What hobbies did you pick up during the pandemic and have you been able to keep them up?

I started reading regularly. Been doing it for a few years now. I think it was exactly what I needed in my life. I pretty much cut off playing video games and replaced it with books. 👍

Started playing chess. Did all the lessons on lichess. I still suck, but I definitely am a lot better than I was.

I got in the habit of taking pills for anxiety and add! I told myself it was just for a little while (i hate taking pills) but here we are! Hahahahahaha! I hate this hobby but it is a requirement with my other new hobby im working on: not having panic attacks, like, ever again. Nope. No thanks. No

Walking every street in my giant suburban section of L.A, picking up litter as I go. 3 years, and 1,200-ish miles so far. And probably thousands of pounds of trash.

I built a basic gym in the basement and started powerlifting. I get excited for every lift day and find it genuinely fun. None of my clothes fit anymore, but I feel incredible, all my aches and lower back pains from years of office work have disappeared. For anyone that’s remotely interested in weight training I would highly recommend picking up a squat rack and barbell, it will change your life

Homebrew computers. I started with a 8 bit z80 and kept at it until I almost got a 80486 based homebrew working. I got it to run 3 bytes of program data before crashing one time. Computers are hard. I keep hoping someone else will find the missing piece to the puzzle but I ain't getting any further with this otherwise. Homebrewers are on 286 and 386 stuff right now so they'll get to 486 eventually.

Nightly drinking. At this point, I don't know what life was like before I started, and as much as I know I'm shortening my life, I actually really enjoy the daily stress relief - I'm weirdly happier overall these days as a result, although I do keep my intake low.

I don't smoke, vape, trip, weed is a no go, as it triggers psychotic thought patterns, and I don't take anything else (unless caffeine counts, in which case, I'd rather fucking kill myself than give up coffee.) I enjoy having something to lean on. We're all dying, some of us slightly faster than others, by choice. I don't think a couple whiskeys a night is all that bad, all things considered. The world is moving in a direction I'm not compatible with on a deeply personal level anyway, so fuck living until 80.

Disc golf, free to play on courses. Discs are much cheaper than golf clubs. The skill floor is low enough for most people to start having fun pretty quickly and the ceiling is high enough to have an entertaining to watch pro scene.

wargaming model painting (Warhammer 40k) and am still at it.

I picked up baking soughdough loaves - like a lot of people...

I've managed to keep the habit! I've made a loaf once a week (pretty much) for almost 3.5 years. Which is a crazy number now that I've calculated it.

Feeding/kneading/shaping/baking just became part of my routine and it is now super easy to maintain, especially with the 1 a week low commitment. It makes the best sandwiches!

Don’t know that I’d call it a hobby exactly, but a habit at least. Finally working out.

I needed something since I was always home and just felt weak. Got a set of adjustable dumbbells and a small lifting bench.

3 years later and they are still by my desk, used 3 times a week!

Guitar and Ukulele, it's been 4 months since I touched either one. But it's because of a big RFP at work and not anything else.

I played video games more often than usual. I still do when I have the time

Programming.

I don’t do it as much as a hobby anymore. But that’s because I switched careers and do it all day for work nowadays!

Used to read a little bit (~3-8 books a year). Now I read a lot (30+ books a year). Love escaping into a fantasy world

I tried to get into game dev by installing Unreal Engine but didn't really dedicate enough time to really figure it out.

I guess I did get back into console gaming over the pandemic and I've definitely kept that hobby up.

I wish I had been able to enjoy the lockdown with everyone else. I'm an essential worker, so aside from wearing a mask all the time, life didn't really change for me. I would've loved a 2 year break from work and people.

I started learning German, off and on. I know more words than wenn I started.

I learned how to design and build mechanical keyboards. My buddy and I are still at it and are working on our second keyboard that we hope to release publicly.

I'm still using our first prototype as my daily driver for the past 2 years.

Learned a lot about PCB manufacturing and embedded systems design.

I got into doing yoga. I did it daily for about 9 months straight in 2020, and have never felt better. I go through phases now where I can keep it up, but I can also go a while without doing it. I wish I could get back into doing it daily because I feel so much better with the consistency.

When Covid came to town I started learning French to do something constructive. I started with 1 hour+ Duolingo a day, then after a year I added comic books (Tintin/Asterix/Spirou/Natacha/etc.). Now I am reading the Maigret novels.

I finished the Duolingo course after ~3 years but they added more content so now I do ~15min a day just for fun, while most of my learning is through reading interesting novels, like Maigret.

I also took the ANUx's Astrophysics XSeries Program on EdX, it's spectacular and I learned so much from it. So I keep better up with new discoveries and understand what's going on.

Drinking

Being stuck inside gave me the opportunity to go back and replay some of the video games that I grew up with, and the chance to try the games that I saw in stores but wasn't able to get at the time. I have a PC that is plenty powerful enough to emulate games from the Gamecube, PS2, and original Xbox, but it just doesn't feel that same when the game aren't being played on the original hardware. Hardware that is rapidly aging and degrading, and games on discs that are also getting worn down, scratched, thrown out, or just lost somewhere. I also always kinda wanted a collection of consoles.

So far, I have a Gamecube and PS2 that were in a non working condition when I bought them from ebay. The GC reads games from a SD card, and the PS2 read games from a harddrive installed in the expansion port. Both are using external devices to convert the analog video to HDMI, but I recently ordered an internal converter that I can install in the PS2.

I have a half assembled Xbox on my desk that I have been working on for... way too fucking long at this point, but it is really show why "Murphy's Law" is called a law. It has a mod chip for a custom OS, and an internal HDMI converter. However, I fucked up some solder joints installing the HDMI converter and it fried the card. Had to wait a couple months to get a replacement. There is also a Wii I got from a family member that is next in line when I get the Xbox functional.

Backyard badminton every day during lockdown.

We now play doubles with 8-9 friends at a sports centre each week.

Highly recommend to try it out.

Parenting, since our first child was born in September of 2020. Still giving it a go. We just had a 2nd child this July, so I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.

Woodworking. Started during covid with building a workbench in my 2 bedroom condo. Moved into a house, and have a whole workshop with a growing number of more advanced tools to make life easier. Finally starting to cool down again to get back on it.

My hobby of home automation, and running a home lab REALLY stopped up.

Pre-pandemic, I had a single server, pretty small, quiet, low energy usage. Post-pandemic, I have a full rack, redundant power, and tons of resources, and hundreds of containers and services.

Home automation: Pre-pandemic, I didn't have too much. Few security cameras, and a small handful of devices, mostly controlled by alexa. Post-pandemic, I can tell you every time you forget to wash your hands after taking a shit. I know exactly how much energy and instantaneous power nearly every device in my house uses. I have automated just about anything you can imagine. Pools, opening windows, controlling a fireplace, scaring cats away from the kitchen table.... you name it, and I have likely automated it and/or built hardware to automate it.

My other big hobby, was working on automotive projects: Pre-pandemic, I build a 1,000hp street-legal "race-car". Would drive it to work occasionally. Spent a lot of time in my garage with tig welders, plasma cutters, metal lathes... etc. Post-pandemic, I honestly have not touched anything in my garage in years. I don't really drive anywhere due to being full time WFH. So, I have not had much interest in messing with it. Also, its been really hot the last few years.

I started playing the piano. I have just learned from books and the occasional you tube video. I still practice everyday. I can't tell if I'm actually getting any better, but I do enjoy it.

Started bouldering, still at it. It did wonders for my health (was basically a couch potato before that).

Pokemon Go, actually.

programming. now I'm getting a university education in the field.

I started taking biking more seriously around the time Covid started. I built my fitness up over the course of the last few years to the point where I can ride almost anywhere in my city if I have the time and the weather cooperates. Last week I did my favorite 40 mile ride for the 5th or 6th time in recent history and I now average around 80-100 miles a week. My mood is better and I physically feel much stronger.

The best part: all this fitness stuff is a side benefit because I originally started riding for the purposes of sunshine and exploring and just happened to stumble into better health!

tried yoga, meditation, running to fix my suspected adhd, but couldn't stick to it

i am still trying stuff like surya namaskar and make it a part of my daily routine, but still struggling

3D printing, have been unable to continue but apparently it's a known thing with 3D printing where people do it in waves

I took up social media marketing for YouTubers and other influencers. I helped people build an audience, brand, and advised them on what to avoid and how to grow.

It made me a good amount of extra monies and it's kinda fun. It's like they're a tamagotchi.

I'm also able to take those same skills now and use them in my professional life.

Chess yes very!

I took an electronics class in high school and always thought about getting into the hobby. It took 20 years and a pandemic, but I finally did. Though with the availability of cheap micro-controller dev boards I haven't gotten as deep into it as I always imagined. Most of what I do is just wiring components to GPIO pins with the occasional pull-up/down resister.

I happened to pick up an interest in DJ'ing right before Covid hit, and I've been doing it ever since. Now that things have opened back up, I've even had a couple of gigs and made a very modest profit on it. And I still enjoy adding tracks to the catalog, figuring out where I want my cue points and making notes for what works well with what.

I started making scented candles. I mostly started because I was trying to recreate a particular scent that we don't seem to be able to find anymore. I've gotten sort of close but not, like, super close. I liked experimenting with lots of different types of scents, though, and it's nice to always have something around to help get rid of cooking odors in the kitchen, freshen up a bathroom, etc.

I haven't made any in a while -- not for any particular reason, though, although it is harder to want to do something that involves being over a stove a lot during the summer. I really should get back to it soon.

fountain pens and art stuff. nope. I'm too busy now with way more responsibilites. got two promotions and two pets and a side business now. don't have hours of downtime during wfh like i did in 20/21. Now I have about $500 in pens that i only use to sign check and a few other things.

Started getting into coffee with all the snobbish attachments of it.
Still enjoy it. But bought a nespresso machine in the meantime. I just wanna have coffee to wake up, not do the whole ritual.

I actually stopped my hobby of golfing because the courses were getting overcrowded as golf was one of the few sports you were still allowed to do at the height of covid. Haven't picked it back up because it's so time consuming.