15 Comforting Winter Hobbies You’ll Want To Start While Traveling
Winter is the best time of the year to start new hobbies, especially while traveling.
The slower pace of life, the cozy vibes, and the quieter tourist spots all seem more inviting, allowing you to get into a creative and mindful state of mind and explore something new while sightseeing.
From journaling new adventures to learning local artisanal crafts or getting into student mode with a new skill you’re learning online, there are many hobbies you can start to enrich and make your travels more memorable.
In this post, we’ll explore 15 inspiring winter hobbies you can start while traveling, no matter where you go.
1. Brain dump with journaling
Journaling has many benefits for the mind, including reducing stress and anxiety and recording noteworthy moments.
When traveling, you can experience several out-of-the-ordinary encounters, whether with yourself, the city, people, or other experiences, that deserve to be recorded to process your travels and even reflect on one day.
Personally, keeping a journal as a traveler has allowed me to keep a physical record of the places I’ve visited, what made them unique, and other details that later helped me with reverse culture shock.
2. Start a travel scrapbook
A travel scrapbook is a great way to keep track of your travels in a fun and creative format. It is also beautiful to look back on later on.
As you travel, you collect everything from museum ticket stubs and brochures to receipts with text in a foreign language. Why not make art instead of throwing it all out?
This hobby also makes a fun, customized souvenir you can take all the credit for because you made it as you traveled.
3. Take a painting class
Taking a painting class is a fun experience in any city and a great way to get social and participate in a class with locals or other travelers.
Painting, like other art forms, can be a meditative and grounding experience, perfect for winter.
It can be a perfect hobby to take up while traveling, especially for those experiencing homesickness or seeking a relaxing, screen-free activity.
4. Practice Hygge
Hygge is the Danish art of being cozy, from your space to your rituals, and enjoying that with good people around you.
Winter is often an invitation to slow down, relax, and participate in nourishing activities, including eating seasonal comfort foods. Hygge is the perfect way to DIY your perfect ritual while adding a bit of coziness along the way.
As travelers, it is easy to try to fit in many activities in one day, but it only leads to fatigue. Hygge can be the hobby you want to try that your body and mind will thank you for later.
5. Get some endorphins on a winter walk
Create a routine of getting outside and walking for as long as you can withstand the weather.
Walking, especially during the winter, has numerous benefits, from improving your immune system to improving focus. It’s also a huge mood booster.
One of my favorite winter activities anywhere is walking while listening to a walking meditation. This helps me combine 2 habits for an optimal mood boost!
Explore new neighborhoods, grab a coffee, and enjoy it on a walk to the park.
6. Drawing your travels
With the endless amount of breathtaking scenery, nature, and architecture we encounter while traveling, drawing makes a great winter activity to start when you’re out and about.
Traveling during the winter is the perfect opportunity to take your sketchbook and pencil and draw a few sketches of your travels, whether it’s the coffee cup you’re drinking from at a cozy cafe or of nature outside your window.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be fun to you. Plus, it’s another great way to document your travels.
7. Set a reading goal
Set a reading goal, see how much you can read in a given time, and continue expanding your mind as you travel.
Make it cozy and schedule it into your daily routine, whether reading during lunch at a new cafe or first thing in the morning.
So load up your e-reader with your favorite books, and don’t be afraid to venture outside your typical genres.
If you can read in the local language (or are learning to), consider visiting a bookshop and reading a popular book in the local language!
8. Take an online course
If you have never studied abroad and wanted to in college, taking an online course while traveling will fulfill your dream and benefit your skillset.
Take platforms like Skillshare, a paid course platform where you can find dozens of courses on various subjects taught by experts, or a free course from renowned universities like Harvard with plenty of interesting classes for fun or skill-building.
Escape the cold, make your space cozy or hygge, and make it comfortable for learning. You can also step inside a historic library in the city you’re visiting to feel even more inspired to learn something new.
9. Perfect your downward dog
Be inspired by winter and mold your workouts into smaller movements, strength training, and connecting with nature even in the middle of the cold.
Switch from cardio-intensive workouts to yoga, pilates, or barre, targeting smaller muscles in the body.
On the other hand, take advantage of the winter and participate in seasonal-specific outdoor activities to maintain your activity level.
For something different, look into local winter activities, such as ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing, or snowboarding.
10. Practice a new language
This winter, practice a new language to upgrade your memory, decision-making, creativity, and communication skills.
Although the benefits of learning a new language always revolve around the positive effects on the brain’s health, it can also be a great opportunity to meet locals and get out of your comfort zone during the winter.
Check out language exchanges typically hosted at local cafes or bars to practice the local language with someone in person or check out becoming a language student at a local language school for an even greater social feel.
11. Get poetic about your travels
Whether you’re visiting places where great writers and poets once spent some time, or you’re huddled in a cabin in nature, get inspired by your beautiful surroundings to create poetry.
Capture your travels uniquely and artistically, reflecting the places you’re traveling to and your state of mind.
You don’t need to be a word whiz to write poetry. Look for short-form poetry for beginners and get inspired by the simplicity of poetry and the inspiration all around you, especially during low tourism season, without so much buzz around.
12. Take a cooking or baking class
Upleveling your cooking and baking skills while traveling is one of the best ways to learn new recipes, immerse yourself in the local culture, and start a great hobby in the winter.
Whether it’s a make-your-own pasta from-scratch class, a tapas cooking class, or a yeasted bread course, a hands-on experience like a baking and cooking class is a great souvenir and a way to get out of your hotel or Airbnb and meet others along the way.
13. Practice your photography
While on your winter walks in your destination city, why not practice taking some photos and playing around with editing?
You don’t have to start with a fancy camera; you only need your phone and the desire to take more photos.
This could be a fun hobby, and you’ll end up with plenty of photographic souvenirs of your time in the city you’re visiting.
14. Learn a traditional artisanal art form
Depending on where you’re traveling, you may find beautiful historical and artisanal practices to learn about and try your hand at.
Whether you’re taking a calligraphy class in China, a weaving or textile class in Mexico, practicing your pottery and ceramics skills in Greece, or soapmaking in France, research local artisanal practices and search online for classes available for a unique hobby to start while traveling.
15. Uplevel your finance knowledge
Many people like to take the winter season to learn new skills and gain new knowledge, and one of those important life skills to learn could be upleveling your financial knowledge.
Whether you read a financial book or are coached online by a financial professional to help you get your budget and personal finances in order while learning ways to grow your money, it is a great hobby to start.
This winter, get your money in order and learn how to budget for more travel, upgraded experiences, and overall financial understanding and empowerment so that no matter where you go, you’ll be financially prepared to solve it.
Which hobby would you like to start this winter on your travels?
Not everything in winter needs to be out in the cold, trying some of these hobbies are a great way to spend time indoors, connecting and bettering yourself, while still being able to enjoy winter.
