What Are Canadians Getting Up to In Their Spare Time Lately?
Keeping a good work-life balance is essential for maintaining mental health and avoiding burnout. It is recommended for every person to practice as many leisure-time activities as possible. This becomes even more important with age, so even retired people in Canada need some good ideas for spare time fun. That’s why it’s interesting to look into some of the recent trends describing the leisure habits of Canadian citizens and their favorite pastimes.
Canada is known as a nation that cares about happiness more than financial gain, and the most significant types of spare time activities reflect this orientation. Here is what most Canadians are up to when they have a couple of days free from work.
Domestic and International Travel
Based on the available research and common sense observations, it’s safe to say Canadians love to travel for pleasure. Trips within the country are just as popular as long-distance journeys to tourist hotspots around the world. Domestic destinations are notable mostly for authentic natural beauty, and the country is large enough to offer plenty of space for exploration for everyone. All the major cities have excellent capacities to accommodate visitors, and the same is true for popular outdoors and winter sports destinations.
For some people, brief trips can be very satisfying. It’s becoming more common to take a few days off work and just travel to a new place to decompress and change the vibe. Young people in particular are open to discovering new locations that don’t necessarily have the status of a tourist attraction. Some of them are hunting for cheap airfare deals and trying to expand their range and find picture-perfect spots in Asia, Africa, or Europe, but many are just jumping across the border into the US. Canadians travel in all seasons, but they are on the move much more frequently during the summer and around the Christmas holiday season.
Following Sports on the Internet
There is a whole group of Canadians who don’t like to move very much when they have no official duties, preferring to stay at home and find entertainment on the internet. Many among them are sports fans who are using every opportunity to catch up with the latest coverage of their favorite teams. Yes, hockey is the number one hobby for numerous Canadians, but other sports like basketball, football, soccer, and tennis have large following in the country as well. One reason for this diversification is instant availability of broadcasts on the web, allowing for less typical choices.
With all Canadian provinces now allowing online sports betting, fans can add a little bit of drama to an afternoon spent looking at a screen. Placing a small wager while watching a game is very common thanks to mobile apps, while making an informed bet is much easier today when all the stats and news are just a click away. That’s why it’s not surprising that rising interest in sports is followed closely by sustained growth of the gambling market and sport betting Canada based players are subsequently growing.
Learning About History and Culture
Free time can be used productively to expend one’s education, and that’s exactly how many Canadians are using it. Students who are not yet working and employees on a vacation are often eager to experience great works of art and historical spectacles. This drives up attendance at museums and art galleries and provides a receptive audience for all kinds of events that deal with cultural topics. Intellectual pursuits of this kind are more affordable than exotic travel, so they are available to a wider segment of the population.
As a culturally diverse nation with rich heritage, Canada offers a lot of different choices that can satisfy the urge for cultural enlightenment. There is no shortage of concerts, film projections, museum installations, historical re-enactments, modern art performances and similar happenings to pick from, especially for those living near a city like Ottawa. Of course, nearly unlimited amount of high-quality sources can be found on the internet, so it’s very convenient to complement a live experience with in-depth research about key points of interest.
Volunteering for a Cause
Awareness about environmental challenges and other pressing social issues is spreading among Canadians, which is why it’s becoming more popular to spend spare time contributing to a cause. The activist approach to leisure time is certainly more productive than a movie marathon or a solitary week in a forest, although it can be very physically and psychologically demanding. After all, voluntary work is still work even if it’s not performed in a commercial context.
That’s not to say activities of this kind should be avoided. Even the most successful people sometimes enjoy dedicating their skills to something they believe in. Work of this kind can be particularly rewarding in cases where it makes a difference and improves lives of fellow Canadians. With the country grappling with a range of challenges and facing a constant need for additional manpower to forward promising projects and initiatives, joining a humanitarian or environmental group for a week or two isn’t the worst idea in the world.
