Long list of things to do when you retire

Ways to answer the question of, "But what will I do all day?" with something else than "Whatever I feel like"

Unless you look close to being the traditional retirement, a good way to avoid awkward conversations is to model them on the following conversation:

A: "What do you do for a living?"

B: "I < insert activity from below >"

A: "Can you really make a living from that?"

B: "Hard to say, but I saved a lot of money while I was a <insert the job you retired from>"

At this point, people will either ask for details in which case you can start talking about how investing for financial independence works or they'll start talking about something else.

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Early Retirement Extreme 21-Day Makeover Day 5: Find a free hobby

In no particular order (but let's try to make this list as long as possible). Also, if possible, it would be helpful to write a short introduction page on how to get started for each of these activities.

Sports/Physical Activities

• Go fishing
• Go whitewater rafting
• Hike the Appalachian trail
• Hike every nature trail within a 2 hour radius
• Run ultramarathons
• Become a martial arts black belt
• Win an amateur bodybuilding championship
• Coach soccer
• Swim across a large body of water
• Go canoeing
• Go kayaking
• Go surfing
• Go stand-up paddle boarding
• Get in shape
• Go geocaching (requires a GPS)
• Learn how to rollerskate
• Learn scuba-diving or freediving
• Fly kites
• Go kitesurfing
• Juggling

Creative activities

• Draw pictures
• Learn ceramics or throwing on a pottery wheel
• Learn to sculpture
• Learn photography
• Take a photo per day
• Edit photographs digitally (Photoshop)
• Publish artwork online (e.g. DeviantArt.com)
• Learn a musical instrument
• Join a band and jam
• Improve your singing and learn new songs
• Write your own songs
• Paint your own wall art
• Study interior design
• Write a book, blog, or play
• Create a comic book
• Knit
• Crochet
• Needlepoint
• Design and make clothes
• Make a quilt
• Write a memoir
• Record some memories and anecdotes from elders in the community
• Host a podcast
• Cultivate bonsai trees
• Create/improve your garden
• Try new recipes
• Write, produce and direct a film
• Produce short movies, or vlog
• Start a Youtube channel based on your interests
• Woodworking/carpentry
• Wood carving

Social Activities

• Spend more time with family and friends
• Meet my working friends at their jobs on weekdays with a picnic lunch
• Throw more parties
• Write more letters
• Join a book club
• Volunteer to do social activities with other people
• Find a partner
• Join a club (for example a chess club)
• Host couchsurfers

Spiritual Activities

• Meditate
• Attain enlightenment
• Make a pilgrimage
• Help other people (volunteer)

Intellectual Activities

• Read the classics
• Sit in on college lectures and audit classes
• Learn a new language; travel to where it's spoken
• Get a PhD
• Offer free help to a scholar working on an interesting subject
• Play chess
• Play Go
• Work crossword and other puzzles; create puzzles

Second Careers/Volunteering/Semi-Retirement

• Volunteer at the library
• Go into politics
• Become a mentor for start-up entrepreneurs
• Develop open source software
• Become a visiting professor
• Open a bar
• Open a coffeeshop
• Become a tour guide for your favorite place
• Drive the SAG wagon for amateur cyclists
• Become an activist for a cause you care about
• Become a movie star or an extra
• Join the road crew of your favorite band
• Tutor students
• Teach English (or other language) abroad
• Volunteer at an animal shelter:
  • Walking dogs
  • Socializing cats
  • Cleaning cages
• Sell your crafts on Etsy
• Become a quant trader/researcher

Other

• Make a bucket list and start doing all the things on it
• Make bird houses
• Become a master gardener
• Become an expert Starcraft player
• Sail, backpack, walk[1] or cycle around the world[2]
• Enter ham radio competitions (contact every state, etc.)
• Read trashy novels
• Have a lot of sex while your body is still in full working order
• Fix up cars or motorcycles
• Build a boat
• Build a log cabin
• Research your family tree
• Watch birds
• Amateur astronomy
• Finally get adequate sleep
• Become as healthy as possible
• Build the Gingery series, a metal working workshop from scratch[3]
• Keep the house cleaner (ambiguous phrasing :-D )
• Save the world
• Rebuild civilization from scratch
• Live very well without money for a year
• Go to the top of a high building and throw away $100.000
• Burn $100.000 on a public place
• Spend the last day in the job speaking all the truth to clients