Hobbies are important activities throughout life, but become more prominent in retirement. Now there is more time to do all those things you thought you might like to do, plus you can discover interests that did not occur to you earlier.
My hobby interests go in splurges. I can be obsessive about a hobby for a long time and then switch to something different. These have been piano lessons, all manner of needle crafts, and gardening. I still engage in those activities, but on a smaller scale that in the past. Perhaps more on those later.
My current and most encompassing hobby for the past five years has been genealogy. I started off collecting the genealogy of my own family and three years ago produced a book for members of my family of our family heritage.
But since then, I branched out into general genealogical compilations and have published five major books and two journal articles. The process of collecting information is similar to a giant jigsaw puzzle. It also requires the willingness to pore over digital copies of very old documents made much easier by the large and increasing availability of online resources.
For me, my genealogy obsession gives me the chance to problem-solve, explore history, and to make a different use of my research skills.
Some information on my genealogy work can be seen at https://www.abbottgenealogy.com/
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