what things do you go to on your own?

Any kind of entertainment thing - gigs/concerts, museums, exhibitions, galleries, I will go to on my own. In a lot of way, I almost enjoy these activities *more* by myself.

Restaurants, I will go to on my own if I know it really well, and/or have been there frequently enough. I would have a hard time going to a new restaurant by myself. Bars/pubs, I specifically don't go on my own unless I'm meeting someone, because the temptation to binge drinking is too great. I used to do this far too much, and I had to stop.

The only film I've ever seen on my own is This Is Spinal Tap. I couldn't resist seeing it in the cinema and I couldn't find anyone to go with that afternoon.

I don't mind being in a pub or cafe on my own to pass the time reading or something, but usually if I have some time to kill I try and find a museum or gallery.

xpost - same as Kate I mean

I've been travelling on my own and it was OK - potentially you can cover more ground, but there's always the point where you see something incredibly beautiful and wish there was someone there to share it.

I also go to gigs, and even live-music-less pubs, alone pretty frequently, but what with A) this being a small town, and B) my having lived here all my life, there's generally a %95 chance that there will be someone I know anywhere at any time. But with live music, I've learned that it's very unlikely that one can really carry on conversations well, what with the loudness.

I don't like to go to art functions by myself though, because then I have no one to back me up when I'm saying assholish things about the bullshit I'm looking at.

i don't like going to bars by myself at all, though. even to wait for someone, i'd usually rather wait outside. think this came from years of not drinking, which made me feel uncomfortable in bars to start with...

Pubs - fine on my own, but they have to be relatively uncrowded. I'd need reading matter too, sitting in the pub with a paper or a book gives off a "just popped in for a quick pint" image, while just gazing emptily across the room screams "sad twat desperate for someone to talk to". On a hot day this is less of an issue, especially outside.

Gigs - also fine, especially as its so easy to strike up a conversation with a stranger in that environment. I would never go to a club alone.

Restaurants - nah. It would feel dull and a bit lonely, no matter how great the food was.

Holidays - equally nah. I'd sit there all the time thinking how great things would be if X or Y person was there with me.

gosh actually i do most things that isn't a team sport on my own!! i'm a loner.

i did once or twice go to club nights on campus on my own but that's just because i was bound to bump into people i knew anyway.

but i ended up making friends at the very end of the night, so it all turned out ok. also made new friends in a felafel place there, they thought i was the 'zany american' and showed me around the town.

although i guess this thread is broader than just movie/gig/theatre topic..

but then on that thread i found me

It's a shame, perhaps, that it is socially unacceptable to be only somewhere on the pull. Perhaps it is a vicious circle. The kind of people who are happy to not care about this social stigma are the dregs of society, so bring further shame on the whole thing.

I go to cafes on my own - I'm quite happy to sit back, sip a coffee and read a script or a novel for a couple of hours.

I also go to watch AFC Wimbledon on my own. Again, there are often people there who I know (hi Dave!) but often there aren't. Which is fine, if occasionally lonely.

The worst thing is going somewhere on your own in the expectation of finding someone to hang out with, and failing. Deep despondency time.

probably okay if the bar/club in question was tiger tiger.

xpost with kate yeah that's slightly different if you know friends there.

I just remembered that I went into a club in Malta on my own last year, but only because my friend had decided to get an early night and I was in a "more fun!" mood. To be fair, I *was* only there on the pull, but equally I was successful so even the dregs of society do alright sometimes ;)

this is also why i like to go to art exhibitions with someone so i can talk shit and have someone there to listen, laugh, argue or tell me to be quiet.

Movies, galleries, gigs, cafés - no problem.

Pubs and restaurants - OK, although MattDC OTM about reading material. I am FAR more comfortable if I have something with me so that I'm not just staring around the room.

Travelling - I've started doing this in the last year, and I really like it. I was expecting to be freaked out by it, but I love being able to do whatever I want at my own pace. It only feels a bit weird in the nighttime, going 'out' by yourself (especially if you don't speak the language). Having someone local to meet up with wherever you go travelling is ideal - far better than actually travelling with someone IMO.

Clubs - Never.

I don't actually think there's anything wrong with going on the pull by yourself. I mean, what are you going to do with your friends if you do pull? Bring them along? I like my friends, but not that much! I spent much of the summer of 2002 going to clubs on the pull, by myself. OK, it was a very weird time of my life, but still. I feel no shame.

Haha, you abandon them like the thinly-veiled social smokescreen they are! Actually, I would find it quite difficult doing this if I was just with one other friend, because I've had that done to me before and its fucking annoying.

Some museums, and wandering around cities unsscheduled.

Opera, because not many people want to sit through it anyway, and then crane their neck up at the titles.

Things I don't do on my own: bars/pubs/clubs, most movies.

Bed.

From the way my life is currently developing I think I may be doing more of the above things on my own, but not too bothered about it.

it's too hard to talk in a club in order for me to pull.. my hearing's rubbish.

Archel - I thought you were a married woman? You shock me!

"What things do you lick on your own?"

Now there's a question...

Humph!

When we have French Revolutionary ILX, I'll have all your heads chopped off!

That's Prince Harry, of course, as opposed to, say, Prince Buster or that clapped-out '80s pop has-been whose name I've temporarily forgotten...er...Belouis Some? Jimmy the Hoover? Space Monkey?

(not actually in the same year, you understand, I'm not that old...)

Halifax building Society / Bank headquarters are built on a freemason building, which they preserved. So, when you go to get a mortgage...

I am not hurting for friends, but I go lots of places on my own these days. Which doesn't mean I won't run into people I know when I get there (or that I won't meet new people there), but I find myself going to movies, concerts, etc by myself. mostly because

*I hate organizing and planning informal get-togethers

*movies are a terrible social event unless you plan to hang out afterwards. plus now most of the theatres here have assigned seating which requires knowing everybody that is going in advance and I hate planning.

*I listen to metal and rap predominately and like, 3 of my friends do, and the ones that do can't afford to go to as many shows as me.

*I make plans on a whim - I've bought tickets to an out of state concert and hopped on a bus there less than 24 hours after buying tickets.

It's not lonely at all - I usually meet strangers, and sometimes I know I"ll run into people I know when I get there (there's a group of like 10 people at the metal shows who I see all the time that have become friendly with me). just seems like when I demanded having someone to accompany me places, I never got to do anything because it's hard to get people to commit to as many things as I wanted to do.

last night, a girl I dated briefly before many red flags scared me off looked at me at the karaoke bar (where I was seated alone, as this time nobody I really knew showed up) and she concern trolled me with "how you doing? you look like you're being a loner over there". it was kinda funny cos I was actually having a great time (vapid statements like that were one reason I decided not to continue).

anybody else do this? I mean I don't like to spend an overwhelming amount of time alone, it's just that I also don't like denying myself pleasures simply cos I can't find a partner in crime in time.

Sounds familiar. Apart from the listening to metal and rap predominantly part.

Generally, though, I don't know many people who like the same nonsense I do, suits me fine tbh.

one of my friends joked last year that FB was the "where is Neanderthal today" tracking tool, given my proclivities to state-jump on a whim to see shows

xpost yeah p much the same here, which isn't to say my friends and I don't have common interests, but the common interest that introduced me to them (theater) is something I don't do much anymore.

I usually lunch alone on Saturdays, at the bar. Excellent chats w/bartenders.

almost everything

Most things. I used to have a hang-up about going to movies and concerts on my own, but I've done it a bunch recently and now I don't care.

Galleries and museums, I generally prefer going on my own.

Yes, generally speaking anything arts-related I hit alone.

weirdly karaoke is the one thing I don't like to do alone, mostly cos, well, it's kind of boring by yourself, but I met two of my closest friends now at the local karaoke bar, and a girl I briefly dated. it's kind of a treasure trove for meeting new people (not always "good" new people but hey). so I'll do it alone now and then for nights like that.

I don't think I'd go to like, NYC alone, cos I like experiencing that w/ friends/lovers, but I go to Atlanta by myself a lot.

idk - 'meeting strangers' has been my new thing the last two years, whereas the idea of even TALKING to one like 10 years ago would have terrified me. alcohol is usually involved though.

the funniest small world moment is this guy I befriended at Maryland Death Fest. I was really drunk, he was really amped up, and we bonded together during one of the band's sets, and we hung out for the rest of the night until alcohol TKOed me for the night.

a few months later, I go to a Black SAbbath concert in Virginia, and I hear a voice go "HEY!". I turn around and it's him. he's like holy shit, don't you live in Florida?!! so we briefly said hi again and caught up until we got to our cars.

I love shit like that.

Executions

I did find a willing accomplice to go and see The Lego Batman Movie with me, but only because going as a lone man to see a kids film might be frowned upon.

Friend of mine took her kids to a parent & baby showing of idk what lately, pixarbait. Dude on his own at the back definitely got the judgemental eye from all around.

i do a lot of stuff alone. i think it's good to just do things you want to do regardless of whether you have someone else who wants to join you. i'd have missed out on a lot of good things in the last few years if i didn't just go ahead and do it myself. it's also good to try to do things with people as well, sometimes i feel like i'm too good at being alone, but mostly it's freeing to be comfortable with being solo.

going out for dinner alone is p great, once you know the right type of place to go to. i sometimes find on a monday or tuesday the idea of returning to my flat can be a bit boring or lonely, I work in the city but London residential is all quite suburban, i often feel like i want to stay in the city for a while. in the last year or two i sometimes go to the theatre solo, maybe get dinner beforehand, it can be a really nice thing to do.

i'm quite used to going on holiday alone these days as well. there will be holidays with friends, but in a way to actually relax and have a sense of freedom on a holiday, i enjoy going alone. my ideal holiday would be travelling alone during the week but seeing friends on the weekend, if that was somehow possible. but mostly you can have a lot of fun on your own when travelling, there's always something to see or even just walking around is nice. nyc is a great city for solo travel imo, just cos of how friendly american bars are. on my last trip i met a mixologist at a bar in the east village and he brought me to some speakeasy between les and chinatown, was there until about 4am drinking cocktails and getting free booze from his friends who worked there.

i guess for me, i have a chronic illness and that can sort of mean it's not always possible to fall in line with other people's plans or to be in sync with things, not to a drastic extent but just, i might have a day in a foreign country where i'm not capable of going and walking around etc (not least if i've been out drinking cocktails until 4am) - a big sense of holiday for me is being free from the need to do things, because that's quite stressful with my health sometimes, so my independence when away is fairly important.

I've been to lots of things alone. Going to concerts by yourself feels alienating but I've found it makes it easier to meet people when they see you alone at a table. Occasionally I like to see movies alone, the last one was "Under The Skin" I think. Being in a theater with 3 other people is a cool experience. I've found that people feel stigmatized when they do things alone, like going out to eat or whatever, but you just do it and be OK with it. Loneliness is a state of mind that can be willed away, I think.

Loneliness is a state of mind that can be willed away, I think.

otm

Loneliness is a state of mind that can be willed away, I think.

Also, "alone" and "lonely" are not automatically equal. From an early age I've gone to all sorts of things by myself, because I was so socially awkward I didn't have any friends I felt comfortable inviting them to do things with me.

^ quite true

I hike and camp alone on trails in remote wilderness areas, sometimes for weeks at a time. This is very different than bowling alone, eating in restaurants alone, or theater-going alone. Most of ilx already knew this about me, and it is not what the OP probably had in mind, but it does answer the thread question.

I hike and camp alone on trails in remote wilderness areas, sometimes for weeks at a time.

This sounds awesome, for some reason I didn't even know you could do that

imo, the essence of loneliness begins with the thought, whether it is explicit or sublimated: I wish...

Boredom is rather similar, except the remainder of the sentence is completed a bit differently.

This sounds awesome

For the right person, it is. That's why I keep going back and doing it again.

I'll do pretty much anything solo. If the gf and I are on the same page, great, but if not I'll still do whatever and she does likewise. Growing up a navy brat made me really good (probably too good) at being fine on my own most of the time.

Almost all of my hobbies are solo affairs. Like the thing where I'm a huge comics nerd and I really only nerd out about it with other people on ILX but otherwise it's mostly just my own thing.

Not compromising and doing things at your own pace is one of the best parts of being alone. Aimless, sounds really cool!

Camping alone sounds nice. I'd like to do that maybe as a meditation retreat sometime.

i can imagine hiking being really good, i did it a bit as a kid but never solo. one of my favourite things to do alone is a long walk, especially if i'm seeing somewhere new, but even a walk home from work once a week or whatever, about 80 minutes or so, is really enjoyable.

I was a bit gutted when I didn't get to walk to work alone this morning, because Nora asked us to drive so we'd be home sooner. It's 40-50 minutes when I get to listen to music and not have any demands on me (except that I get to work on time, sadly).

I used to ride a bike alone a lot. These days I've often got Nora with me, or am quite often with a friend. But pre-Nora it wasn't unusual for me to take a day off solo and do 60+ miles.

yeah that's the thing about walking, it's a great time for listening to music, or a podcast maybe. not to get too philosophical about it but i genuinely appreciate the ability to walk. anything about 60 minutes or under always feels like an opportunity for walking to me, once i have the time.

I have all my best moments during a day (even better than hitting the plonk at night) when walking on my own (well with a black lab called Dogsby), listening to music. I can remember when I snapped my ankle and was out of action for months and desperately missed walking so much that I kept having recurring dreams about going for a walk.

We are getting a dog in a month, so walking will become way more frequent.

Keeping a dog is excellent because you don't have to make any excuses to go for walks and it pushes you to go out in bad weather and appreciate some of the great cloud set pieces and other marvels of gtf outside.

I've never really been a pet person but I have kind of considered having a dog at some point in the future. I guess I would worry about having the time to properly care for it though. Looking after one person's well-being is difficult enough!

I often go to the movies on my own and I've done so since my early twenties. I went by myself to see a techno dj play last Saturday and usually I wouldnt go by myself to a gig. It was awkward at first. The club was empty and it felt a bit strange but after a while I loosened up and I was able to talk to people and I had a good time