Zen Places

So I am interested in what all you fine people do to escape the humdrum monotony of the world and those who are vexatious to the spirit? (Other than play e&p obviously)

For me its escaping into the countryside or going to a football/ soccer match (come on Ayr United)

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Nice thread. Hope it catches some interest.

I play Warhammer 40,000 so painting models is my real world escape. I usually go away a lot and play it all over the place but sadly Covid has temporarily stopped that part of the hobby. But it shall be back.

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Cool, I played D&D, MtG, and did a bit of LARPing for Vampire the Masquerade in my teens, but never got into Warhammer. Knew a few folks who did though.

I did a week Long Beach vacation earlier this month. As weird as it sounds, doing nothing is a great escape.

Otherwise my go to is walking my dog and listening to podcasts.

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Well E&P is what keeps me “sane” during the normal work week. I typically do 50-60 hours and am generally always on call for my job.

About 2 years ago I got into cooking a lot. Then when COVID hit I took up gardening as well. They both seem to have stuck. While I haven’t planted and grown a lot of edibles yet, that is probably the logical next step. Growing my own food (to some degree). Really I have been doing a lot of perennial garden planting and maintenance. I ran out of my own gardens and neighbors started to let me just “keep going” with it :laughing:

Shout out to @cheds for Warhammer and 40k. Those were my jams for years. Probably 2nd - 6th editions in 40k. Fantasy I dabbled, but it never took over. I used to go to other states to play in tournies and stuff. Awesome (but EXPENSIVE) hobby.

:beers:

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You aren’t wrong :joy: It makes E&P look cheap in comparison.

But in fairness playing that game makes me totally immune to the nerf/buff stuff in this one. GW releases busted rules and nerfs them literally every month. You chase the meta at your own peril in Warhammer.

Hopefully the pandemic is at a place where I can go to Vegas in January. Missed this years LVO really badly.

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I don’t want to side track too badly, but one last thing. I am really surprised the hobby hasn’t died more. They were raising prices faster than say standard inflation for a ljong time. Most of the gamers were teenagers or kids in their early 20’s who were to broke to take that hit. I thought they would price themselves out of a hobby.

I saw they kind of killed fantasy. That’s fine. It was pretty clunky and slow compared to 40k.

:beers:

Drone racing and other rc flying (zen place 1: model airports) - creating electronic music especially trance and techno (zen place 2: my dawless setup desk and my mind).

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@Cheds I’ve really missed visiting my home away from home London. For me, I really enjoy heading on an overseas holiday. It’s just not the same going on a domestic trip. :rofl:

@Kilted Nice thread. Besides playing the game, I like to light a luxury candle (Diptyque brand :heart_eyes:), bake banana bread, catch up with a friend face to face (when it’s permitted), and watch my favourite YouTubers.

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Travelling by myself. It’s curious how different it is when you go abroad with friends.

The other activity that helps me to get distressed is singing. :sweat_smile:

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Travel travel travel. I like new places to see and experiences to try. And checking ahead of time for wifi, can’t miss those war flags!

Cheers, great thread kilt. And it’s nice to finally have some vacations planned.

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Yes travel is something me and my Wife love so this last 18 months have been…unpleasant (nicest word I can think of)

We’ve booked a few holidays for next year as they are cheap at the minute and all we can do is cross our fingers we get to go to them.

I’ll be double jabbed next week which currently seems to be the gateway to some freedom.

I live on the Isle of Man so a trip to London is special to us as well. Can’t wait to get back there too.

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@SamMe is by any chance the home away from London in Portugal? Or more exotic overseas?

Irrelevant update:

My wife and I bought a soil moisture and ph sensor for like $20. Game changer, highly recommended so you’re not winging it with your potted plants that aren’t essentially indestructible succulents.

:beers:

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Hello @hfrr33. My home is in Sydney, Australia. I’d like to visit Portugal some day. :slightly_smiling_face:

Keep meaning to respond, but, well, life. :wink:

Self care is drilled into folks like me. It’s pretty necessary to survive some of the stuff we hear about in our day-to-day.

Taking the Harley out for jaunts of varying duration and distance, playing and recording music (playing the drums well, everything else poorly), hunting (mostly archery, but living in Alaska got me into the firearms side of it) fishing (fly and spin casting), hiking, trying to earn my dogs’ continued affection, traveling with my wife (she’s an author, I’m the supportive husband who gets free travel out of the deal)… I’ve developed a fairly extensive list of “relief valves” over the years.

Great topic!

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Yeah, I work in the debt collection industry, some of the stories I used to hear from customers when I was on the phones was bad enough, can only imagine how much worse it must be for you.Made the decision early on that for my mental wellbeing getting of the phones and into a back office role was vital.

Next week is travel week with the wife to Inverness for a few days, combine it with my love of history and visit Culloden Moor

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I’m gonna guess that you and I have dealt with some of the same emotions, and under similar circumstances. Glad that you trusted your gut and made a positive change for yourself.

As for Culloden, I’ve been trying to get over your way for most of my adult life. Someday I’m gonna make it happen. Beautiful country, rich history, and cool people. I’m guessing you have days where you might see things differently, but as an outsider looking in, I’m envious.

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Perhaps not a zen place, but a moment of zen anyway. Nice enough weather in Scotland to sit outside with a drink in the shadow of Inverness Castle.

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Looks pretty damn Zen to me! What beers are those?

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