What do you like to do outside?

[sacrebisous]

As some of you may already know from my previous posts, I'm a shut-in. I'm also usually broke, can't drive, and am sort of terrified of the outside world. People also tend to assume I'm a woman alot so I don't know how to talk to people without getting some unwanted advances. After a few years of this lifestyle I've decided I've had ENOUGH and want to get out of this house and explore, maybe meet new people! No offense to online, but it has rotted my brain a bit.

My question to you all is: what even is there to do outside? After my first expedition to the mall alone, the most fun I had was going to the food court and eating some real dubious nachos. I don't have a whole lot of money and I've got 4 friends total, most of whom are busy 98% of the time, so I feel like I don't have a lot of options for going it alone with $10 in my pocket.

What kinds of things do you guys like to do when going out on your own?

[AuzzieJay]

As someone who goes outside all of the time but often doesn't have all that much spending money, I really like to go antiquing or thrift shopping. It's fun just to browse all of the knick knacks- I especially like looking at old electronics.

Another great idea is going to the library of course! Some libraries cost a membership fee if you live outside of the town or county they are in though.

Cemeteries are really cool too. I like just walking through cemeteries. Sometimes if I can't come up with a name for a character I'll walk through the cemetery to find neat names.

Also just walking through nature can be a wonderful experience.

Another underrated thing you can do is people watch. A friend and I use to just sit in the cafe at Target and talk about what the people walking in were doing and what their dreams and careers were.

[Starfighter]

I'm a shut-in. I'm also usually broke, can't drive, and am sort of terrified of the outside world.

A.. are we the same person? This is a great topic and I intend to make a longer post later, I want to learn to find pleasure in being outside more.

[ImaginaryKarin]

I'd suggest trying to get interested in photography. Doesn't have to be with the intention to be particularly good at it, and you don't need a fancy camera either. Your phone camera set on "auto" is plenty good enough.
The point is that you can go outside with the goal and intention to see nice things to take nice photos of (or ugly things, it's your hobby). It can be a fun way of seeing the world. The camera also creates a bit of a shield between you and everything else, so maybe outside will seem less scary if you can look at it through a camera lens?

You could even start little photo collections. For example, you decide that you want to collect photos of nice flowers - so you go outside specifically looking for flowers. Like some scavenger hunt lol. I myself live in a very rural area and I collect photos of mushrooms and a specific type of old barns typical for my region.

[irkeneon]

We have an electric bike so most of the time we're just riding around, we found a nice trail near our house. Sometimes we'll go to a local coffee shop, thrift store, the library, and generally when we go out to the library we'll pack like a lunch or something and eat outside.

Sometimes libraries also have like workshops or events which can be good, though our local library doesn't have a whole lot rip

[Cobra!]

If you live in a city, you can look for meetups on meetup.com. I always do that when I get cabin fever. It gives me an excuse to go out, anyway.

Sometimes I also like to go for a walk around the block listening to my Minidisc player!

[sixeyes]

I like to explore! My town is relatively small (sub 100k ppl) and i have a decent bike, so i think at this point (after five years) i've been on most streets at least once, and also covered a lot of the area around it.

It's fun to sniff out areas "between" actual places; if some roads make a triangle, and there's no apparent thing in the middle, i try to get there and find out what's up. My most interesting find (that i can legally speak of ) i think is an abandoned and completely overgrown shooting range in the middle of old oak forest. No way to get there other than foot anymore, since there's a lot of quite big trees growing in the old road.

(Also made me interested in maps in a way i wasn't before, i've been thinking of drawing my own eventually.)

I'd suggest trying to get interested in photography. Doesn't have to be with the intention to be particularly good at it, and you don't need a fancy camera either. Your phone camera set on "auto" is plenty good enough.
The point is that you can go outside with the goal and intention to see nice things to take nice photos of (or ugly things, it's your hobby). It can be a fun way of seeing the world. The camera also creates a bit of a shield between you and everything else, so maybe outside will seem less scary if you can look at it through a camera lens?

You could even start little photo collections. For example, you decide that you want to collect photos of nice flowers - so you go outside specifically looking for flowers. Like some scavenger hunt lol. I myself live in a very rural area and I collect photos of mushrooms and a specific type of old barns typical for my region.

This! "Exploring" meshes good with photography, or other such things like sound recording or painting. It's a nice motivator to try new places, and creates nice mementos of what you might find.

Another underrated thing you can do is people watch. A friend and I use to just sit in the cafe at Target and talk about what the people walking in were doing and what their dreams and careers were.

This too. I like to get to a busy place and sketch people. It's a nice exercise since you don't have much time to study each person before they move on. Made me look at peoples outfits in a different way too.

[vincent]

Birdwatching and learning about entomology or native plants is a great way to make going outdoors interesting without it necessarily costing anything. I've always been interested in animals, so I like to go outside and just look at all the nature. Turn over rocks to see what scuttles out (be careful if you live in an area with snakes), just look at the grass to see what is going on.

The human world is only one layer of what the Earth has, we have a bunch of little universes existing all around us that we barely notice. It's really amazing to just watch the other living creatures at work in their daily lives.

[princemaggots]

In terms of shops, I generally like thrifting and checking out "weirder"/off-the wall shops generally, or witch shops. I also enjoy going to half price books, usually when I'm there I end up buying cds or some random (usually non-fiction) book I find. I also very much enjoy going to concerts, though I've only gone to one as of recently because I'm in uni with no car (which vastly limits options lol)

I used to like going to the mall, but as of the past few years it's usually too people-y for me when I do get to go >_< when I have a car myself, I'll probably try going during the week when I'm not in class.

Other than that, I like exploring around or taking walks in nature! Usually when I'm home over breaks this happens in conjunction with taking the dog so both of us get the chance to walk around :3

[Blog47177]

If you live in a city, you can look for meetups on meetup.com. I always do that when I get cabin fever. It gives me an excuse to go out, anyway.

Sometimes I also like to go for a walk around the block listening to my Minidisc player!

Yes good one. I always look at good events to consider when I am in Sacramento or in the Bay Area I use Meetup more before the pandemic. Now not so much.

[OppositeKeith]

i rarely go outside but i essentially like going to my City's Mall. i had a blast walking looking through the many stores. its a good place to socialize for me.

[lostletters]

+1 to the library and also any parks!

I challenge myself to walk 10,000 steps a day, which really makes it difficult to not explore every side street and alley and park near me, so having a step goal may help you get outside more even if there is no particular destination in mind. I usually just listen to a free audiobook from the library while I walk, so I really recommend that if you get overwhelmed and it's safe to do so where you are.

I also challenge myself to find different ways to walk between the places I go most like the office and my apartment, which helps keep my mind pleasantly focused without any strain.

You may also be interested in Geocaching as a free activity outdoors. You can do it alone or with friends.

[nitronine]

I love general hiking/nature sightseeing! I also love bringing books and my sketchbook out to scenic locations for a nice peaceful reading or sketching session.

[Myrmeform]

my favorite free things to do outside are like others have said, take pictures, sketch, or learn about the nature near you. even just going for a walk around your neighborhood and looking around is pretty enjoyable! if you're in a city you can look at the architecture of different buildings and find interesting places tucked away in corners, and if youre in a smaller town theres some pretty interesting sights to see (doesnt have to always be like picturesque, the local water treatment plant is always fun to look at for me haha)

i think learning about the nature around you is really fun and important, i think its good for your like... soul or whatever, for lack of a better word lmao. inaturalist.org is a really cool site for this, you can browse other observations people have made in your area, or submit your own pictures of plants/animals and either the ai or other users will help you identify it! (you dont have to submit things right next to where you live obvs)

as for the unwanted interactions from strangers, thats unfortunately just gonna happen sometimes. i simply walk away swiftly from people trying to bother me, and i carry pepper spray just in case! i dont know how it is in your neck of the woods but I bought mine at the grocery store, and i can also find them at like outdoorsy stores.

[juette]

theres a park neat my house with a swingset...... i dont go when theres children cause i dont wanna take it away from them but its still fun. i just put on my headphones and play therr for an hour or two

[sixeyes]

oooh i can't believe i forgot to mention this (or well, i can, it's very cold here ATM) but stargazing!! if you're a bit nocturnal this is great. there's so much stuff up there, and once you start to know a few constellations you can kind of feel your way around the sky in a different way.

it helps to do some exploring (hehe!!!) first so you know a few places with a clear view of the sky. i've found it hard to find a place within the city limits that has 360° vision, instead i have one goto spot for each cardinal direction. light pollution sucks a whole damn lot - a "good" place even like 20km from the city is still not at all what it's supposed to be. there's a light pollution map but it kind of requires a car (and a lot of time to drive, it's coarse) to be of use, which i have not.

but! even in the most orange of city nights, i find with the smallest shittiest pair of pocket binoculars, and a crescent moon, you can still have a good time.

right about now there's a "green" comet around for the first time in 50 000 years (), supposedly you can see it "beneath the handle" of the big dipper, en route past the pole star, best chance to view around the 1st or 2nd of february. not sure about naked eye but with binoculars surely. (sadly i'm about to be covered in clouds for a week or two, tonight was my best shot, but i didn't see anything - too misty still.)

[Mantis Orientalis]

I love looking for small animals like reptiles/amphibians/bugs/arachnids and taking photos of them!!!! I dont have a real high quality camera so I use my phone- doesn't matter to me tho cuz I love my lil personal collection of critter pics!! although sadly theres been a lot of construction around the woods I look in so I don't find as much anymore

[mrwillhorlen]

I'm a shut-in. I'm also usually broke, can't drive, and am sort of terrified of the outside world. People also tend to assume I'm a woman alot so I don't know how to talk to people without getting some unwanted advances.

Seems like we have a lot in common.

Anyway, I am still residing in a third-world country, outside of me is a large sprawling ghetto without anything interesting in it, hence there is nothing to do. Farthest I can go is up to a busy road separating the decrepit community and the city that I can't cross because I keep worrying about being hit by large vehicles. My own home isn't safe either, but that’s another story on its own. That’s why I’m planning to leave quietly sooner or later.

[windigo]

Used to bike a fuckton but they started working on the main road so I can't really do that anymore. Also the infrastructure for bike roads is absolutely crappy since 90% of the pedestrian roads are narrow as hell so I wasn't lucky to find other places for biking.
Otherwise, I enjoy thrifting, my city's sprawling with thrift stores (even inside malls) full of weird but cool shit (I found a guide on how to use Windows XP once).

[DaGrandDragonn]

I’m a homebody. Not introverted by any means, though. But I only really hop outside to read myself some nice books from the library, use the community embroidery machine (of which I am now the unofficial “master”) and go thrifting!

I absolutely adore thrifting, and hey, according to some other answers to this thread, y’all do too. I ain’t surprised, it’s fun and it’s weird! This is a very quirky forum, thrifting is quirky, good combo, yeah?

Not really much I do outside of the home, really. Aside from events, this is it. I’m not complaining, home is awesome. It’s where my family is, and there isn’t anything better than to hang out with the fam. I’m wringing out the worth of the rent that’s for sure, why even get a house if you ain’t gonna vibe in it? Smh

[Wavmev]

The library as mentioned! It’s a great place to get exposed to things you never knew about or what you want to know more of. They usually have a little upcoming event area/programs they host. Plus, a library card can change your life with the resources your library(s) may have available (I’ve heard one that offered power tool rentals. You never know when you need it!)

There’s also meetup and Eventbrite to see what’s going on. Museums may either have no entrance fee or days that are free. If you’re looking to get into connecting with others, volunteering for something you’re interested in is a great way to connect with people on common ground.

One of my favorite things used to be walking the beach shoreline/a running track for hours and just letting my mind talk to itself. Kinda like an autopilot, out of body third person thing; questions and answers to things I didn’t know I had would come outta nowhere. Leave feeling like a blank slate/refreshed (,:

[catra]

well i looveee exploring the nature, walking into the forests, all while listening to music. i once listened to a podcast and that was really nice too. i love going to the nearby town bc i go w train and a trainride is prob the best and most relaxing activity outside? for some reason, it feels kinda like being at home when youre in a train

ooh and libraries too, i used to work in a library and it was so soothing mentally. they usually have nooks and corners for ppl to sit and read, oftentimes theyll allow you to bring in snacks if its not loud snacks, so you could also chill there

[ch1rx30]

I'm a little similar to your description and I prefer going outside when it is cloudy or at night/dusk. I just feel less exposed I guess. I'll just wander around and listen to music, and I wear big headphones so people don't bother me. If it is sunny out I wear dark sunglasses.

It sounds like your area isn't designed for walking, but if you have a bike you can hunt around for some nice spots. When you find them you can make a plan to go back and do whatever you normally do. Like you don't have to become a hiker or a gardener in order to touch grass. I will leave the house and walk for 20 minutes just to play rhythm games on my phone under a specific shady tree instead of in my room.

[SafeInSanity]

Burn fires, BBQ, and drink beer.