It’s been a while since we’ve all been told to stay at home, and I’m sure it is taking a toll on all of you. I’m in a privileged position that I’m currently out in the middle of nowhere and there is no curfew yet, so I can still get out on the trails and run to clear my head, but isolation is still not easy. So, I thought I’d collect a few things that can keep you entertained that I’ve put on this blog in the past. Podcast recommendations, book reviews, learning new skills, journaling, etc.

Books

Let’s start with books. Reading is the ideal activity when being cozy at home and luckily I have a huge list of recommendations for you whether you want to read sci-fi, current affairs, sports, self-improvement, etc.. About a month ago I put together a review of all the books I’ve read in 2019, so take a look at that HERE.

Podcasts

In the last year and a half I’ve spent a lot of time listening to podcasts and I find them a great educational and entertainment tool. I have an old post about the podcasts I was listening to about a year ago and since then I’ve found a couple of new ones that I love even more. My current favorites are The Adventure Stache and The Stokecast. Both are mainly related to athletic pursuits and entrepreneurism and I find them really inspiring. The Rich Roll Podcast provides great deep dives into fascinating topics, with episodes frequently lasting 2+ hours, but every minute of them is worth it.

Sports

As you may have read on here, Aisling and I have been doing yoga most days and we have some suggestions for things to start with. If you are fairly new to yoga (like me) THIS video is a great start which is pretty accessible, but still gives you a nice workout. If you feel like something more challenging, THIS video is a good one. I sure as hell can’t get into a bunch of the poses, but then again, I’m not very flexible.

Another great resource is the Madfit youtube channel. A lot of quick 10-20 minute workouts that you can do in your apartment and for most of them you only need a yoga mat. For example, THIS is an absolute killer ab workout. Another favorite channel of Aisling and I is the Eamon & Bec channel, which is mostly about vanlife and travel, but now they are doing a daily workout challenge with lots of great sports ideas, so maybe take a look at that as well.

CreativeLive

You have all this time at home, why not learn something new? I’ve written about CreativeLive on the blog HERE before and it is a fantastic resource to learn photography, video, editing, creative skills, entrepreneurship or even yoga and mindfulness from. They always have some courses streaming for free, so check out their schedule and tune in to see ones that interest you.

Bullet Journal

Journaling is a great mindfulness practice, one that I’ve kind of been doing publicly on the blog here lately, but if you want to document your life without the publicity, a bullet journal is fantastic tool. It can also motivate you to keep up with sports, you can add checklists, etc. – exactly what you may need in times when your life lacks the usual structure. HERE is a handy guide to get you started.

Day 8

Yet another day with disappointing weather – the snow only stuck around for a few minutes in the morning, then it was just cold and wet. Going outside was not appealing at all, so we opted for a day of organizing things, playing card games, catching up on long-neglected photo editing, writing, emails and we also experimented a lot in the kitchen.

Veggie curry is one of our go-to meals anyway and we always adjust our ingredients to whatever is in season or what is available. Aisling also found this funky recipe for a gooey iced coffee thing that has been making rounds on the internet (HERE is a recipe) and while it does taste good and look good, if you don’t have a mixing machine, your arm is going to fall off by the time you reach a desired consistency of the coffee cream.

I hope today’s blogpost helps you stay entertained during these often boring days.