saying much about it here but this is probably my biggest and oldest hobby, the one at which I’m most skilled, the one which has the most output saved on hard drives and the cloud.
Drawing; this is my most hobby type of hobby. I did not get into drawing because of a love of art. I got into drawing because I wanted to write comic books, and I was told that there was really no call for comic book writers… But there sure was a good call for comic book artists. So I started learning how to draw to find my way into the industry that way. And then the comic book industry really started collapsing with the invention of the Internet so… I can draw. And now sometimes I do it for fun.
I’m sure there’s other hobbies but these are the ones I return back to time and time again.
this sounds a bit like meeeee hahaha. I want to try learning more languages besides english and mandarin but it's honestly kinda difficult! I haven't really done too much writing or drawing though, maybe i'll try that!
Writing is honestly one of the most "do it anywhere, any time" hobbies of all time. You open your Notes app or whatever text editor you like, and you just jump back in. Apple Notes is always open on my Mac and on my iPhone and iPad and I can access it via iCloud. Any old time I want to write, it's just there. Writing has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. The only reason my writing isn't online right now is because I don't wanna.
Ive been really into coins since I was a small child and lately Ive had to reign it in a bit because the price of bullion is starting to affect the price of coins.
I did manage to find what I was looking for at a reasonable price at a coin show a few weeks ago, its really only dollar coins and gold coins affected right now.
Rip my tiny gold coin obsession though. Gonna be a while before I can dive into more of those.
my grandpa was actually really into collecting coins and stamps too actually! (in taiwan and china though so i don't know too much about that) I was thinking of looking at some of them to try and honor his memory but maybe pokemon cards are the stamps of our generation or something.
How do you usually find coins and how did you get into it? Have you found something to replace that hobby now that it's more expensive?
My dad is also a coin collector, he used to travel for work and when he got home he would give me his exotic pocket change. I loved it!
Ive just moved to collecting smaller coins, they’re the same price as they were five years ago, especially at coin shows. To get into coin collecting Id definitely just look up the next coin show in your area and meet all the local vendors there. If they’re there and selling coins, they’re legitimate coin dealers who wont just look up the price on Ebay and charge you that.
I wouldn’t ever buy a coin from a pawn shop and I wouldn’t ever buy a coin from Ebay.
This is completely off-topic and please don't take it personally because everyone does it, but a silly linguistic thing I enjoy is when people have a typo or swap homophones but the sentence still kind of makes sense with the other word. If you are getting something under control you would be reining it in, like pulling on a horse's reins, but coins have historically been marked with a reigning person so it still kind of makes sense here.
Back on topic, what are some of the coolest parts of your collection?
Fair, its not a word I use often
I really love shipwreck coins, so I have a bunch that Im pretty sure are absurdly expensive now cause they’re all chunky silver 8 reales and thats exactly the sorta thing thats been going crazy in price.
Also very into teeny tiny gold coins and they made gold coins the size of a thumb tack for a few years in the 1800s
Also a Thaler from Geneva right before Napoleon invaded and the toning on it is such that it was stored for a long time and then briefly recirculated so I just imagine someone stashing it away during the war and then maybe living to spend it later!
I love when inanimate objects tell a story like that.
You've also reminded me of a thought I've often had when reading history or historical fiction, where they will reference some old coins and I struggle to contextualize it. If a sailor threw a silver 8 reales coin on the tavern counter, is that enough to buy himself a drink, enough to buy a round for all his friends, or enough to buy the whole tavern? So, my question is if you know of any good resources for comparing the value of historical coins to the present (in the sense of what they would have been worth when in use, not their present collector value)?
I can't speak for Europe, but in the US a whole 8 reales was overkill for pretty much anything, I only know this because people would cut them into pizza slices and use those wedges for trade instead of the whole coin. I collect those too :)
This kind of comment is why I love Tildes :)
Relevant xkcd
honestly this is how i approach collecting in TCG's so it's not too far off tbh
I feel this deeply, haha and I'm sure some neurodivergence (undiagnosed) has a lot to do with it. Lots of barely-started or unfinished projects or avenues of pursuit. Though part of doing so has been the "plan" all along- to try all sorts of new things, including things I've never attempted before, and see what remains after I've experimented a while. I just decided to try as hard as possible not to assign any kind of judgement of "failure" to any of the experimentation- since a lot of it was just testing waters to see what I like- and to see what unearth some latent talent i didn't know I had or something.
All of these responses make me wish i picked up drawing and visual art! the most i've done is music and such, and not enough to even do original composition :') i need to have a creative outlet too tbh.
I have too many and I feel bad and guilty and overwhelmed with them often. It’s definitely a pattern of seeking dopamine or something for me.
That said, my biggest hobby for years, so much so I spent 120k on student loans for it, was photography. After landing a career working for one of the most iconic image makers in history but then getting burnt-out as a result, I’ve found myself interested in Linux and homelabbing/self-hosting as my latest biggest hobby. Though I can’t find the career to match. This definitely started as a sub-hobby from being “in charge” of the storage server working for the photographer, and of course needing to store my own images locally. Linux has also spawned other sub-hobbies, such as PC building, gaming, web hosting, web design, and trying to learn programming but AI kind of killed that. I would cut my teeth for hours trying to make a rock paper scissors game to learn python but Claude can put mine to shame and make something advanced with levels and a GUI and save states in like 30 seconds. It feels pointless now to even try. But it also feels bad to use AI for stuff like system administration scripts and I have inner conflicts almost daily, wishing I could just know it enough to do it myself instead, but simply can’t spend the hours and days and weeks and months and years it’ll take to learn without using AI if I hit roadblocks the way I often do. Sigh.
Other random hobbies I’ve gotten into include but are not limited to; woodworking, stamp collecting, shaving, interior design, reading, writing poetry, hiking, trail running, backpacking, weightlifting, etc. I really need to tone it down, hone in on the more important hobbies, and get back into photography the most, with my wife due in September I’m hoping having a child and wanting to document their existence might reignite my passion for art and photography.
Good luck with your future child!! shaving as a hobby is pretty funny to me, tell me more about that?
I blame /r/wickededge… It turns out there’s more options than just whatever Gillette Turbo-Fusion-Ultra-Mach-Glide 7 is being sold at your neighborhood drugstore. I do the old school thing with a safety razor, standard razor blades, brush, and scented shave soap. Add in some alum, aftershave/cologne, and balm and the overall experience is much more enjoyable. I get a smoother, less irritating shave than with expensive, 5-blade monstrosity, plastic-ridden cartridges. There’s also a plethora of soap scents to choose from, my favorite lately has been Lavender. Barbasol shaving cream isn’t the only option! Who would have thought that we figured out the proper way to shave in the 1950s. Every “improvement” since, every new blade added to a plastic cartridge, is only a further regression from a decent shave.
And thank you! It’s all very crazy and exciting and doesn’t help my hobby/project spasticity but it’ll all come together.
cries in mostly hairless asian
Honestly, consider yourself lucky. To me shaving is a necessary evil. My genetics are heavy European/Mediterranean and shaving thick hair means ingrown hair and irritation is unavoidable. Might as well minimize and enjoy the process as much as possible. Now that I’m thinking about it, in a way it’s essentially just a skincare routine. You could definitely adopt a similar self care regimen minus the shaving aspect. Sorry - I can make a hobby out of anything, it’s a true problem.
Honestly, having a kid has been great for pushing the urge to shoot photos. Having a proper camera free and available is less of an option, so I would encourage you not to turn up your nose at a quality camera phone.
I was once a TV videographer who has always enjoyed shooting photos, and having a child was the encouragement I needed to install a backdrop and lights in my basement.
One thing I didn't expect about being a dad was how hard it would be to maintain my own hobbies and identity in the early months amid a newborn's nap schedule and overall needs. What helped me was having projects that kept me moving, could be tackled in a 2 hour window and were iterative insofar as I could spend waking hours with baby thinking about how I wanted to approach my hobby later.
Good luck. As many say, this will be among the hardest most rewarding things you do ❤️
I’ve been meaning to respond to your thoughtful comment, I’m just rarely online these days. Thank you!
Whether you have the time or not, it's all good! Part of commenting is me just flexing my brain while sitting on the toilet in the morning. ;). All the best
I've experienced this myself a bit. I do not have ADHD though I've been told that I do sometimes exhibit ADHD-like behaviors. Over the last few years I've explored mechanical keyboards, headphones, street photography, gaming, riding trains, consumer electronics, and plenty of others I'm forgetting.
I think my favorite hobby that I've collected has to be exploring train systems. I'm a life-long car guy but really got sucked into the urbanism rabbit hole a few years ago and train systems (and public transit as a whole) are a big part of that. I just find a lot of joy in getting on a random train and seeing where it goes. Japan has been a gold mine for this and I've spent a good chunk of my recent travels there just exploring their train networks. For example, recently I explored the rail network in and around Osaka in western Japan. I got to see the subway in Kobe as well as the extensive inter-city trains that'd take you from Kobe in the west through Osaka and out east to Nara and beyond.
I've pulled back from plenty of hobbies as I've found new ones as well. Mechanical keyboards and headphones/audio are my examples of this. I fell into the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole a few years after I'd gotten my first mechanical keyboard and went nuts. I researched about different sizes, case materials, PCB plates, switches, keycaps, etc. for hours on end. I eventually got bored of keyboards and stumbled into headphones. I again did hours of research and got some equipment but I soon realized that I value convenience too much for music streaming over sound quality so I wasn't really benefiting from getting fancy headphones with a DAC/AMP.
I do have a tendency to simply drop hobbies as I find new ones but I do keep the things I acquire from these hobbies. My parents are great at hoarding things so that's also just been passed on to me. If things are just sitting in a drawer collecting dust for over a year, I do try to get rid of them to clear up space and earn back some of my money.
Ooooh longboarding sounds really fun! that was me pretty much with snowboarding but now i carry around a snowboard everywhere i move even though it's only once a year pretty much :')
I feel that with vinyl records, i do that, and bluray and physical games, and i moved into a nyc apartment 6 months ago and i feel like i should have gotten rid of stuff but it's fine i guess.
You should try riftbound! it's been really fun if you can get product
I only just turned 30 and I've had 3 jobs so far! Trying to stick with what I know (Android development) but i definitely stayed at one job for way too long, 4 years is a bit too much at my age tbh.