After all the time you spend working, it’s great to be able to unwind and enjoy some hobbies. Whether they be fitness related or more artistically inclined, hobbies are a great way to spend your free time by improving your body or mind.
If you know someone who enjoys a certain hobby, you’ll really want to get them a gift that’s considered good for how they like spending their free time. What may seem good to someone with no experience in photography may be really bad for someone who’s interested in it, so be sure to get something that’s well known or praised.
Golf
Golf has become increasingly popular over the years, and for good reason. Many sports are difficult to get into because you might need special equipment or people to play with who are the same skill level as you.
In golf, all you need is the clubs, balls and yourself. While you can play against others, it’s mostly a game of competing against yourself. It’s also a purely outdoors sport, allowing players to get some much needed time in the sun and out on beautiful, green courses.
There are plenty of great gifts for someone interested in golf. If you don’t already know what they like exactly, it’s best to stray away from things like golf balls since many golfers are picky about that sort of thing.
However, there are plenty of tech gadgets that any golfer would find very useful. For example, there are smart watches designed specifically for golfers, with various courses built into them, along with GPS functions.
These watches let players see a map of exactly where they are on the course at any time, along with distances to the hole and to the green so they can get an idea of what club they should use.
You can expect these watches to range from $100 all the way up to $400, depending on the type you choose. There’s also the matter of new clubs. If you can find the brand of clubs that your golfer uses, you can get them a brand new club or set of clubs from that brand.
For example, if they use a Calloway driver, you might try and find the newest one available. Another good choice might be a new pair of golf shoes. Golf shoes are sort of like cleats, allowing players to get good grip on the grass during their swing.
If your golfer has worn out golf shoes, a new pair can really improve their game. Finally, if they don’t have one, a simple rangefinder can make a big difference for most golfers. These little devices are designed to be looked through like binoculars, and wherever you look, it’ll tell you how far away that point is. This is very useful for figuring out which club you should use, since they all are hit different distances.
Cycling
Cycling is a great way to get in shape and get around without having to use gas powered vehicles. It gives people a chance to get some much needed fresh air, and depending on the type of cycling you’re doing, gives you a chance to see some great places along things like hiking trails.
There are many different types of cycling, and depending on what your cyclist likes to do, there are different gifts that you should get them. For example, what might be of interest to someone doing competitive cycling might not be good for someone who does more off-road cycling.
One great option for all cyclers, especially those who do it for the exercise, is an indoor bike. These can be bought for around $200 – $300 brand new, and allow your cyclist to get the same exercise even if the weather outside isn’t great for cycling.
A great gift to get for someone into mountain biking and off-road cycling is a car rack for a bike. These are easily attached to the trunk of a car, and easily removed when you want to take them off.
Car racks allow off-road cyclists to go out to further away tracks and trails, instead of being limited to what they can bike to immediately around them. If their bikes are made to be ridden off-road, they won’t perform too well on roads that they’d have to take to get to other trails.
If you’re on a tight budget, you might consider getting a waterproof bike accessory bag. These allow cyclists to keep their phone and other important items out of their pockets and protected from the rain.
Keeping things in your pockets while you’re biking around isn’t very comfortable, and you run the risk of dropping something important like your phone or wallet in the street or off on a trail. By having an attached bag, you can keep these things safe.
Of course, there’s always the opportunity of buying them a new bike. Every year bikes are becoming more and more advanced, becoming lighter and stronger. If your cyclist has a bike that’s a few years old now, they’d probably be shocked by a brand new one.
You’ll want to check for a few things first. You should identify what kind of bike your cyclist already has, whether it be a road bike, a mountain bike, or an all-around bike. Go with the same style of bike unless they’ve said they want a different kind.
This is because they probably already like the style of bike they’ve got, but a new one might just have a better gearbox, or a more comfortable seat, or even might just be a lighter weight. All of these things can be important for a cyclist.
Exercise and Fitness
More and more people every year are pledging to get in shape, and for good reason. Fitness is a great hobby to get into because once you find something you like doing, you can keep at it while improving your actual overall health.
That being said, many people are also becoming more and more interested in having home gyms. Home gyms are great for a number of reasons, namely long term cost and lack of other people to bother you.
For the fitness enthusiast in your life, there are many things you can get them in order to help them out with building a home gym or just to use in general, even if they like going to a normal gym.
If you’re shopping for someone who’s interested in starting a home gym, you can start them off well with some adjustable dumbbells. You’ll want to be sure to get a set that can go high enough for them in weight, because there’s nothing worse than working out with dumbbells that are too light.
Adjustable dumbbells are great because they come in one compact set, so you don’t have to have a whole massive rack full of them just to have all the different weights you want. Make sure you get a pair, as well, so that they can use both at the same time.
The latest fitness smart watch is always a great option, as well. They’re always being updated with new features and new functions, all of which are very important to keep track of and very useful to have as someone who’s interested in fitness.
For example, earlier models of smart watches didn’t all have heart rate monitors, which is something very important to have, especially for someone who does plenty of cardio and wants to track their heart rate.
A treadmill is great for anyone looking to get into some cardio, especially if you don’t have great streets to walk around in your neighborhood. Old treadmills were typically pretty expensive and really large, but that’s not always the case now.
Nowadays you can get treadmills at a much more reasonable price, and you can get ones that don’t take up much space at all. There are even some that are meant to be put under desks, so that you can stand and walk while you work.
There’s also a great variety in what all features you want. Some people are just fine with the essentials. They just want to be able to control their speed and see how far they’ve walked, and there are definitely treadmills that do only that.
However, for people that like to get a bit more interested in their fitness routines, there are treadmills with many more features such as built in workouts, full touchscreens that are Bluetooth compatible, and more.
Arts and Crafts
There are so many different kinds of arts and crafts, and if you’re buying for someone you know who likes those kinds of things, it can be difficult to pick what exactly to get for them, especially if you’re worried they might not like those types of crafts.
If you’re not sure what to get them, it’s good to look towards more recent arts and crafts trends. Just like fashion, arts and crafts trends go back and forth, and old things become new and trendy again.
For example, making things like little dishes and designs out of clay has become popular recently. For this you can get things like molds, the clay itself, and paints to color and design the clay as they’d like it to look. Be sure to get air dry clay, so that you don’t need to use a kiln.
Crochet has made a surprising comeback recently, as a trend for making your own clothes and accessories. Crochet is a very versatile art, and can be used to make so many different things, from hats and socks to stuffed animals.
If you’re going to get someone crochet supplies, you should get them a set with plenty of materials, something a beginner is definitely going to need. You’ll also want to get them one with a wide variety of crochet hooks, which they’ll need in different situations.
Then, of course, there are certain types of arts and crafts that are always popular, no matter what. The largest of them all certainly has to be painting. No matter if someone is young or old, they’ve certainly enjoyed painting at some point in their lives.
If you know someone who’s already an avid painter, you might consider getting them a whole different style of paints. For example, someone who mostly sticks to acrylic paints might find oil painting on a canvas to be refreshing and new, because the same old thing can get boring after a little while.
There’s also tons of supplies that painters always need and will go through quickly. New brushes, new canvases, and new paints of course. Find some things they’ve never tried using before, because they might be able to do some fun new stuff with it.
When it comes to any type of arts and crafts, if you’re not sure what exactly to get, it’s best to get a set of many different types of supplies all for the same purpose. It increases the odds of you finding something in that kit that they’ll use a bunch.
For example, if you’re shopping for a sewing enthusiast, but you don’t know what needles they need or what specific thread they use, buying a large kit of different supplies means that it’s likely there’s something good in there that they can use effectively, rather than one thing that they might not need or be able to use.
Photography
Photography can be such a great hobby, being able to spend time both indoors and outdoors, quietly admiring the beauty of the world around you. For anyone interested in photography, it can be a little daunting to get into, just because of the entry cost.
However, photography doesn’t have to be expensive if you don’t want it to be. For example, one of the most popular types of cameras in recent years is print-out instant cameras.
These are loaded with film, much like old Polaroids, and take a picture to instantly print out. A lot of people, particularly teenagers, like them for their 70s style aesthetic. They give people a great option to quickly take and have physical copies of photos with their friends or of anything else.
The more expensive cameras that people usually think about are DSLR cameras. These are professional quality cameras, used by almost every single professional photographer out there. However, many amateurs love them too, for good reason.
DSLR cameras are the most versatile ones available, often being compatible with tons of different lenses and other accessories that allow you to take pictures of things far away and very close, all while maintaining a clear image.
These cameras can function well under almost any conditions, no matter the lighting or distance, as long as you have the right accessories and can get the settings right. They might be expensive, but the results are certainly worth it.
If your photographer doesn’t already have one, one of these cameras would make their day. However, even if they do already have one, you still have plenty of options that could give them great new opportunities to photograph new subjects.
For one, lenses. Make sure they’re compatible with the existing DSLR or the one you’re buying. Various lenses allow people to take photos in varying distances. While one might be great at getting photos hundreds of yards away, another might be great for things mere inches away.
You can also spring for other accessories that they might need, such as tripods. Having a stable and steady hand is important for photography, especially on things like long exposures. A good tripod can make a world of difference for these types of things.
Lighting is also important. Photography lights help keep a scene or a subject lit exactly as the photographer wants. Lighting in a photo can change everything, so these are something that every photographer should have.