List of Hobbies: A Complete List of 1000+ Hobbies and Interests

Looking for a list of hobbies to try out when you’re bored? Awesome! Finding a new hobby is a great way to keep yourself busy and your mind occupied! This hobbies list is the most complete collection you’ll find anywhere on the internet, so let’s get started doing something fun when we’re bored!

Unfortunately, some of us don’t find our hobby naturally on our own. So hopefully we can help push you in the right direction with this comprehensive list of hobbies that will make you dizzy with possibilities.

So before we start to look at this list, let’s answer a few common questions about hobbies first.

What are Hobbies?

That is a great question! The word hobby is a very loosely used word and means something different to many people. The origin of the word “hobby” actually dates back to the 60’s and involved a horse..The best definition of a hobby I could find:

A hobby is an activity, interest, enthusiasm, or pastime that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, done during one’s own time. 

So basically, a hobby can be…well basically anything you want! Not very helpful in our search for something to keep us busy, eh?

However, this is also great news. A hobby can be literally anything you want. Let me explain..

The formula of what defines a hobby usually looks something like the following:

Specific interest + passion/mastery of that interest + free-time = The Definition of A Hobby!

In a way, we don’t usually “pick” out hobbies. Hobbies pick us. They define who we are and what we enjoy out of life! That doesn’t mean we can’t look for a new one though.

Hobby Examples

Okay, so we’ve defined what a hobby is, but you’re probably curious what one might look like.

So I’ll tell you a few of mine and see if you can relate to any of them!

My Hobbies

I’ve actually mentioned a few of my hobbies in my about page..but being from Wisconsin, I have some very location specific hobbies I would consider myself as having.

Being a Wisconsin Sports Fan! I absolutely love…

• Green Bay Packers
• Milwaukee Bucks
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Wisconsin Badgers
• Green Bay Gamblers Hockey

I consider following these sports teams as some of my hobbies because I spend a lot of my free time outside of work dedicated to following these teams.

• Going to games
• Watching games on TV
• Reading team-related news on sports websites
• Learning about the history of the teams
• Listening to team-related discussions on podcasts
• Talking about the teams, players, coaches, strategies, etc, with friends and family that share my love for the tea

These are examples of hobbies that the other “hobbies lists” on the internet fail to explain to you guys. Just because it’s not a specific “activity”, other interests you have a passion in can be considered as hobbies.

Other Hobbies I Currently Have:

• Writing
• Singing
• Reading fantasy novels
• Listening to my favorite music and bands
• Playing Racquetball and Tennis
• Cooking delicious meals (chicken is my specialty!)
• Training and Playing with my two dogs
• Playing cribbage with friends and family
• Playing guitar (poorly but I still enjoy it!)

Past Hobbies that I USED to Have:

• Playing Madden football video games every waking moment. I knew all the tips and tricks!
• Playing and mastering every other PS2/N64 video game known to man.
• Playing basketball/soccer/football when I wasn’t playing video games.
• Riding Bike (I still do this, just not as much as I’d like to!

I started at 462 hobbies in this list, but this it has grown to well over 1,000!!

Know a friend or family member that could use a new hobby? Share this list of hobbies with them!

If I’ve missed one, please feel free to contact me or comment below!

You May Already Have a Hobby, Which is Cool Too!

To illustrate that everyone has hobbies already, or at the very least what a hobby can be for you, I bet that you can name at least ONE hobby that a friend or family member of yours have.

Don’t believe me?

Fine, let me try it out!

• My best friend dedicates massive amounts of time to mastering the guitar. He practices, gigs, and is constantly playing his guitars. He also dedicates a lot of his extra “fun money” in new guitar equipment. He’s also a big computer guy.
• My sister LOVES dogs. So much so that she created a profession out of her hobby by training them for a living! How cool is that?
• My wife loves running (no idea why!), and is really good at it! When the weather is decent outside, she takes runs for miles. She enjoys this activity so much, she got her family to start doing marathons with her. She also loves baking, ready, and photography.
• I have two other friends who are absolutely obsessed with all things theatre. They go to all the shows in town, act in their own shows, listen to the music, follow the actors, and even travel to New York whenever they can.
• My uncle has several hobbies. He collects and listens to records, knows everything there is about audio equipment, loves Jazz music and its history, enjoys amateur photography, and travels around the world when time permits.

So, as you can see, a hobby can be literally anything you want it to be. As long as you consider yourself someone that dedicates a fair amount of time to that subject, you’ve got yourself a hobby!

What are some of your current interests that you may never have considered as a hobby before?

The Benefits of a Hobby:

Outside of being a good indicator of who you are, what you like to do, and what most fills you with enjoyment – having a hobby has several benefits as well.

Mental Health Benefits

Several studies, including this study that dates back to the ’40s, show that having dedicated hobbies in our life is extremely good for our mental health.

And it makes sense, right? Had a bad day at school or work – you probably want to get your mind off your crappy day and do something enjoyable.

So you gravitate towards the things that make you happy!

That makes having a hobby good for several possible mental health benefits:

• Stress Relief during tough times
• Building relationships with friends and family
• Mental/Cognitive Challenges
• Gives yourself a sense of accomplishment and productiveness
• Enjoyment in doing the things you love in life
• Encourages mindfulness and taking a break from life

Making Extra Money

It’s no secret many people take their hobbies and manage to make money with it. I won’t go into too much specifics on this topic. If you’d like to learn how to make money with ANY hobby, check out my guide.

I also created this other awesome guide of ready-made hobbies that have several avenues to making money as well.

Kick Bad Habits

Are you trying to quit a bad habit? Why not replace that activity with something fun or productive instead? You’ll get your mind off the bad habit, and possibly do something productive instead!

For example, are you trying to quit going out to eat all the time? Replace it with learning to cook instead.

Or say you want to quit smoking, replace that time and money that was normally spent on that bad habit and invest it into something productive like learning an instrument or interesting skill.

Physical Health

Obviously, if you decide to pick up playing a sport or exercising as a new hobby, you’ll gain the added benefit of better physical health!

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey study in 2015-2016, an estimated 39.8% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over have obesity.

That’s almost half the population of the US! So I highly recommend trying at least one hobby that gets you up and out of your chair!

Didn’t you hear? Sitting is the new smoking!

Learn a New Skill

Not all hobbies may apply to this, but imagine if your new hobby gave you a new and valuable skill?

Imagine if you deciding to learn how to program a computer code? Or you picked up doing yoga and now you can teach a class? Maybe you want to stretch your leadership skills and teach a local baseball team.

The possibilities are endless, and having a valuable hobby skill may even help you advance your career. Here is a GIANT list of hobbies that I’ve compiled from around the web that you can use to get started and get busy.