The Best Hobbies To Pick Up This Summer

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This post will share some of the best hobbies you can pick up this Summer.

After a horrendous experience in 2022, I stopped travelling during the Summer.

It is usually too hot, expensive and overcrowded.

Instead, I take my Summer trips in September, which gives me a completely opposite experience; mild weather and cheaper with fewer crowds.

So, in the absence of these trips, I now have a lot of free time that comes with the long Summer days with little to do, especially after work, making me restless and idle.

Last year, I decided to do something about it by picking up some new hobbies I wanted to try for a while now.

Over the years, I have picked up different interests and tried to explore them as much as possible until I get bored and move on to the next thing.

I have previous interests in Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Herbalism, Yoga, and Weightlifting, to mention a few.

Some have been fleeting, while others, like writing and photography, have remained and become passions.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the demands of my job and daily life, I can always rely on my passions as a creative outlet.

So, last Summer, I picked up a few new interests, and I’m happy to share the details.

These hobbies have been a perfect distraction while keeping me busy and productive.

So, if you have been thinking of new hobbies to try out this Summer, here are some ideas for you

In no particular order but from less effort to more effort;

Baking

I do not really enjoy cooking as much as I have come to enjoy baking.

Once I discovered that baking is simply a science, my life changed.

Once you follow instructions, you’ll mostly be fine.

I started to bake, but I couldn’t stop baking.

In the last year, baking has graduated from being a hobby to a lifestyle.

I always have baked goods for the week; in the same way, I have a fresh loaf of bread.

While I’m not going to teach you how to bake because there are tons of resources online, I’ll say that if you have been trying to learn how to bake, you need to just do it.

You’ll never know if you enjoy it or are good at it if you don’t try.

Also, there are no rules.

You can do whatever you like; you just need to enjoy it.

My favourite resource for a beginner baker is Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes.

It is an excellent cookbook with easy and straightforward recipes for a beginner.

Bread making

When making baked goods, you want to try other things naturally once you start making cakes and pastries.

So, the next stage is typically bread making.

I always thought making bread was difficult, but it has been one of the easiest things I’ve learnt in the past year, and it has changed my life in the process.

Now, I never buy store-bought bread anymore.

From learning how to make the basic sandwich bread, I can now make different bread types, including English muffins, bagels, bread rolls and burger buns.

Once you start, you won’t be able to stop until it becomes a lifestyle.

Fermentation

Naturally, when you start making bread, you would also want to try the different ways to make it with yeast and non-yeast methods.

This is where you would dive into a new world of fermentation.

You would struggle to get your sourdough starter off, but when you eventually find your way around it, you become obsessed with it and make everything with sourdough.

From bread to pizza, waffles, pastry, and whatever else you can think of.

After a while, you would want to explore the world of fermentation further and find out you can ferment just about anything and make your own gut-friendly fermented products, including kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, etc.

Summer is excellent for fermentation as the weather is warm enough to speed up the process.

My two current favourite resources on fermentation include;

I had such a busy and productive summer between baking pastries and desserts, maintaining my sourdough starter, and fermenting my kefir.

This year, I will explore more fermented foods as I had to pause for the winter and pick a new hobby.

Gardening

I’ve tried to start gardening several times and failed miserably because I haven’t put in the required effort.

This will change this year.

I’ve gotten my seeds ready; these are simple vegetables I eat that I’m hoping will require minimal effort.

Before the end of the month, I’ll get my resources ready for sowing in February.

I prefer books as resources, so I must review several until I find the perfect one.

Gardening is a bit trickier as you can see several factors to consider, particularly the weather.

But I’m confident that if I do proper research, I should be able to harvest my first batch of produce before the end of the Summer.

In Summary,

Granted, nothing beats lounging in the sun on a beach in the Summer, but a sense of fulfilment comes from exploring your interests and picking up new skills.

It might not necessarily be any of what I’ve listed; it could be something as simple as reading a book.

Most of us have the worst attention spans, and who knows, you might be able to fix it by picking up new hobbies that don’t require smartphones.