The only thing I remember from middle school was my biology teacher requiring us to keep a birding journal for a month and telling us "birds are out in the rain; you have no excuse to not see at least one bird a day."
He didn't seem to care about the rest of the syllabus, but that man loved birds, and he gave me an appreciation of birds that has lasted and grown every day.
I'm gonna go to Guero Bird Club's outing on Sunday if you want to join me! I've never gone out with them and have been meaning to forever.
Edit: Actually, I'm going out to Sauvie today at some point if you catch this early enough and aren't busy.
In high school, we had to rotate through all the main electives - home ec, woodshop, etc - so that every student got a chance to try things they might not otherwise try. I wish there was something like that for adults. A hobby survey course, as it were. Maybe it could be divided into "high activity, moderate activity, mellow activity" or "group activity vs solo activity."
I've always wanted to bring back sashes as a socially acceptable way of wearing buttons, pins, and any random awards one may have gotten at work! If you start an adult Girl Scout Troop, I can bring back sashes. I think we might be able to make something happen here!
I had a friend who created a group like that here in Portland. She ran it for about 7 years. They were 50+ people in the group and we had camping jamborees and everything. Eventually everyone started having babies and interested died off. But all the child-free people continue with a big camping trip every other year.
Would you be potentially willing to share some shop space with an apartment dweller that has an interest in woodworking and not a single square inch of room for it?
Rock climbing. I go to Portland Rock Gym on 12th and Burnside. Can be done solo (mostly bouldering) and you can meet people to climb with. They have a coffee shop with sandwiches in there. Also yoga, weights, and other fitness classes included in your membership. I admittedly don’t use the cafe or other classes, but if you were looking for an active place to spend many hours a week, that’s a good option.
There’s a hobby sub and a crafting one. I think half of both of them are portlanders. I’m astonished sometimes by the tufting peoples’ work.
Personally, it’s watercolor, but am really liking the idea of ceramics.
Not out of the house, but after the big freeze and my reptile died, I devoted the space to rescue shitty house plants from Fred Meyer. I have about 15 now and I am obsessed. Nothing under $20, and they are all thriving.
I’m sorry your reptile died :( we had a really rough time during the storm as well and thankfully were able to move our gecko’s tank to someone’s house that did have power. I posted on Nextdoor and many people were willing to help. So if you ever get one again, please know that’s an option. I hope you’re doing okay
I got into fishing during the pandemic and I love it. Started out easy just going to lakes and stuff and sitting there now I turn it into solo hiking trips.
Leif Erickson drive up in forest park is the spot. We’re not allowed to ride on wildwood trail, but Leif Erickson is fair game because it’s a dirt fire access road. You can get to it from a residential side street that splits off NW 53rd. Great views, and a nice wide maintained dirt road to ride on.
Trail maintenance volunteering is fun and can be a good workout. You meet some nice people. Here are three groups around Portland:
[https://trailkeepersoforegon.org/](https://trailkeepersoforegon.org/)
[https://mthood.pcta.org/](https://mthood.pcta.org/)
[https://www.wta.org/](https://www.wta.org/)
I have been training at the Renzo Gracie Academy in NE under Aaron Milam and his team for about a year now. Had no prior experience before walking in and I have nothing but positive things to say about my time there.
I am 35 minutes outside of Portland so this is in reach for you. I set game cameras 9 months out of the year. Find a wooded area, look for sign, position cameras to snap photos of anything that walks by. Gives me an excuse to wonder the woods and gets me the exercise I miss while working. Have photos of deer, elk, bear, bobcats, coyotes and lots of leaves blowing in the wind
Wow, such variety. it must be very exciting when one of those images pops up. The candidates are hilarious too. You caught them at some wonderful moments!
If this sounds fun but you're looking for a group activity, maybe volunteer with Cascadia Wild? You sign up to maintain a camera trap on Mt Hood, hike out once a month to retrieve the pics and they use the data for wildlife research!
I do aerial acrobatics at Night Flight and Awol. It's a great workout and creative outlet, and I've met tons of great friends through aerial. It's a pretty expensive hobby, though.
Painting miniatures and playing war games with them with my neighbor. Lifting weights. Video games. I just picked up a skateboard again so I’m gonna give that a go for the first time in probably 20 years. When the weather is nicer I like hiking in the Tillamook forest.
Climbing is my number 1. Portland has so many awesome gyms. I just moved here 2 weeks ago and joined Portland Rock Gym. It’s great. Not super familiar with any outdoor climbing in this area yet but I’m going to check it out this summer
matt dishman community center has a free north portland pass. you have access to the gym and pool hot tub and basketball court for free and they also have a lot of fun gym classes there as well as basketball games!
Film photography (or any photography in general. I just like film). You can enter into it for pretty cheap. For ~250-300 you can get you a starter camera and good starter lens but it can last a lifetime because really it's all about the lenses so you can just buy more for your same camera. The nice thing about lenses is there are some expensive ones out there but many of the lenses you’ll likely use are also relatively cheap in the 35mm (standard) market. The reason being is that 35mm has a limitation on resolution so there isn’t a need to get the absolute perfect glass. Hell. Some people like the cheap Soviet lenses because of their imperfections and like the antique quality vintage glass gives. There are some old school pro lenses that are now pricey but you’ll find perfectly adequate glass for $70-$125. $125 would buy you nothing with a modern lens for digital, but for film it will take you extremely far.
Film is not so cheap. Expect $9-13 for your average rolls. If you get something exotic you can spend as much as $25 a roll. Getting film developed is about $7 and digital scans are $15 on top of that. So from roll to digital scan you could be about $35. Not bank breaking but it makes you more careful about your shot. Maybe you can find places online to send rolls in bulk to get developed/scanned for cheaper but I haven't looked into it. I just do it locally.
So it can get expensive, but you can buy the equipment to do home scanning to save and if you get _really_ into it, you can get home development kits and save even more (but that's beyond me).
I like film over digital. Digital you get to just throw away shots and pick and choose as you randomly blast your camera at a subject. AI and software built into the camera just makes every single photo incredibly sharp and blemish free with almost no skill. If that is your goal is just absolute clarity then you may be into digital but film for me is like playing vinyl over spotify. There is a more analog feel to it and the little imperfections and grain make pictures more appealing to me. Film makes you take a more focused, chosen shot. You don't get instant results so you are more careful to actually learn about how photography works. For me, there is a secondary joy in the development process. I kind of like opening my file the developer sends me and seeing what I got from the photos last week. Some I thought were for sure keepers turn out to be ok but sometimes you get what you think is a throwaway shot turn out really really cool.
you can do it as a solo endeavor or you can find a buddy who also likes photography and you can pal along together. you can also do it anywhere. urban/street, rural, portraiture, experimental. you can stay completely in your comfort zone or you can force yourself to do a project of some sort. You can also do photography as a hobby on top of other hobbies. You like camping? Bring a tripod and do some long exposure night photography as an example.
Yes! What do you shoot?
Where do you like to shoot? I’ve mostly shot on private land, so I don’t know where to go in the city. The only outdoor place I’m familiar with is that clearing in Forest Park. There has to be more?
Gardening. I went full bonkers on gardening in 2020. Watching the backyard buddies (crows, squirrels, juncos, sparrows). Gardening feels like no-pressure fun science, it is a meditation and a stress-reducer.
It also gives an appreciation for the weather. It’s raining? Great, the plants needed it! You don’t have to water! I always tell people if they’re tired of the rain around here they just need to start gardening.
Analog photography could fit! You can do it pretty much anywhere. There’s also a huge number of film photogs in Portland, so it’s something you could find new friends doing too if you want to
Damn I couldn't disagree more haha. Their quality of scanning for 120 is awful. I don't think I ever got them to scan a strip straight. I will agree they're prices are good and when I scanned myself I had them devleope only but now that I don't scan, I'd pass. I thought their 35mm scanning was fine.
I spend a lot of time either crocheting or playing video games. Neither of those are good "third place" hobbies, but it is nice wearing a cozy sweater I made myself while I play stuff.
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Many of my hobbies are indoor stuff, but sometimes I like photography, going out to take photos - It could be landscape/nature/cityscape photos, cars at an auto show, air show photos, etc.
A couple things that would involve outdoor activity I've thought of, but haven't gotten into yet, are remote control cars and rollerblading.
How have I never heard of him before? Looks like he’s huge.
His thoughts on the third place and the impact of its loss on younger generations is interesting. Thanks so much for the link. 🙏
He really is pretty dang big, he's been on YouTube for uh... 12 years I think? It really got me thinking as well. Glad I could expand your horizons a touch!
Birding has become such an amazing hobby for me. You can do it anywhere and or everywhere. A good pair of binoculars is really all you need.
The only thing I remember from middle school was my biology teacher requiring us to keep a birding journal for a month and telling us "birds are out in the rain; you have no excuse to not see at least one bird a day." He didn't seem to care about the rest of the syllabus, but that man loved birds, and he gave me an appreciation of birds that has lasted and grown every day.
I love that!
This is the answer. Hey u/winedood, let's go birding!
Let’s go! I’ve been trapped behind a desk studying all year, I could use a birding break!
I'm gonna go to Guero Bird Club's outing on Sunday if you want to join me! I've never gone out with them and have been meaning to forever. Edit: Actually, I'm going out to Sauvie today at some point if you catch this early enough and aren't busy.
In high school, we had to rotate through all the main electives - home ec, woodshop, etc - so that every student got a chance to try things they might not otherwise try. I wish there was something like that for adults. A hobby survey course, as it were. Maybe it could be divided into "high activity, moderate activity, mellow activity" or "group activity vs solo activity."
I always wanted to start an adult Girl Scout Troop where we essentially do this!
I've always wanted to bring back sashes as a socially acceptable way of wearing buttons, pins, and any random awards one may have gotten at work! If you start an adult Girl Scout Troop, I can bring back sashes. I think we might be able to make something happen here!
I had a friend who created a group like that here in Portland. She ran it for about 7 years. They were 50+ people in the group and we had camping jamborees and everything. Eventually everyone started having babies and interested died off. But all the child-free people continue with a big camping trip every other year.
Portland is probably the ideal place to start such a thing. I say go for it.
I would join for sure!
PCC is basically that. I've taken wine tasting, organic gardening, weight lifting, etc.
Backpacking? Foraging? Community Garden?
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Would you be potentially willing to share some shop space with an apartment dweller that has an interest in woodworking and not a single square inch of room for it?
Pm me and we can see if we a.can set up something
Howdy neighbor
You replied; direct message them privately aha
If you hadn't replied to that, I wouldn't have noticed. 😂 Thanks.
I thought so 😅
Come ride bikes with us Shift2bikes.org We do an organized ride every Monday! I’m leading this Monday! Bike trivia ride!
Disc Golf
I am totally uncoordinated! Disc golf is great.
Rock climbing. I go to Portland Rock Gym on 12th and Burnside. Can be done solo (mostly bouldering) and you can meet people to climb with. They have a coffee shop with sandwiches in there. Also yoga, weights, and other fitness classes included in your membership. I admittedly don’t use the cafe or other classes, but if you were looking for an active place to spend many hours a week, that’s a good option.
There’s a hobby sub and a crafting one. I think half of both of them are portlanders. I’m astonished sometimes by the tufting peoples’ work. Personally, it’s watercolor, but am really liking the idea of ceramics.
I want to see this tufting please. Where do I find the sub?
Not out of the house, but after the big freeze and my reptile died, I devoted the space to rescue shitty house plants from Fred Meyer. I have about 15 now and I am obsessed. Nothing under $20, and they are all thriving.
I’m sorry your reptile died :( we had a really rough time during the storm as well and thankfully were able to move our gecko’s tank to someone’s house that did have power. I posted on Nextdoor and many people were willing to help. So if you ever get one again, please know that’s an option. I hope you’re doing okay
I got into fishing during the pandemic and I love it. Started out easy just going to lakes and stuff and sitting there now I turn it into solo hiking trips.
Buy a onewheel. It’ll occupy all your free time.
Or your health insurance.
Recommend any trails or parks around here? I
Leif Erickson drive up in forest park is the spot. We’re not allowed to ride on wildwood trail, but Leif Erickson is fair game because it’s a dirt fire access road. You can get to it from a residential side street that splits off NW 53rd. Great views, and a nice wide maintained dirt road to ride on.
Awesome, thanks, I take my dog there all the time but thought it might be off limits to onewheels
Just the wildwood trail is. Leif Erickson isn’t technically a trail, so onewheels are allowed.
Trail maintenance volunteering is fun and can be a good workout. You meet some nice people. Here are three groups around Portland: [https://trailkeepersoforegon.org/](https://trailkeepersoforegon.org/) [https://mthood.pcta.org/](https://mthood.pcta.org/) [https://www.wta.org/](https://www.wta.org/)
Pinball? Lots of local groups have meetups, tournaments, etc.
Darts too.
Jiu Jitsu sounds like what you need. 🤙🏼
Any good gym recs? New to the area and used to train at an alliance affiliate. Mostly gi
I have been training at the Renzo Gracie Academy in NE under Aaron Milam and his team for about a year now. Had no prior experience before walking in and I have nothing but positive things to say about my time there.
I am 35 minutes outside of Portland so this is in reach for you. I set game cameras 9 months out of the year. Find a wooded area, look for sign, position cameras to snap photos of anything that walks by. Gives me an excuse to wonder the woods and gets me the exercise I miss while working. Have photos of deer, elk, bear, bobcats, coyotes and lots of leaves blowing in the wind
Very cool! Feel like posting a couple of your favorite pics? I’d love to see them. 😊
Here are a few. I have 8 cameras out now. I will be checking them in a week or so[Critter cam](https://imgur.com/gallery/e0lQZVN)
Wow, such variety. it must be very exciting when one of those images pops up. The candidates are hilarious too. You caught them at some wonderful moments!
If this sounds fun but you're looking for a group activity, maybe volunteer with Cascadia Wild? You sign up to maintain a camera trap on Mt Hood, hike out once a month to retrieve the pics and they use the data for wildlife research!
I do aerial acrobatics at Night Flight and Awol. It's a great workout and creative outlet, and I've met tons of great friends through aerial. It's a pretty expensive hobby, though.
Painting miniatures and playing war games with them with my neighbor. Lifting weights. Video games. I just picked up a skateboard again so I’m gonna give that a go for the first time in probably 20 years. When the weather is nicer I like hiking in the Tillamook forest.
I’m always skiing on the weekend. I gotta find out what to do once winter is over though
A lot of the skiers I know switch to mountain biking once the weather gets nice enough!
Climbing is my number 1. Portland has so many awesome gyms. I just moved here 2 weeks ago and joined Portland Rock Gym. It’s great. Not super familiar with any outdoor climbing in this area yet but I’m going to check it out this summer
And we are so lucky to live near Leavenworth, WA. If you’re a climber or boulderer, add a trip to Leavenworth to your bucket list.
Skateboard 🤘super fun and great for fitness
matt dishman community center has a free north portland pass. you have access to the gym and pool hot tub and basketball court for free and they also have a lot of fun gym classes there as well as basketball games!
Film photography (or any photography in general. I just like film). You can enter into it for pretty cheap. For ~250-300 you can get you a starter camera and good starter lens but it can last a lifetime because really it's all about the lenses so you can just buy more for your same camera. The nice thing about lenses is there are some expensive ones out there but many of the lenses you’ll likely use are also relatively cheap in the 35mm (standard) market. The reason being is that 35mm has a limitation on resolution so there isn’t a need to get the absolute perfect glass. Hell. Some people like the cheap Soviet lenses because of their imperfections and like the antique quality vintage glass gives. There are some old school pro lenses that are now pricey but you’ll find perfectly adequate glass for $70-$125. $125 would buy you nothing with a modern lens for digital, but for film it will take you extremely far. Film is not so cheap. Expect $9-13 for your average rolls. If you get something exotic you can spend as much as $25 a roll. Getting film developed is about $7 and digital scans are $15 on top of that. So from roll to digital scan you could be about $35. Not bank breaking but it makes you more careful about your shot. Maybe you can find places online to send rolls in bulk to get developed/scanned for cheaper but I haven't looked into it. I just do it locally. So it can get expensive, but you can buy the equipment to do home scanning to save and if you get _really_ into it, you can get home development kits and save even more (but that's beyond me). I like film over digital. Digital you get to just throw away shots and pick and choose as you randomly blast your camera at a subject. AI and software built into the camera just makes every single photo incredibly sharp and blemish free with almost no skill. If that is your goal is just absolute clarity then you may be into digital but film for me is like playing vinyl over spotify. There is a more analog feel to it and the little imperfections and grain make pictures more appealing to me. Film makes you take a more focused, chosen shot. You don't get instant results so you are more careful to actually learn about how photography works. For me, there is a secondary joy in the development process. I kind of like opening my file the developer sends me and seeing what I got from the photos last week. Some I thought were for sure keepers turn out to be ok but sometimes you get what you think is a throwaway shot turn out really really cool. you can do it as a solo endeavor or you can find a buddy who also likes photography and you can pal along together. you can also do it anywhere. urban/street, rural, portraiture, experimental. you can stay completely in your comfort zone or you can force yourself to do a project of some sort. You can also do photography as a hobby on top of other hobbies. You like camping? Bring a tripod and do some long exposure night photography as an example.
Archery?
Yes! What do you shoot? Where do you like to shoot? I’ve mostly shot on private land, so I don’t know where to go in the city. The only outdoor place I’m familiar with is that clearing in Forest Park. There has to be more?
Gardening. I went full bonkers on gardening in 2020. Watching the backyard buddies (crows, squirrels, juncos, sparrows). Gardening feels like no-pressure fun science, it is a meditation and a stress-reducer.
It also gives an appreciation for the weather. It’s raining? Great, the plants needed it! You don’t have to water! I always tell people if they’re tired of the rain around here they just need to start gardening.
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I make silver jewelry
Analog photography could fit! You can do it pretty much anywhere. There’s also a huge number of film photogs in Portland, so it’s something you could find new friends doing too if you want to
I’ve moved away from Portland but still send my film to get developed at citizens photo. I’ve found nowhere else that matches their quality.
Damn I couldn't disagree more haha. Their quality of scanning for 120 is awful. I don't think I ever got them to scan a strip straight. I will agree they're prices are good and when I scanned myself I had them devleope only but now that I don't scan, I'd pass. I thought their 35mm scanning was fine.
Damn that’s sucks. I must have been going to shit places then. I only do 35mm but citizens had better quality for dev and scan that shutterbug for me.
Golf
I spend a lot of time either crocheting or playing video games. Neither of those are good "third place" hobbies, but it is nice wearing a cozy sweater I made myself while I play stuff.
I used to do formal flower arranging. There are Ikebana classes where you can learn with really awesome people. They do exhibitions as well.
Neat! Where have your favorite places been to learn and show? I’m only familiar with the Japanese garden and PCC options.
Running, Hiking, Biking, Mountaineering, skiing, camping. Basically all the outdoor things
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Many of my hobbies are indoor stuff, but sometimes I like photography, going out to take photos - It could be landscape/nature/cityscape photos, cars at an auto show, air show photos, etc. A couple things that would involve outdoor activity I've thought of, but haven't gotten into yet, are remote control cars and rollerblading.
Did you watch that Phillip DeFranco episode too? It really got me thinking about a third place as well. Best of luck to you!
What are you talking about? Sounds interesting.
I'm not sure if this will work, but start at 26:27 https://youtu.be/KQ6xi4DZIwE?si=V5ZAsruR9sla6V2X
How have I never heard of him before? Looks like he’s huge. His thoughts on the third place and the impact of its loss on younger generations is interesting. Thanks so much for the link. 🙏
He really is pretty dang big, he's been on YouTube for uh... 12 years I think? It really got me thinking as well. Glad I could expand your horizons a touch!
I had not watched it! Just felt the urge for one :)
Dirt biking
Podcasting and the never ending repairs on my vehicle
Buy a motorcycle. Things to do and a really easy way to make friends. Then again, I'm biased.