List of Fun Things to Do When You’re Out of Ideas
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The weekend, notably Friday or Saturday night, is filled with so many high expectations for high school and the twenty-something crowd. For the under-thirty young people, it’s a time when you need to go out and/or party. Or, at the very least, stay home and watch a movie with friends. Staying home alone and not doing anything – or worse, doing homework – is a Saturday night activity synonymous with a loser!
What to Do in This Common Scenario
This is a situation has been replayed countless times by my groups of friends since high school. The time is either Saturday night or vacation. We continue asking questions to nobody in particular like “I’m so bored. Let’s do something.” or “Let’s do something tonight. What should we do?” What’s worse is when someone says, “Call me when you guys plan something!” leaving the responsibility of social event coordinating to a hapless group of young people. It’s like we’re hoping somebody will spring into action and think of something to do that is both interesting and entertaining! No one take will take the initiative to decide. So, we’re just standing there confusingly bumping into each other or just stupidly sulking in our undecided boredom.
Further Complications with no Dough
“Let’s eat out on the upscale side of town and act rich!”
“No! I don’t have any money!”
If the problem of undecided indifference isn’t enough, sadly, the dilemma is also coupled with the complication of no cash. My motto – well, one of them – is “money is required to have fun.” You can’t say to your friends, “Let’s do something!” if you don’t have anything to spend. Put your money where your mouth is! If there is one thing that I learned over the years, it is very hard to have fun if you don’t spend money. Face it, if you don’t have money to spend, you’re pretty much stuck watching a cheap movie! Besides, somebody had to pay for that movie rental.
The Last Resort
So in the end, you end up vegging out and watching that cheap movie as the “main event” and calling it a night. How mundane and boring! After repeating this cycle the nth time, I thought, “There needs to be something that beats this!” Many people can relate to this sentiment. We’re looking for something new, cultured, hip, and out of the ordinary. It doesn’t hurt if the activity is relatively inexpensive either. An event below 20 bucks would be nice. We’re looking for something more unconventional than the typical dinner and a movie for a one-on-one date or a group of friends. We’re looking for an activity for the crowd that doesn’t party, go dancing, hit the bar scene, go clubbing, or mindlessly watch the ubiquitous movie rental.
Alternatives
I’d like to pose a couple of ideas for the bored and the clueless.
Nightlife
- Check out a vocal jazz club or piano bar. Look for a place with “indie,” “earthy-sounding,” starving artists living off tips.
- Watch a staged event like a dramatic play or a Broadway musical
- Get cultured and view a ballet waltz or an exotic dance from another culture.
- Revisit the classical era by attending the symphony or the opera
- Check out the local comedy club. Just make sure you don’t sit in the front if you don’t want to get called out.
- See who’s playing at Ticketmaster and go to the concert
Daytime
Visit a Pick-Your-Own farm and buy inexpensive, fresh, luscious, sweet produce for the next couple of weeks- Visit the metropolitan zoo
- Try your hand at miniature golf … or even better, real golf. You can dress in polos and khakis pretending that you’re a rich group discussing business deals
- Try your hand at archery
Go to the park on the nice side of town- Take a trip to a small, desolate beach town. Avoid the typical places like the hot Spring Break destinations. Look for an idyllic boardwalk or a shore with quaint ice cream and ice cone stands.
- Take a trip sailing
- Go water skiing
- Tour a historical site with many nooks and crannies like a Gothic cathedral.
- For you inner geek, visit your main city library
- Watch and bet on a horse race
- Attend the game of a local sports team. Here in San Antonio, I never knew we had a hockey team until our school took us there. It’s really entertaining watching them get into fights.
Night and Day
- Visit an indoor handgun shooting range (with all the soundproof gear and goggles) and get a lesson if you’ve never used a gun.
- Take a cooking class for something that sounds complicated and full of panache
- Go rock climbing
- Visit the art museum or a sophisticated, contemporary specialty exhibit. Many times it is free!
- If you live on the east or west coast, get tickets for the viewing of a TV show taping.
- Take ballroom dance lessons
- Find a restaurant where the diners sit on the floor at low-leveled tables. Think Japanese or Lebanese
- When most people eat out they usually restrict themselves to the Italian, Mexican (Tex-Mex), Chinese, American cuisine. Try something exotic like Indian, French, (Authentic!) South American, African, Persian, Native American, Eastern European, Moroccan, Lebanese, Turkish, Arabic, etc
Other Tips and Suggestions
- Think like a tourist. I’ve lived in San Antonio, the hottest tourist city in Texas and one of the top in the United States. Yet, I know nothing about what this city has to offer. Read the tourist publications for where you live. Visit the website of your chamber of commerce or the department of tourism. You may find some interesting entertainment venues that you have never heard of.
- After the “main event” or “feature activity,” go to a hangout place like Starbucks or an independent coffeehouse with live background music.
Stay tuned to this article for any additional updates that I may add. If you have any suggestions to add to this list or any personal experiences on these ideas, please comment below.
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Posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007
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