Outdoor back-to-basics stuff has only proven more beneficial the more I have integrated it into my life.

Carpentry, landscaping, gardening, and taking care of my many animals all help me get fresh air and exercise in addition to whatever else I get out of the activities.

I am living the superposition of that meme where the resume or linkedin profile goes from Senior Systems Architect to Goose Farmer. My day job is software for embedded systems. At home, in addition to the indoor projects I am slowly transforming my little fenced-in back yard into a combination of oasis, hobby farm, and town from an old RPG or zelda game.

Playing on a PSP, those portable systems are still awesome.

Music. I have a degree in Music History, but I haven’t made a living with it for 25 years, although I still loved music.

During COVID, I was bored, and eating, so I took up guitar again, after leaving it behind decades ago. I’ve played every day since, and not only reached an intermediate level (far better than I ever was in the past), but I’ve also lost 100 pounds, by picking up my guitar instead of going to the fridge.

Now I’m experimenting with recording, using cheap used gear, and having a blast.

Baking Sour Dough Bread

Cycling

Writing

Building stuff in Minecraft

Gym

Learning how to fix the old pile of boards I live in, now that I’m retired. The biggest thing I learned so far is how much you can get done with vey little when you don’t have to pay for someone else’s time/labour.

I play guitar, read, and do a bit of yardwork.

Beer. Genuinely. Drinks with friends (not daily or problematical) is, in my opinion, the absolute spice of life. It’s not for everyone and the downsides are well documented and undeniable, but it’s always worked for me.

I know it’s still using a device but get yourself a 3DS. The social side of the console has been picked up again by a service called Pretendo and even some games like Mario Kart 7 can still be played online. It still gives you the ability to play online but the social side was pretty locked down on the 3DS so i would still say it’s pretty offline all things considered.

Trail riding at about 20mph. It’s balls to the wall adrenalin. I also do road racing with a few cars, but that kinda thing gets expensive. My dialysis center hates me because I always have a new cut on my arm or several bruises. Not gonna stop my life just because my kidneys are pieces of garbage at 43.

Squash! It’s the most fun way to exercise.

• Rock climbing
• Mushroom trips
• Camping/hiking/walking
• Listening to music (while doing nothing else)

Not sure if this counts as “offline” but I play video games, read books, edibles, and because I’m in my late 30’s I’ve recently picked up bird watching!

• My partner & I do an escape room most weekends. (Great thing - when you start to run out of local rooms, it becomes an excuse to travel as well)
• Going to Handball games (hai CSM! hai România!). This weekend was a rollercoaster as Romania lost to Denmark in the EHF Euro 2026 semifinals on Saturday, but beat Hungary in a cracking third- place play-off yesterday
• The local Botanic Garden is a lovely way to spend an afternoon (there’s a nice donut stand, which helps)
• Tending to window boxes/balcony planters - takes the edge off the arrival of autumn/winter knowing that now is the time to start planting spring bulbs and the like
• Gaming, natch
• Art galleries
• Cooking

Being in nature, reading a book or graphic novel, or visiting museums