Somewhere along the way, “What should we do?” became synonymous with “Where should we eat?”
Still, sometimes you want to see your friends without spending $87 at a restaurant. Or you want a date that gives you something to actually talk about. Or it’s Saturday afternoon and you simply cannot sit at another table.
So, what else is there to do?
Turns out, quite a lot.
1. Go to a Flea Market
Give everyone $20 and see who comes home with the weirdest thing.
Flea markets, antique malls, vintage stores, and estate sales are elite wandering activities because you don’t really need a plan. You can spend an hour looking through other people’s abandoned belongings and suddenly develop a deep emotional attachment to a lamp from 1974.
Even better, nobody has to buy anything.
2. Take a Class
Pottery. Cooking. Painting. Sewing. Floral arranging. Glassblowing. Dancing. Jewelry making.
Pick something none of you know how to do.
The point isn’t to discover your hidden talent for ceramics. It’s having an activity where everyone is equally bad at something for two hours.
Worst case, you have something to laugh about. Best case, congratulations on your new personality.
3. Go to a Museum
Museums deserve better than being reserved for vacations.
Find an art museum, history museum, weird local museum, gallery, sculpture garden, or whatever slightly niche institution exists near you.
You get something to look at, something to talk about, and an excuse to walk around dramatically with your hands behind your back.
Museum gift shops also have no business being as good as they are.
4. Have a Craft Night
Everyone is allowed to be eight years old again.
Get some cheap supplies and make friendship bracelets, collages, air-dry clay trinkets, paint-by-numbers, scrapbooks, or whatever else you’ve seen someone doing online.
Nobody’s project needs to be good.
Actually, it’s usually more fun when they’re terrible.
Put on music, throw everything on the floor, and suddenly you’ve managed to hang out for three hours without asking a server for another round.
5. Go See Something Live
Comedy shows. Plays. Drag shows. Improv. Live music. Dance performances. Poetry readings.
There is probably something happening in your city that you have never once considered attending.
Small venues are especially good for this. Tickets are often cheaper, the stakes are low, and occasionally you’ll stumble into something incredible.
6. Play Something
Bowling. Mini golf. Pool. Trivia. Arcade games. Pickleball. Bingo. Roller skating.
Adults desperately need more activities where the only objective is to play.
Not network. Not exercise efficiently. Not accomplish a personal goal.
Just play.
Being embarrassingly competitive about a completely meaningless game of mini golf is good for the soul.
7. Go Outside
We know.
Groundbreaking.
Still, “going outside” doesn’t have to mean waking up at 5 a.m. to hike 11 miles up the side of a mountain.
Walk around a park. Rent bikes. Go swimming. Find a botanical garden. Bring a blanket somewhere pretty. Walk a trail. Go kayaking. Find a lookout and watch the sunset.
Sometimes you just need to physically relocate yourself from the couch.
8. Volunteer Somewhere
If you’re tired of doing the same things every weekend, spend one of them doing something useful.
Animal shelters, food banks, community gardens, neighborhood cleanups, mutual aid organizations, and local nonprofits are constantly looking for volunteers.
Bring a friend.
You get to spend time together, meet other people, and go home feeling considerably better than you would after spending three hours scrolling on your phone.
9. Go to the Library
Libraries are having a comeback, and frankly, they deserve it.
Browse without looking for anything specific. Pick books for each other. Look through magazines. Check the community calendar. Find a cookbook you’ll probably never cook from.
Many libraries also host classes, clubs, lectures, screenings, workshops, and other events that are either cheap or completely free.
Your tax dollars paid for it. Go get your money’s worth.
10. Start a Recurring Thing
Not every hangout needs to be invented from scratch.
Start a monthly movie night. Sunday walks. Book club. Craft night. Trivia team. Volunteer day. Thrift trip. Game night.
Pick something. Make it recurring. Put it on the calendar. <3
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