Since we got the baby I can't do it anymore but especially when I was single it was one of my favorite things to do. I had a semi professional photo camera and I would go out and do street photography. I would go to another city for a daytrip just to do that.
Boy whatever this public coporation is it seems to have some nice stuff. Hope it catches on. /s
Walks around town
Bike ride
Gym
Walk along the stream looking at the mallards
Trail running (as soon as I get started with it...)
Park/square bench, filled thermos and something to read
I just meander without purpose, going whichever way feels good. The unaimed arrow never misses.
I live in a walkable city so I have a lot of options by just going outside on foot.
The park. Sometimes for a walk, sometimes for a bike ride.
Grocery store or something nearby. Get a snack or something for dinner.
Thrift store, though that's a bike ride or train ride.
Library. Just browse the stacks.
Bookstore, less often, but sometimes it's fun to see what they have.
Record shop, rarely, because I don't have a record player but a few friends do, and I might see something they'd like.
Sometimes I just walk around without a goal. See what there is to see around here.
I like natural areas on the whole but also cityscapes. Riding the metro system with something read can be nice to. Belonging to a maker space is nice to. Its like one of those old timey social clubs but cheap and with a cool art/craft vibe.
the beach. chicago set it aside for public use instead of reserving it only for the rich and now the lake front is several giant parks with at least one beach on each one and lots of other stuff to do.
i prefer the beaches w/o children (eg hollywood) where you can spend all day & night having a good time until the police make everyone leave and they have a restaurant & bar on the beaches that's really convenient and with a beach friendly dress code on the adult beaches.
I don't have a place! It's becoming a major problem.
Third places are disappearing.
I hate spending money and that attitude has turned me into a hermit.
I'm with you on that. The combination of inflation and working from home for the last few years have made me borderline agoraphobic at this point. I think I've had in-person interactions with fewer than 15 people in the last year. It's just too expensive to do anything these days.
It's probably not great for our mental health.
I also work from home, sometimes 4 or 5 days can pass before I realize I haven't been outside in that amount of time.
Thrift stores.
My neighborhood is mostly concrete and apartments, but a few blocks away it’s multimillion dollar houses, well kept lawns, and huge shade trees. So I cross the 8 lane highway to get there and enjoy walking around and looking at their expensive shit for free.
Forest walk with dog.
Board. Game. Clubs.
They are f___ing awesome!
can you explain how you participate in these clubs? where I'm from, there are restaurants and coffee shops that offer board games for you and your group, as in, you already know the people you'd be playing with, and they're normally not a place you'd go by yourself, waiting to find someone to play with.
Each area of the world is different.
Where I am, there are 3 or more groups that meet up every 2 weeks. They are informal meetups with a small fee of $5, for anyone to come down and join in playing boardgmes with others. At community centres in different suburbs.
You can pre-arrange to play with friends, or just meet and play with people on the day.
I've made many good friends, found great games, and taught many games to others through these groups.
To find them in your town, search for this:
Boardgame association [your town name]
Casual boardgame night [your town name]
Boardgame meetup [your town name]
If you can't find any meetups using these strings, it may be an opportunity to set up a casual game group in your town.
Local arboretum and other gardens are nice. Parks. Boating, if the weather is right for it.
It’s also common for arboretums (and other museums) to have free days once a month, if you want to visit on the cheap.
The arboretum near me is free, so I'm lucky that way. Other gardens have a small fee to enter.
Hiking
The park is my first location.
-Gym
-Dance Studio
-Concerts
-Free Events (there's always something on Eventbrite)
Museums, art galleries
Movies/cinemas
Hiking on trails or just walking
Shopping mall, even just for window shopping
The beach if nearby
Library
Kart racing, I'm talking about the 200 cubic centimeter karts on outdoor raceways. When taking part in the group I'm usually the only girl there and I've come 1st enough times that people in the groups know me as a person worth challenging. I love feeling those lateral G's even though I always end up with bruises on my inner thighs afterwards!
The river, the park, a forest, anywhere but a bar, a club, or a restaurant.
Mountain bike riding with friends mainly. Also just bush walkkng/hiking.
If you want something more consistent join a group especially one organized around a common activity. When I moved to a new city I joined a local game stores weekly DnD game. It was $5 per week and we played in person every week. It was the same rotating cast so it was fun to meet the same people.
I just joined a running group. While a few are crazy distance runners who do multiple marathons a year, including those who do multiple ultra-marathons a year, there are more casual people like me. Its great to exercise every week and then we get to chat afterwards when we go out for food. These are common in most cities and there might even be more than 1 to try out.
The great things about these groups is you can skip a week without any issue and then just join back in. A shared interest allows you to chat about that as a jumping off point. Also some of these are a wide age range which is interesting to see people in different stages of life.
The dog park!
There's not much else around, where I live. The crowd at the dive bars are so not my kind of people. I used to explore the country backroads too, but at this point if I'm going to be alone I'm probably reading (or writing like right now).
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Unfortunately I get off work at 11pm and not much is open that late so I rarely go out.
Grocery store, liquor store, basement.
Park, plant nursery, or Sonic- an American fast food restaurant where you drive up and park or they have a couple of outside tables and it's pretty good for people watching.
I really wish we had more restaurants like Sonic. Not taste-wise, their food is awful. But I like the drive-in experience.
I wanna try a drive-in movie! But I guess they were before my time... :(
I've only been to one once, but it was fun! It's not the best experience for actually watching the movie, but there's a slight party vibe that's very energetic. I wish they'd make a comeback.
Grocery store if I need to just get out.
Thrift stores if I’ve got more time.
Driving out to a restaurant far outside of town if I’ve got more time.
Parks. Not every state / city has good ones. We have awesome parks where I live. Not so much when we went to visit my family last month.
Just walk around the neighborhood or bike around town, me.
Cemeteries
Hiking, socialist work or socialist socializing, friends, that's mostly it
gotta find hella spots in your city to chill with yourself or someone. Also finding some cool places to drive around, go shopping at random small trinket stores or smoke
Basketball court
With an achilles injury and a great apartment, I'm only leaving for shopping and various appointments. Why the hell else would I go out in this mess? :-D
The areas of the city center that aren't overrun by filthy tourists or the park
We have an incredible local park with a great greenhouse that has tables you can sit at and read and have coffee.
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