Asklemmy

3D printing. Suddenly you are able to fix small plastic shit in your house which would otherwise mean throwing out the whole goddamn thing. Best feeling ever to repair and save stuff.

Indoor gardening/hydroponics. Even in the smallest flat you can grow your own salad, peppers, radish, tomatoes, microgreens, etc.

Like a tiny stardew valley at home.

Hiking.

Getting up amongst the fells and mountains, mostly in isolation from noise and other people. Sure there's touristy spots where alot head to but there's still plenty of other, maybe slightly more difficult to hike places if you wanted pure zen.

Navigation is important, don't just go up with Google maps expecting her to tell you when the next left is. Get some research done, and head out. Don't overcomplicate things with buying loads of gear that youtubers "recommend", don't send it up a 3000ft hike either. A slight ascent, around a lake - start small, find your feet and grow from there.

The best thing I could ever have started for my mental health.

Cooking! It can be so rewarding, a fun way to impress or care for others, and you need to eat every day anyway so ample time to practice.

Almost all cooking can be done with practically no hardware beyond a sharp knife, a good sized cutting board, and a good pot or pan.

There's so many patterns and combinations and different takes on the same ingredients that you can learn. The basics get you 80% of the way there

Crochet

Pros

• Documented mental health benefits
• Cheap to start, can learn from online tutorials
• Easier than knitting
• Make cool toys, clothes, home accessories, whatever you want
• Get to smush yarn into your face on a regular basis

Cons

• Fibre crafts gateway drug

Biking.

Moving under your own power has so many benefits:

• It's fun
• It's cheap (or can be, to be fair)
• It's good for your health
• It's good for the planet

Thinking of learning sign language....

Cooking is a very nice, relaxing hobby and you also get to eat some good food!

It’s also very useful and an easy way to impress people.

Wood working. Can fix things and build things. It’s very rewarding. Can find second hand tools and slowly build your collection and upgrade them as you develop and hone your skills until your wife surprises you at home with your closest friends and family and they proceed to tell you that you have a problem and have to decide between investing time and energy into a living family or your woodworking hobby.

Knot tying is a handy skill and easy to acquire. All you need is a short length of rope and watch a few videos. There may be thousands of knots you can learn, but most people should take the trouble to learn a few tried and true knots. Maybe you want to move a mattress on the roof of your car. Maybe you want to tie a pen to a clipboard. Maybe you want to tie back the legs when roasting a turkey. Maybe you need an impromptu collar & leash for a stray dog. Maybe you have to move a huge bundle of brush you've cut. Maybe you want to tie neat looking stopper knots on your hoodie's drawstring. Knowing how to tie a few different knots will give you options when you're trying to get stuff done.

Baking - fresh warm bread is so good!

Sewing - it's nice to add pockets to things 😁

Sewing is useful and satisfying. I'd like to say it's also easy but I have never figured it out myself (which doesn't say much, anything that involves using my hands is... questionable)

Some form of metal working, and specifically machining. I really enjoy machining, and I've been able to make some genuinely useful things. The tools are actually really quiet and stateful, unlike woodworking power tools which SCREAM at you like horrible demons. Seeing people look at their first top, or pen, or miniature cannon is great. Plus, things made in metal are at least slightly shiny.

For example, you could make dumbbell handles and plates like this: a photo of dumbbell handles and weight plates

Or a metal yarn winder like this: a photo of an all-metal yarn winder

The major downside is that it's not cheap (not as expensive as boats, possibly more expensive than photography), and it requires at least a bit of space that you wouldn't mind getting dirty. Luckily, I feel like makerspaces are starting to have more and more metalworking equipment.

• making bread
• brewing beer (or making wine or cider, as one prefers)
• repair sewing

I suspect I'd feel the same about welding or smithing, but I haven't tried those (yet).

At work, I have a reputation for being the guy who never shuts up about trying to get new people into scuba diving. If there are 2 or more divers at the lunch table I honestly feel a little bad for everybody else. The cost of getting trained and renting or buying all your gear can scare people away, but I would at least strongly recommend that anybody on an island vacation or cruise at least try a "discover Scuba" class. You'll learn everything you need to know to not die by watching a quick video, and working in a pool, then you get to go have an amazing dive in the ocean with an instructor.

@QuietStorm Fishing: it gets you outside, and helps you learn about the natural world as a participant, not just an observer. You don't need to spend a lot to get started and its often best if you go with a friend. I always practice catch-and-release and the experience is a morning or evening of peace.

Learning a new language. You learn a bit about how languages work, understand other cultures a bit better, usually learn new vocabulary for your native language, understand the relationship between different languages, learn the roots of loan words and generally helps your brain stay healthy, even by only studying the basics.

For me it's selfhosting/programming. I don't even work in IT. It's just such a great hobby that actually makes your life more productive.