Pandemic hobbies & life changes around the world
March 19, 2023 3:37 PM Subscribe
What sort of hobbies and personal development changes were trending in different countries during the height of COVID and lockdown (2020-2022ish)? Was it much the same across the world, or are there peculiarities in different places?
Living in Australia, but also having connections with the US and UK, I noticed a few trends in the sort of activities and personal discoveries that became more prevalent during COVID/lockdown, to the point of being meme-y. People got way more into video games, baking/cooking, skincare, and/or plants; a lot more people came out as queer/trans and/or neurodivergent in some way, and there was of course greater emphasis on working from home and quiet quitting.
But was that true outside those countries? Did different things become more popular in different places (or even outside my admittedly selective networks)? Any larger trends or norms that were notable elsewhere?
(This question was inspired by a video I just watched about China's 996 working hour system - I was wondering if norms around this had changed during the pandemic, especially since lockdown would have affected working hours.)
Living in Australia, but also having connections with the US and UK, I noticed a few trends in the sort of activities and personal discoveries that became more prevalent during COVID/lockdown, to the point of being meme-y. People got way more into video games, baking/cooking, skincare, and/or plants; a lot more people came out as queer/trans and/or neurodivergent in some way, and there was of course greater emphasis on working from home and quiet quitting.
But was that true outside those countries? Did different things become more popular in different places (or even outside my admittedly selective networks)? Any larger trends or norms that were notable elsewhere?
(This question was inspired by a video I just watched about China's 996 working hour system - I was wondering if norms around this had changed during the pandemic, especially since lockdown would have affected working hours.)
There was a worldwide increase in bicycling.
posted by mbrubeck at 5:43 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 5:43 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm also in Australia, but Queensland, where the COVID lockdowns/restrictions were much shorter and generally less severe because of low case numbers. Lots of people were working from home, though and schools were closed etc, so people had a lot more time at home, but social activities were very restricted and many were avoiding them anyway. A few things got way more popular here during that period - pet ownership, DIY and camping.
A lot of people bought pets because, for the first time, they were home enough to be able to look after them and for companionship when they couldn't hang out with friends. There were lots of fears that many would be abandoned when things got back to 'normal', these seem to have been unfounded, perhaps because so many people are still working from home, although perhaps only sometimes.
There was a huge rise in people doing DIY projects at home, from small things like painting a room or building a vege garden to whole-house renovations or big landscaping projects. Again, people had more time at home and were looking for something to fill that time and, sometimes replacing expenditure they would otherwise have on holidays etc. I think part of this was that hardware stores were one of the few businesses that remained open even during the lockdowns, so it was possible to get the equipment and materials to do things at home and fill all that time. it did create problems for tradespeople trying to get materials for their work, because the supply chain issues meant that stock was often low or non-existent. I did hear of some people using Bunnings as a way to meet friends socially by 'accidentally' shopping for hardware at the same time.
Because people couldn't move around the country much due to state border closures and obviously couldn't leave the country, camping and caravanning took off in popularity. Caravan and camper prices went through the roof because of supply shortages and I'm looking forward to picking up a cheap, hardly used caravan in a year or two and people go back to flitting off overseas on a whim and decide to sell their caravans, creating a buyer's market.
posted by dg at 5:53 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
A lot of people bought pets because, for the first time, they were home enough to be able to look after them and for companionship when they couldn't hang out with friends. There were lots of fears that many would be abandoned when things got back to 'normal', these seem to have been unfounded, perhaps because so many people are still working from home, although perhaps only sometimes.
There was a huge rise in people doing DIY projects at home, from small things like painting a room or building a vege garden to whole-house renovations or big landscaping projects. Again, people had more time at home and were looking for something to fill that time and, sometimes replacing expenditure they would otherwise have on holidays etc. I think part of this was that hardware stores were one of the few businesses that remained open even during the lockdowns, so it was possible to get the equipment and materials to do things at home and fill all that time. it did create problems for tradespeople trying to get materials for their work, because the supply chain issues meant that stock was often low or non-existent. I did hear of some people using Bunnings as a way to meet friends socially by 'accidentally' shopping for hardware at the same time.
Because people couldn't move around the country much due to state border closures and obviously couldn't leave the country, camping and caravanning took off in popularity. Caravan and camper prices went through the roof because of supply shortages and I'm looking forward to picking up a cheap, hardly used caravan in a year or two and people go back to flitting off overseas on a whim and decide to sell their caravans, creating a buyer's market.
posted by dg at 5:53 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
In my area of the U.S. a ton of people started doing 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles for a bit. That was early on, when we were led to believe it would only be like a few weeks of waiting it out (sigh).
posted by donut_princess at 7:02 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by donut_princess at 7:02 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Birdwatching. Baking bread and having a sourdough starter. Gardening, either indoor or outdoor.
posted by MadMadam at 7:27 PM on March 19, 2023
posted by MadMadam at 7:27 PM on March 19, 2023
Camping was already increasing in popularity in the US, but the pace picked up and it included wealthier people. (As I skim the KOA report, camping became less popular among Canadians?)
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:40 PM on March 19, 2023
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:40 PM on March 19, 2023
In the US at least: golf.
Right before COVID, golf was considered a declining sport since there was no longer a "Tiger" to keep things going, and many golf courses were worth more as land for luxury condos then for sport. Country clubs were seen as basically on their death bed.
Golf exploded during the lockdowns since it was an outdoor activity with almost built-in social distancing. Also, it's basically the opposite of being depressed sitting in your house watching streaming services, especially here in SoCal when it's 75 degrees outside. Until recently, all the Los Angeles public courses ran out of tee times a week out within seconds of 7am each morning.
And with golf exploding, so did country club memberships. At my club, for years and years our membership director had to beg people to even show up for a tour, and the attrition of members by death was higher than finding new people to pay the ~$14k initiation. 36 months later, the initiation is ~40k with 10 people on a waiting list that costs a $5k deposit to join. I went on the list in Oct 2021 (yeah, I'm one of those COVID golf people), and I had to wait 11.5 months on the waiting list to get in at $28k.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 8:22 PM on March 19, 2023
Right before COVID, golf was considered a declining sport since there was no longer a "Tiger" to keep things going, and many golf courses were worth more as land for luxury condos then for sport. Country clubs were seen as basically on their death bed.
Golf exploded during the lockdowns since it was an outdoor activity with almost built-in social distancing. Also, it's basically the opposite of being depressed sitting in your house watching streaming services, especially here in SoCal when it's 75 degrees outside. Until recently, all the Los Angeles public courses ran out of tee times a week out within seconds of 7am each morning.
And with golf exploding, so did country club memberships. At my club, for years and years our membership director had to beg people to even show up for a tour, and the attrition of members by death was higher than finding new people to pay the ~$14k initiation. 36 months later, the initiation is ~40k with 10 people on a waiting list that costs a $5k deposit to join. I went on the list in Oct 2021 (yeah, I'm one of those COVID golf people), and I had to wait 11.5 months on the waiting list to get in at $28k.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 8:22 PM on March 19, 2023
In South Africa, making pineapple beer. Because of all alcohol sales being illegal for most of 2020.
Also, making masks, because they were not really available for quite a long time.
posted by Zumbador at 9:20 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, making masks, because they were not really available for quite a long time.
posted by Zumbador at 9:20 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Enough people bought sailboats that the prices of used boats rose dramatically. We sailors are awaiting a crash in prices as people decide to sell, but we haven't seen it yet.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:25 AM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by SemiSalt at 5:25 AM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
In the US and Scandanavia: Disc Golf
Will Laws, Paige Pierce is Taking Disc Golf to the Moon, SI.com, Mar. 11, 2021.
Tapani Aulu, Finland's Secret Sauce, DiscGolfer Magazine, Feb. 8, 2021.
posted by GPF at 8:49 PM on March 20, 2023
Will Laws, Paige Pierce is Taking Disc Golf to the Moon, SI.com, Mar. 11, 2021.
Tapani Aulu, Finland's Secret Sauce, DiscGolfer Magazine, Feb. 8, 2021.
posted by GPF at 8:49 PM on March 20, 2023
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posted by Miko at 5:42 PM on March 19, 2023