Stuff to do AFK

I wish I spent more time outdoors (preferably away from people). But I don't really have anything to do outdoors, or any place to go on a whim. I also would like to spend more time doing something offline. Even rearranging furniture can be fun. Or organizing drawers and shelves. Or disassembling electronic equipment. But I really don't know what kind of thing I could do on a regular basis (either for money or as an affordable hobby).

Any ideas on where to start?

Do you live in a city? Even if you do, there might be some nice parks around. I collect things from natural places. Nature walks are one of the only things that make me happy. If I can get out into the woods I'll do that, but there's even some good stuff to be found in the parks and near the outskirts of the city. Mushrooms, flowers, plants, animal bones, cool rocks. It's surprising what you can find even just in city parks. Depends on the city though.
My favourite thing to do is to go out alone into the woods and get lost, then try to find my way back to either my car or some road before dark. I guess mushroom-collecting and getting lost aren't for everyone. Bird-watching is also fun.

Well, the other day I had to go to a city nearby for bureaucratic reasons. The bus I took on my way back was old and didn't even have AC, so the windows were open and there was wind blowing on my face. That was cool. I kinda felt inspired that day, so when the bus was already close to my city I asked the driver to stop, and then walked about half a mile on foot by the side of the interstate, and down a small hill to the avenue close to my house. I wouldn't do that again (it's not exactly safe...), but it was fun.

As far as adventures in my city go, I don't think there's much anything beyond isolated antics like this one. It's not a very interesting city, I can tell you that. And it's small. I routinely walk my way to the opposite end of the city for my appointments with the orthodontist; it was interesting at first, and every now and then when I'm in a good mood it still is (on clear days, I get a nice view of the mountains that surround the valley), but usually, it's not really that interesting.

That's pretty much the only kind of "outdoorsy" stuff I can see myself doing within urban limits. Solitary activities outside urban limits aren't really feasible where I live. The parks we have here don't really count for anything.

http://boards.4chan.org/out/

To simplify things, let's forget about the outdoor activities thing, since it seems like a dead end. It might be nice to hear about far-fetched ideas that I could ponder and fantasize about and have a remote possibility of someday doing something about, but that's another story.

So, rephrasing my original post: does anyone have any suggestions or ideas about (or experience with) interesting things I could do on my own working with physical objects and with little or no need for computers? (Either for money or as a hobby, and within reasonable limits of affordability.)

I'd do something artistic & crafty (drawing, painting, sculpting, etc) if I had natural artistic inclinations, but I don't. I can barely draw stick figures, and I might as well chop wood with an axe instead of trying to sculpt anything out of it — I'd probably get the same results. I've thought of growing a bonsai, but I'd probably get angry and impatient with it instead of relaxed and un-bored. Ideally, my hobby would be something I could do in my backyard, that demanded some physical strength, and that allowed me to practice and develop methods, skills and techniques of some kind.

let's forget about the outdoor activities thing

Let's not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

archigallus wrote:Let's not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

Hm, I had forgotten about this. It does really seem very interesting. But it does require frequent travel, doesn't it? (Traveling frequently is something I would like to do, but currently can't.) I wonder if there's any geocaching activity in my area. My guess is that there isn't, but I guess you never know.

Do you participate in geocaching or know of anyone who does? Online information is good and all, but I don't think you can get a feel for how it really works without a first-hand account.

anagram wrote:I'd do something artistic & crafty (drawing, painting, sculpting, etc) if I had natural artistic inclinations, but I don't.

Don't be stupid. There's nothing preventing you from doing any of that, you just need to know what you're dealing with. That applies to everything.

EmpathySucks wrote:Don't be stupid. There's nothing preventing you from doing any of that, you just need to know what you're dealing with. That applies to everything.

That's kinda the reason why you'd start a thread like this one. Just sayin.

But feel free to contribute to it when you find anything to say that is not a synonym for "Google is your friend".

anagram wrote:

EmpathySucks wrote:Don't be stupid. There's nothing preventing you from doing any of that, you just need to know what you're dealing with. That applies to everything.

That's kinda the reason why you'd start a thread like this one. Just sayin.

But feel free to contribute to it when you find anything to say that is not a synonym for "Google is your friend".

I never said that. I think "google is your friend" is a bunch of sh1t elitists created so they won't have to give an answer. Maybe in the past you could have found useful information with google but today if it's not on the first page it's likely not anywhere.

Still, what are you expecting from the responses? To introduce you to a subject and explain it fully in one post?