29 Best Hobbies for Travel Lovers
Hobbies can develop your creativity and make you feel happy. Additionally, they eradicate boredom. As the last couple of years have been about staying at home, due to coronavirus travel restrictions, we took the opportunity to explore new hobbies to replace the stimulation that traveling offered in the past. We have, therefore, compiled this list of best hobbies for travel lovers. They are for people who typically like to travel.
These are hobbies that you can start while travel is still limited or even while traveling. Travelers love these hobbies as they make you feel like you are traveling, or they’re helpful while traveling.
Please read on for 29 Best Hobbies for Travel Lovers.
For more travel hobby ideas, and inspiration on things to do in your hometown, check out our post,
54 Things To Do On A Staycation in Your Home Town.
Hobbies You Can Do Anywhere
These are hobbies you can do at home, in your hometown, in a hotel room, or traveling on a train. You can do them anywhere!
Drawing
Drawing is an entertaining hobby to learn as it allows you to capture a moment or get creative.
You can draw things at home, and it is also one of the easier travel hobbies you can do when traveling. All you need is a sketchbook and a pencil.
Additionally, you can get drawing patterns or do online drawing courses to acquire drawing skills.
Learn a language
When we travel, we love learning the language of the country we are going to. Learning the language of the country we are visiting enables us to communicate more effectively and meet more local people.
The best thing about learning a new language before traveling is that you will know some of the language the day you arrive in the new country.
Photography
Photography is a travel hobby that every traveler needs to get into. It allows you to capture your travel memories. It helps you see things differently.
Whether you are at home or traveling, photography is a great creative outlet. It is one of the very best hobbies for travel lovers.
Additionally, photography enables you to live in the moment. Read about it here – How Photography Enables Me To Live In The Moment.
Reading
Reading allows you to escape, learn, and stay in touch with events worldwide. It can make you feel like you are traveling if you read guidebooks, blogs, or adventure stories.
Also, if you don’t have power (e.g. there’s a blackout), reading gives you entertainment.
Yoga or meditation
Yoga will not only help you stay fit but will also increase peace of mind and help reduce your stress levels.
If you learn yoga, you can exercise anywhere in the world.
Alternatively, meditation is a helpful practice for those who travel as it can help ease travel-related stress and anxiety.
Additionally, with meditation, you can visualize yourself in beautiful locations all over the world.
Writing
Writing or journaling is a consuming hobby. For those who like to write, it is a way to express emotions and explore ideas.
It is a creative outlet that you can use to write a journal, stories, or even start a blog.
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Travel Hobbies You Can Do In Your Hometown
We have added to our list of best hobbies for travel lovers a list of hobbies for travelers who can’t travel farther than their hometown. These hobbies offer you a travel experience in your own hometown.
Dining out
If you make this one of your travel hobbies, you could feel like you’re on holiday all the time. Every time you go to a new restaurant, you could try new international cuisines to make you feel like you are visiting another country.
Geocaching
Geocaching is a fun activity for travelers as you get to go on a treasure hunt. This riveting activity can take you to unique locations you have never seen before, even in your own hometown.
While we recommend this as a travel hobby in your hometown, you can take it around the world with you. The only thing you need is a mobile with GPS, WiFi, and a geocaching app.
Shopping
If you can call shopping a hobby, it will make you feel better about spending all your earnings.
It is also a great family outing that you can do each week. Make a day of it and also have lunch in a nice restaurant.
You don’t always need to buy something. Window shopping and looking at things is fun too. Just like traveling, shopping is about exploring.
Food tasting & food tours
Many larger towns have events that offer food tasting, including cheese tasting, whisky tasting, chocolate tasting, or degustation dinners.
Food tours also enable you to discover specialties of your area that you may not have had the chance to try. They allow you to see your town with a tourist’s eye and give you the opportunity to try something new.
Additionally, starting with a happy hour always brings on that holiday feeling instantly.
Alternatively, and especially for smaller towns, make your own food-tasting adventure. Go to the local markets, buy some cheeses and fresh produce for an antipasto board, and have your food tasting experience at home.
Discovering new food is a huge part of travel. Food tasting & tours are one of the best hobbies for travel lovers. They can make you feel like you are on a foodie travel adventure no matter where you are.
Volunteering
While volunteering is not necessarily about travel. It is an activity that travelers love and get into predominantly when they travel.
Volunteering can help you feel better about your situation in your life. Helping others also helps your emotional well-being. Further, it is a way to give back to the community and give back to the countries where you are traveling.
Sports
Watching sports is an activity that travelers like to do, especially when visiting countries where a particular sport is common.
Additionally, if you learn to play cricket or volleyball, you could get involved in these favorite sports activities when traveling.
Those who like to get involved in playing sports could join a recreational sports group close to home.
Alternatively, get your friends together for a lively sports event at the park.
Another favorite of adventure seekers is skiing or water sports. These activities can make you feel like you’re on holiday even if it is close to home.
Whether it is playing sports or watching sports, this travel hobby can fill you with excitement and joy. Participating in this popular hobby will keep you fit too.
Best Hobbies For Travel Lovers Stuck At Home
Whether you are stuck at home having to isolate yourself, not ready to go out anywhere, or just don’t have money to travel, these hobbies will make you feel like life is an adventure, the same way that travel makes you feel.
These are some of the hobbies that have kept us amused in the last year. They are the best hobbies for travel lovers who are stuck at home.
Cooking
We love doing cooking classes when we travel. In Thailand, we learned a few delicious dishes that we now always cook at home. Cooking is a stimulating hobby to get into, but also beneficial as we all have to eat.
There are many cooking classes on the internet. They are also a fun activity you can do solo or as a couple. You could then have an international-themed dinner that will make you feel like you are traveling.
Music appreciation
Music appreciation is another hobby you can start at home. Start by watching international music performances online from all around the world. It can make you feel as if you have left your living room and gone traveling. There are many events online, such as festivals, orchestra performances, and rock concerts, that you can experience from your own living room.
On top of that, you could combine a themed international music night with a particular country’s food and music and have a fun night in your own home.
When it’s available, attend live performances in your hometown.
Are you unable to leave your house at the moment due to having to isolate, stay-at-home orders, or another reason?
You will love our post, 73 In-home Staycation Ideas During Lockdown.
Read it and find out how you can turn your stay at home into a holiday experience to cherish.
Jigsaw puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles are so much fun, yet many people prefer online games.
When traveling, we often find old jigsaw puzzles lying around hostels. However, unless it’s raining, we often don’t find time to complete them. At home, there are no time restrictions.
We love them because, besides being a solo activity, they are a happy interactive activity for a couple or a few people. Additionally, we love that we create artwork when we put all the pieces together. Often it is a picture of a fantastic place somewhere in the world.
Dancing
Whether you want to learn salsa, ballet, or hip-hop, there are many dance classes on YouTube. You can learn from the security of your bedroom. After you have built some confidence, you could join a dance class in your local town.
You could even base future travels around your newfound hobby. Salsa dancing in Cuba, anyone?
Play a musical instrument
Playing an instrument is exciting, even if you are not very good at it. But you don’t know until you try. And you could end up being good at it and be the traveler who pulls out a guitar and entertains fellow travelers. This is one of those traveling hobbies that can help you meet people easily.
Personally, we think a flute will be easier to travel with. It is also a cheaper instrument to buy.
These days there are many beginner musical instruments you can buy cheaply. Also, there are free online classes. And even if you don’t continue the hobby, the instruments will be available for family, friends, and parties.
Brewing
Brewing your own beer is a great way to evoke the tastes of your travels. You can buy beer or cider brewing kits online and try making your own homebrew.
As you get better, you can experiment with many international styles.
Hey! Making cocktails is also a fun hobby. Check out our favorite recipe –The Best Mojito Bacardi Recipe Ever Including the Secret Ingredient!
Hobbies For Outdoor Lovers
If you love nature and exploring the great outdoors, these best hobbies for travel lovers will make you feel like you are on a travel adventure.
Hiking or nature walks
Wherever you go, hiking is a travel activity that enables you to explore and enjoy nature. Also, hiking sometimes enables you to explore places you can’t get to with a car.
Additionally, besides being one of the easier adventurous traveling hobbies, hiking is an activity that allows you to get fit.
It is a delightful hobby to get into, whether you are traveling or at home.
You could go hiking in a national park or go on nature walks in the local gardens if there are no national parks close to home.
Fishing
Fishing is an enjoyable hobby because it also gives you the chance to have a delicious seafood feed. We like ours barbequed.
Fishing allows you to spend the day at the water’s edge in calm contemplation.
Alternatively, you can make it a group affair and enjoy the company of others while taking in the fresh outdoor air.
Animal watching
Animal experiences make you feel warm and fuzzy, especially if you get to see them up close in their natural habitat.
Take a trip to a nearby national park and spend the day trying to spot some animals in the wild.
If that is not an option, many larger cities have zoos where you can see animals.
Experience the underwater world
While diving is not for everyone, it is a hobby that many people love. Many adventure travelers base their international travel itineraries on where they can explore the underwater world.
Alternatively, you can go snorkeling which is often more accessible to most. We love the underwater world and will most commonly go snorkeling. It is, in fact, our favorite hobby.
Whether it’s something you do while traveling or at the local beach, lake or river, diving or snorkeling allows you to explore another world the same way traveling does.
Boat trips
Boat trips are another adventure activity we favor. Scenic cruises, wildlife spotting, or kayaking are some of the types of boat trips we enjoy. Wherever we go when we travel, we will always go on boat trips if available there.
If you have a waterway near your hometown, take a boat trip and enjoy the water and nature.
Stargazing
When traveling, we relish the opportunity to see the sky in other parts of the world.
We visit dark sky reserves any chance we get. Additionally, we love visiting observatories and looking at the stars and the moon through their giant telescopes.
When we don’t get a chance to travel, many dark sky reserves now show you the delights of the dark skies online.
You can also get apps to point to what you are looking at in the sky and explain which star, satellite, or planet it is. Stargazing can make you feel like you are traveling without leaving your backyard.
Hobbies For The Discerning Traveler
These hobbies may not be for everyone, but some travelers get addicted to these best hobbies for travel lovers.
Wine tasting
We love visiting vineyards when we travel. It allows us to have a relaxing and indulgent day outdoors. We recommend this as one of the best hobbies for travel lovers who like to have an alcoholic drink.
Wine tasting is an entertaining hobby. It not only makes you merry, but you get to learn about wine.
Whether going to a wine bar or a vineyard, wine tasting is a refreshing experience, and often you get to enjoy good food along with the wine.
Antique hunting
Antique hunting in your hometown can make you feel like you are traveling.
Additionally, while this can be one of the more expensive hobbies for travelers, it can take you around the world on untold adventures.
However, some people turn this hobby into a money-making venture that can fund their travels.
While we don’t buy many antiques, we love visiting antique stores. It is fun, and you get to see a slice of history.
Slow travel is not only a hobby of ours, but a way of life. Read Next – What is Slow Travel – & Why You Should Do It Too!
Birdwatching
Some people say they find it boring, possibly because they have not seen many birds. Birdwatching is usually a hobby people acquire once traveling in areas with lots of wildlife.
You can even do this at home, and once you get out, you can start noting the different species. You could also combine this hobby with photography.
Collecting
Collecting is a hobby that you can easily do at home or when traveling. It is diverse – books, stones, coins, stamps, fridge magnets, or souvenirs.
Many travelers love to collect magnets from the countries they have been to. You could easily start this hobby by collecting magnets from local towns near you.
One time we went through a phase of fossicking for fossilized shark teeth. We were entertained every day after work and enjoyed finding the unique treasure and collecting the various sizes.
You could collect anything really, as long as it is something you find enjoyable.
Origami
This art can keep your creative juices flowing as well as keep you entertained.
When you are traveling, imagine being able to turn a piece of paper into a work of art. It is a great way to interact with locals.
It’s a hobby we would like to try, and we have just added it to our to-do list!
That’s the thing about hobbies. They help you have a renewed energy for life. And whether you think you will like them or not, try these hobbies for travelers. They are the best hobbies for travel lovers. Ultimately, you could find a hobby you are very passionate about, and you will never be bored.
Are there any hobbies related to traveling that you love that are not on this list? Please share in the comments as we love to find new travel hobby ideas.
That’s a HUGE collection of hobbies, Oli! I think I only tried a small fraction so far. Some interesting stuff there. Just earlier today I found out that a friend of mine is really into antiques, a hobby I had never thought of, not for ordinary men or women anyway. 🙂
Can relate to a lot of these recently. Certainly photography, thats one im starting to get into. And been researching brewing, that’s next on the list plan on doing my own craft beers.
Great post enjoyed reading
I can identify with most things on these excellent lists except the more energetic and adventurous ones. TBH my favourite hobby is sitting watching the world go by with either a coffee or glass of wine in my hand, feeling how good it is to be detached from the working world for a while and just observing everyone else dashing around and playing their part in it 🙂