Finding hobbies/activities to meet new people.

[TheEvilJester]

So, I have seen a piece of advice thrown around on these boards to those of us who are extremely shy. That is to start to involve yourself in social hobbies as a way to meet more people, possivbly even potential love interests. I happen to think it is awesome advice. I really like it. As you have seen from my recent thread, I've even realized that I have been able to put it to use without really thinking about it (at my board gaming group).

So, I've decided I want to try to do that a little more. The only problem is...

I'm not really sure how to even go about doing that. Anybody have any suggestions or advice from experience? How do you find fun hobby type stuff to do in your area?

As far as my gaming group, I got that set up myself by contacting my local comic book store to ask if they had space for something like that. They were very happy to offer up space for me to start a group, and it has been going well ever since. It has suited my needs, as I just wanted to set it up so I could get to play board games more often. But, it hasn't been a HUGE group. Just fine with me, but because of that, it doesn't necessarily help as far as my new desire to meet more people, because we don't very often have new people show up. From time to time a newbie will stop by, but it is usually just the core group of us.

Anybody have advice on where to find events or whatever to attend so you can meet new people/potentially make friends/possibly even meet a potential love interest?

[MaxHeadroom]

Same problem here. People suggested to me meetup.com. I am going to try it soon anyways

[basilandthyme]

I'd possibly look at mixed gender sporting activities. A few years ago I was training with a group of senior swimmers (from age 25 to 80ish). Not only were they a social bunch, but once a month they'd have interclub meets.

I also find it hard to beat a BBQ (which is how I met my hubby). Host a BBQ and tell your guests that it's OK to bring a friend or two. Even if you don't meet a girl at the BBQ, you can look towards increasing your friendship group and via having more friends you may meet someone.

[FAndrews]

good idea, the more options and opportunities you put yourself out there, the more chance you have of meeting someone; something i must do myself

[RyanJames]

meetup.com is absolutely brilliant for this, cannot recommend it highly enough, give it a try today! In fact why not start a meetup group yourself, for shy men and women in your area to meet each other?

[Boisdevie]

Sport. It's good for you and you get to meet sporty women. Sporty women are normally in pretty good shape.

[joanna1]

Book clubs, improv classes ( especially good if shy because it will let you be silly and not so withdrawn) also might make you more comfortable with your self after a few classes that you can strike up conversations more easily after with others. You have to usually pay for that sort of thing but check around and see if your town has it. Martial arts classes are good, even trying cooking classes.

[Boisdevie]

Some people find dogging a good way to get out of the house and meet new people.

[RyanJames]

Some people find dogging a good way to get out of the house and meet new people.

You so naughty!

[DalM0m]

You have already been given some great suggestions. Long before the internet & MeetUp.com there was a ski club around here that was really popular. In addition to all the ski related stuff they did a lot of happy hours & other activities. I don't ski & I hate the cold but I knew enough people in the group that I'd go to their other events.

I like board games. I found a group that used to meet on Tuesday to play. It was fun.

I went to a few singles wine tasting events. I also went to something put on by a group called Leashes & Lovers where you could bring your pet. The dogs were great ice breakers. As a woman I got a LOT of attention because I brought my Dalmatian. Those dogs stand out to begin with but I was one of the few women in the room who was there with a dog that did not fit in my purse.

[TheEvilJester]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, guys and gals! You are all too great. Meetup.com, huh? Never heard of it. I will have to check that out. I'm frankly not that into sports, though funny enough I'm actually not all that bad at them. Used to be when I was little, but I kinda grew into myself, so to speak. So, I'm not that bad anymore. I also don't drink. I know. Shocker there. LOL! Unfortunately, no doggy. I would LOVE a doggy, but these days I just do not have the time. Wouldn't be fair to little Evil Jester Rover or Evil Jester Mr. Bark Man. LOL!

Joanna,

An improv class actually sounds like a pretty cool idea! I've kind of thought of taking an acting class. Honestly, part of that is also because I do my own YouTube videos. Most of them are just me talking about movies or TV shows, or something I like. But, from time to time, I like to "act" a little and do a goofy skit or something. I say "act" because you can only loosely call what I do acting. LOL! But, I love doing it anyway.

Well, long story short, I don't really have any other friends who are all that into that. So, a lot of times I come up with random ideas for skits that would require more than just me... problem is I have nobody else to join me. LOL! So, it would actually be nice to meet a couple more friends who are into acting mainly just as a hobby. I can't afford to pay anybody because I just do my videos for free and for fun. Not like I'm a big YouTube name or anything. LOL! There's probably 2 people out there watching me that aren't me.

[FAndrews]

LOL Bark Man , along the Improv route, maybe an amateur dramatics group?

[Jessica27]

good idea, i'll try

[Kromat83]

I run my own meetup group for singles and we did Bowling + indoor trampoline park this past Saturday and the company I had really seemed to enjoy their night.
A bunch went hiking on the 1st Saturday of this month, and it the wilderness was great, and got to see various animals there at the zoo.
Next up is Trampoline Park + indoor Rock Climbing, and have more awesome activities for us to do in the future.
P.S. I will be working on a website for various suggestions I may have, with pictures/videos/comments, etc.
.... another thing, i became Event Organizer with 2 other groups, because of the options I brought up.
Meetup.com, is definitely the way to go.

[TheEvilJester]

Well, it was either Mr. Bark Man or Captain Woof Woof. :-) LOL!

Anyways, Kromat, that sounds really cool. Personally, I wouldn't know how to get a singles group, or even just some kind of hobby and/or activites group set up, so the better bet for me would be to find some that already exist.

My game night was different. I didn't set that up thinking "Hey, let's meet some new friends" or "Hey, maybe a girl will come along that I'll like." I just set it up because I recently discovered board games more involved and more awesome than the standards (Clue, Monopoly, Life, etc.) and wanted a chance to play more and more. So, more often than not the group is just myself and the other two guys who come all the time. We do have a visitor here and there, but not very often a girl, and nobody else tends to come by more than once or twice in a blue moon. That is fine with me because I just set it up wanting to get more time to play. So, therefore it doesn't really help all that much with my desire to meet more people. That's why I need to come up with other ways to do that.