Message from Adam
I live by the rule that if I am not spending money, I am saving money. Hiking is probably my favorite way of "saving" money but the things on this list are also great ways to have fun and not really spend much money. I tried some photo contests (never won) but Geocaching is my favorite item on this list. It is simple fun and can be great exercise sometimes. I love free hobbies!
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6 Free Hobbies
Here are some great ideas for spending time and not spending money. The ideas on this list will get you out of the house and enjoying life in ways that dont really need money. These free hobbies are a lot of fun!
*I am not an affiliate of any of these websites or apps. I just think that they are fun and a good reason to leave the house without having to spend a lot of money.
Free Hobby #1: Geocaching
Geocaching is one of the greatest “games” or activities that is used all around the world. It is free to do and it leads you on wonderful adventures to find new places.
Geocaching is a global treasure hunt.
After signing up for this app, you can look on a map and see the locations of all the Geocaches around you.
A geocache is a small container that someone has placed in a secret location. Well, not really secret because that person marks the location on the geocaching website/app. 
Then it is up to you to go and find it!
Inside each geocache could be anything. Often it is a small toy, sticker, other small object or a notebook for you to write your name in. What is inside the geocache is not important. The fun of looking for and finding it is the main goal of this “game”. You can keep what you find in the container, but you need to replace it with something of your own. 
With the app, you can keep track of how many you have found and there are challenges to do on the app as well.
Geocaching is done all over the world, so no matter what country you go to, you have a chance of finding a geocache! Maybe the best free hobby in the world!
You can also make you own geocaches and place them anywhere you like. After hiding you geocache, simply upload the location to the app and then people can try to find it.
There is a huge global community that you could join!
It is free to do and it will give you a reason to go on an adventure. This is one of the best ways to spend time without spending money!
Free Hobby #2: Gish
This is my personal favorite! Gish is truly an amazing website/culture/society.
This is listed as a “world wide scavenger hunt” and there are thousands of wonderful people participating.
Meeting people is one of the best parts of Gish, and the other wonderful part is that it is free and will keep you busy all year long without costing any money!
It is a scavenger hunt, but maybe not like you envision.
On this site, there is a long list of very strange phrases like; ice cream insects or noodle instruments. The object of this game is to make your interpretation of each of the things on the list and to take photos or videos of what you create. Submit these photos and videos to Gish and receive points.
Some things on the list can be done solo, but many require more than one person to complete. There are groups all over the world working together to complete items on the list.
You could start your own group or join a group in your area. Either way you will meet some truly wonderful and interesting people.
Gish is all about fun and there is no stress involved! Other than being weird and fun, the goal of this game is to be the person or group who completed the most items on the list and received the most points.
There are several different categories to win in and the season`s grand prize winners will be taken on a getway vacation that looks amazing.
But even if you don’t win, this is a community worth joining. This is a chance to be creative and enjoy life.
Since this is free to join, you could spend days or months working on these projects and spend almost no money at all. The more time you spend working on this scavenger hunt, the less time that you will be bored and looking for something (that costs money) to do.
The wonderfulness (weirdness) of this website is hard to explain, so make sure to check it out for yourself.
Free Hobby #3: Photo Contests
Photography is a great hobby to have for several reasons.
One reason is that taking pictures is free! Of course you need a camera (or phone), but then you can just walk around all day taking pictures. With photography you can kill time, enjoy life and do both for free!
You don’t need a big fancy camera either.
Just a phone or cheap camera will work. If you have a camera but don’t know what to take pictures of, then I suggest joining a photo contest.
There are hundreds of different photo contests to join and each one is different than the last. There are iPhone, photo contest, nature photo contest, portrait photo contests and many more. Some of the big camera makers also have photo contests that you could join.
There are different categories for profession photographers and amateurs, so don’t worry if you are just starting out. You can still join many of these contests.
In fact, you should check your town’s website. Most towns in Japan have an annual photo contest that anyone can participate in.
Here is a website that lists many of the big, worldwide photo contests that you could consider participating in.
Taking pictures is fun and creative. It can get you out of your house and enjoying life in a way that doesn’t require a lot of money.
Not spending money is saving money! Good luck!
Free Hobby #4: Zombies, Run
This is an interactive game available on iOS or Android and whoever thought of Zombies, Run is a genius.
Running is very healthy and its free to do, but running is actually a good way to save money too. The more time you spend running, the less time that you are spending money on movies, buses or the air conditioner in your apartment. Running is a great free hobby!
But let’s face it, running isn’t fun and not many people are excited about running.
That is why the creator of this game is a genius. This app gives you motivation to go running and turns exercise into a game. It is also good just for walking around as well, so it is good at any speed.
When you sign up for this app, you are given a town to live in. This town is in a world full of zombies and you need to run (in the real world) to get supplies and save people. This game uses GPS to map out routes that will take you to places to get supplies for your town or to save people that are surrounded by zombies in the game.
With headphones on you can run to the sounds of zombies chasing you, suspenseful music (and any music of your choice) in addition to theatrical story telling. All of these things make running fun and the time seems to fly by. And when you hear the zombies chasing you, you have to run faster so it is a great way to maximize your effort.
It is a very well designed game with an interesting story. The app also keeps track of how far you ran and how fast.
All in all, this is a pretty good way to spend your free time. Again, the more you run the less time you will be bored and spending money just for the sake of spending it.
Free Hobby #5: Turf Wars
Turf Wars is also a game available on iOS or Android.
The concept of this game is pretty interesting and is used by millions across the globe. The object of this game is to claim as much land as you can. All the land is in the real world, but you claim it in the game. This game also uses GPS so it keeps track of where you are and the areas that you claimed.
So walk around your town and try to claim as much land as you can. Claim your favorite bar or park as your own. Join up with friends and defend your neighborhood from rivals.
Wherever you go, turn on this app and look at the map. You can see if anyone has already claimed the location that you are at.
That means the more places you go, the more land you can claim. In this fashion, you are out of your house and enjoying life without having to spend any money.
This game gives you a reason to ride your bike around town or hike through a park.
In the app there are missions you can do and you can battle people for piece of “turf”.
This game is actually pretty addicting to play. See how much turf you can claim for your own and try to be the Capo of your city.
Do all of this without spending money!
Free Hobby #6: Pokémon GO
To be perfectly honest, I don’t really like this game. But Pokémon GO (and other games like it) is a good way to spend time without spending a lot of money. This is one of the most popular free hobbies in the world.
For those of you who are not familiar with Pokémon GO, it is a game where you travel around the real world and try to find Pokémon (characters) in the virtual world. These Pokémon “appear” in different locations all over the world. You can find where they appear on the map inside the app.
After finding a Pokémon, you then point you phone at it and catch it. After catching it, you can keep these Pokémon in your collection. Some are common and some are rare characters. How many can you find?
Even if you don’t like Pokémon, this is a good activity to go and explore the world around you. This game could keep you busy all year long and other than transportation costs, this game doesn’t cost any money.
Here are a few more games silimar to Pokémon Go. Well, similar in the sense that they are augmented reality games that get you out of the house and use your phone for virtual entertainment in the real world.
Zombies Everywhere on iOS and Android
Pixelmon Go on iOS and Android
Anomaly on iOS and Android
