Ideas for 2024 that are different...

[SparklyOwls]

I want to think outside the box and do a few different things next year.

Not necessarily things which cost loads of money.

Things like:

Donate blood for first time.
Go to the cinema by myself.
Watch a court case.

Help me think up some bits please!

Bumping this for you OP as I’d be interested in doing something a bit different too.

This is a great idea for a thread.

I'll add the following:

• Train journey to a new town or city for coffee or lunch just enjoying the journey
• Seeing something different at the theatre - a play, ballet or opera - looking at smaller, local theatres rather than the big ones
• Reading a couple of 'classic' novels
• Taking myself off to a coffee shop on a Sunday and actually reading a newspaper rather than my phone
• A digital 'detox' - even just for 24 hours
• Shopping my wardrobe and finding some new/different outfits
• Spending a couple of hours in an art gallery or museum
• Finding some new recipes and committing to cooking something new every week/month

Following for ideas, the court case one is a good one OP!

I'm going to try sea swimming.

Following. I like the train journey to a different town for lunch or coffee. I can't think of anything unique to add just yet.

Create a piece of art

Great idea.

Find some interesting local walks
Knit a scarf
Paint a picture
Volunteer to be a befriender
Listen to some more classical music and learn a bit about the composers.

Do a class for something - art, poetry, pottery. Just create.

Also love the idea of just hopping on a train and exploring a new town or city with no agenda other than the mooch. They are always the times you end up doing or seeing or buying something really cool.

Watching with interest

Grow your own food and eat it. Could be as simple as herbs depending on your current skills and/or space

Go to a dance class.

Go to a dance class.

SparklyOwls

Thank you for starting this, I shall try some of the things that have been mentioned, some I have already done.

Find a walking buddy, just for a weekly walk as it will make me commit. Going to ask in the school class WhatsApp group (hardly know any of them) and another group too.

Listen to some more classical music and learn a bit about the composers

You might like "Year of Wonder" by Clemency Burton-Hill, which introduces a different piece of music for each day, with a short article about it.
The January 1st piece is the Sanctus from Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

An easy idea I’m going to try…the simply cook flavourings / spice kits to mix up my cooking as i’m getting sooo bored with our family meals.

You buy all the main ingredients yourself (so it’s not like those other meal kits) and use their flavour pots and recipe cards with veg and meat of your choosing. Only 3 quid to try.

Perhaps we could all stick together and let each other know how we're getting on?

Go walking daily. Staring with small steps of around the block or to the gym daily. Just to get some fresh air really.
Learn a group instrument - currently thinking/researching the basset recorder.
To try something new each month.

This is a good idea, I’d love to watch a court case but have never organised myself to do it!

I have decided to use my bike whenever practical but that’s not really an unusual thing…

Great thread and spending a day in the public gallery appeals to me.

Mine is to bake bread, basic but something I've been meaning to do for ages. I have bought yeast and now need to find the time to just do it

Learn a language
Learn to play an instrument
Join a book club

Great idea!

Join a choir
Pencil drawing
Massage course (will start with a one day version)
Join a local litter pick
Try a park run (need to complete C25K first)
Immersive theatre

Go to a meeting of your local council.
Visit a place of worship that you wouldn't normally go to.
Plot a path for walking somewhere that you would normally drive - like home from work, assuming it's a walkable distance!

One thing I'd like to do this year is get an empty jar and once a week right down one or two things I did that week that were fun or brought me some joy. Then at the end of the year ( or if I'm just feeling a little low) I can dip into the jar and remember the good things.

Nobody has mentioned Sport. Take up or try a new sport.

Sitting in a public gallery of a court case is depressing.