No friends. What do you do with your free time?

[Lonleyinthesun]

What do you do with your free time when you have no friends or nobody to do anything with?

Please exclude working, volunteering, kids and pets as I’m wondering what you do outside of these things.

The weather is getting better and the days are longer but I’m already struggling with things to do and I know loneliness will set in.
My child is grown and I’m single, family are often working or busy with their own lives, the couple of friends I do have live 100s of miles away and I’m finding myself at a loose end.
There’s only so much cleaning I can do, my entire house is spotless, I’ve even repainted it for something to fill my spare time.
Shopping can’t be an everything day. TV doesn’t interest me. I’ve visited all the local museums and landmarks countless times.

So what do you do as an everyday time killer or do you struggle like me?

Today (it’s Easter Friday in Australia already) I plan to go for a bike ride, work on my gardening (clearing all the overgrown bushes that grew over summer), work on a story I have been writing and listening to audiobooks (listening while gardening or cleaning is particularly good!). It’s a lovely 25 degree day and I want to be outside in the sunshine. Tonight, I will do my weekly FaceTime with mum back in the UK.

Tomorrow, I will work on my science lab course assignment, go to the shops to get my groceries and browse around the nearby second hand clothes supermarket to look for clothes for my holiday back to the UK in 6 months to see family. So excited - particularly the preparation and anticipation.

Mudlarking in streams and collecting bits of pottery and glass

I don't have many friends, and now that we've grown up, we've moved all over the place, so we don't see each other very often. We see each other even less now people are married and some have children!

I have always read a lot of books, so that fills a lot of time, and I learn a lot through reading.

When I lived elsewhere, I used to do a lot of swimming, visiting the library, volunteering, going to the tiny old-fashioned cinema, and doing arts and crafts with my niece.

These days, I have a weekly music lesson. I have tried new things like reflexology, massages, trapeze, aerial silks, sewing classes, skiing, snowboarding and soap-making. I do a lot of knitting (more if I find something interesting to watch!), I go beekeeping and occasionally spinning (the woolly variety, not on bikes that don't go anywhere), attend random courses of interest (e.g. natural dyeing, woodwork, etc.), cook, attempt to garden (I now have a greenhouse to fill...), spend time with my animals, paint and decorate, and try to learn another language. A lot of people that I know seem to be in choirs, too.

I’m not quite in your situation but I thought I’d share my hobbies as they are solo ones. I like walking, reading (I’m a library member), crosswords, cross stitch, painting. I also enjoy quiz shows, a few comedy podcasts, watching box sets and stand up. I plan to write a book but I’ve not managed it yet.

Respectfully, if your friends cause you ‘drama’, you’ve chosen the wrong friends.

If I’m not working or seeing my friends, who are widely scattered and have never caused me the slightest drama, I read, garden (I am making a garden out of a building site), go to the cinema, theatre, opera, art galleries (sometimes I do these with people, but they’re just as good alone), travel, go hillwalking, do yoga, therapy, meditate — I go regularly to a Buddhist retreat centre.

It’s not really that they cause me drama, sometimes it’s just listening to the drama in their lives that gets a bit boring after a while

I feel the same OP (apart from the clean tidy and painted house!) Friends / family are too far away / too busy.

This year I:

Did an online college course
Joined an exercise class that also gets together for hikes
Started dance classes
Signed up for tennis lessons
Joined a weekly wild swimming group.
Got a new bike
Put on music, pour a glass of wine and paint some canvases/ cards.

I also read and walk mostly. Oh and too much scrolling

I live alone, don’t work due to disability which can all be limiting
Today, I have( slowly and carefully!) sanded and stained my solid oak coffee table( charity shop £20 9 years ago)
Yesterday I revived a pair of high top trainers bought for £5 from Vinted
I’m not crafty in the slightest but I enjoy bringing used items back to life
i watch Netflix
WhatsApp my 3 sons
Listen to music on my HomePod
Tv. I watch corrie and Emmerdale “ live”
Read
Laundry and household( I do something every time I stand up)
Food shopping little and often locally
Drink copious amounts of Coffee and eat a bit of chocolate daily.
simple pleasures are the nicest I think.

Gardening, at home, in pots or sign up for an allotment