2020 hit home the importance of having healthy hobbies, not just as individuals, but as a couple.

Relationship experts have long known that couples who pursue new hobbies together experience dopamine boosts, closer intimacy, and overall happiness and contentment.

Yet, where to begin when picking a new hobby as a couple? While finding a hobby is inherently personal, we share creative, adventurous, and life-enhancing hobbies that you can do with your partner.

Hobbies for Couples Ryan and Alex Duo Life

hobbies for couples

The next time someone yells at you to “GET A HOBBY!” don’t take it as a diss. It’s really just sound advice.

Research on hobbies and life purpose has found that they increase longevity, improve job performance by as much as 30%, and lower blood pressure.

Hobbies may have fallen from grace with the rise of workaholism, but don’t be fooled. They’re more important than ever to your health.

And if you’re American like us, you’re already behind. Belgium, the world’s leader, has us beat by nearly 22 days worth of leisure time a year!

Hobbies create happiness, improve relationships, bolsters creativity, and nourishes your health to enriches life in many ways.

So, where to begin when picking a hobby? In this article we will cover:

  • Hobbies to Make Money
  • Active Hobbies for Couples
  • At-Home Hobbies
  • Romantic Hobbies for Couples

Plus, just as the benefits of working out multiply when you exercise with your spouse, the same goes for the benefits of hobbies.

At-Home Date Ideas Menu_Ryan and Alex Duo Life

Our Proven Tools for Healthy Couples

Based on our research and experience, these are our proven tools to optimize your relationship.

Download our guide for the best books, movies, apps, date night ideas, quizzes, questions, and games for healthy couples.

hobbies to make money

It’s been said that when a habit begins to cost money, it’s a hobby. But, you and your loved one can turn that proverb on its head and instead make money with a hobby!

1. Start a business together

Why not harness your current passion project and make some money off of it? Between Etsy, Youtube, and Facebook, online platforms make it easier to share your expertise or products with a large audience.

This is what Ryan and I did after our wedding, creating www.ryanandalex.com as two engineers who have a passion for healthy living and healthy relationships. The website was in addition to our Team Beachbody Coach jobs. 

Of course, you can also investigate traditional routes with selling your goods in local stores or at a farmer’s market. Why not? If you love your product, others will too.

2. Start a Charity

While this isn’t exactly a couple’s hobby to make money for you, make money for a cause you care about.

Whether that’s organizing a fundraiser for veterans, running a coat drive, or creating a permanent organization, there’s not much better that you can do with your time.

3. Investing

If you’ve opened a newspaper lately, you’ll see a lot of talk about the markets reaching unprecedented highs — considering just a few months ago we hit a huge dip at the beginning of the pandemic.

If you’re able to put aside some money and have an interest in money, why not start investing as a couple?

4. Decluttering

You’re already sitting on a goldmine!

When Ryan and I start moving towards minimalism (and moving countries), we reevaluated what things we needed and what we might be better off renting.

We turned our decluttering into a competition and made thousands of dollars selling unused things like clothing, shoes, furniture, and appliances.

Start your new hobby making money with our 30-Day Decluttering Challenge. We share how and where we sold our old stuff!

Active Hobbies for couples

You may have guessed, but active hobbies for couples are our favorite type of hobbies.

Active hobbies can motivate you to eat healthily, work out, and have a strong body — all while having fun! Of course, this is extremely personal to each couple, but enjoy reading a few hobby ideas for couples below.

5. Hiking and camping

Nothing is quite like the great outdoors. This was our first big hobby and we’ve had phenomenal vacations ever since. It’s our “why” for why we work out!

If you’re interested in getting started, check out our Amazon shop list: Backpacking for Couples.

Hobbies for couples camping

6. Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a great couple’s hobby because you get a built-in dive buddy! This is also a great hobby to propel your future vacation planning as you hit up all the best dive spots around the world.

Ryan and I are honestly not beach people. We always want to keep moving and have trouble chilling on a beach for days on end. But, scuba diving has transformed our relationship with the tropics for a better balance!

7. Skiing or snowboarding

Sure, it’s easy to be active in the summer, but what about the winter?

Skiing, snowboarding, touring, cross-country skiing, and, heck, even snowshoeing are great couple’s hobbies that open you up to new winter wonderland adventures.

As a Bostonian who married a Minnesotan, I can attest to how invigorating it is to play in the snow!

8. Running

Why walk when you can run?

To sweeten the pot, find a local race in a few months that you want to compete in. Training with a mutual goal (with an end date) provides a lot of motivation. Plus, you’ll likely drop a few pounds as a perk!

As a friend of ours always says, “More run, more fun!”

9. Obstacle course racing

From the Tough Mudder to the Spartan Race, training for one of these is part-circus, part-endurance race.

Have fun with your partner over this one, supplement your training with our 30-day plank challenge, and make sure to sign up for one so that you have a big event to look forward to.

10. Kayaking, canoeing, or standup paddleboarding

What we love about kayaking and canoeing is that it’s a hobby that couples can do together. Look into renting a 2-person kayak at your local water spot. It’s both romantic and a good workout!

Ready to level up your boating? Segway into canoe fishing or plan a future multi-day portaging trip to a place like the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.

Hobbies for couples stand up paddleboarding

11. Mountain biking

One pandemic-friendly escape and great couple’s hobby is mountain biking.

Mountain biking is tough and a phenomenal workout. Plus, it’s an underrated way to explore your home state.

12. Couples yoga

We’ve written about the extensive benefits of partner yoga before: closer bond and intimacy, physical connection, and an outlet for stress management.

Ryan and I are huge fans of couple’s yoga and even share 23 of our favorite couple’s yoga poses. How many can you do?

13. Tennis

Excellent lifelong hobbies and sports to get into as a couple are partner games like tennis, badminton, ping pong, or even volleyball.

14. Join a local sports team

While you may want to save this one for after the pandemic, why not join a local sports team as a couple?

When we lived in Ecuador, Ryan invited me to join his soccer team — even though I had never played before! And before that, Ryan joined my running club in Shanghai.

So, don’t let inexperience stop you from joining a team if it’s focused on fun and you’re up for learning.

In places we’ve lived in, we’ve had access to beach volleyball teams, ultimate frisbee practices, kickball, bowling, and Wiffle ball. Have fun with it and expand your comfort zones!

At-Home Hobbies for Couples

While we’ve all be relegated to our homes this past year, it doesn’t mean we have to put a stopper on our lives. Here’s a list of a few favorite ways to start couple’s hobbies from home.

15. Start a new workout

From barre to weightlifting to yoga, you can start new workouts from your own living room.

With a multitude of programs to choose from, we prefer BODi because of the huge range of workouts.

Hobbies for couples exercise together

16. Learn a new language

Learning a new language as a couple’s hobby means you have a built-in practice buddy. Plus, you can commit to watching movies only in your chosen language (this is something we do in Spanish already).

Of course, learning a new language also builds anticipation for an upcoming holiday. Or, at least a trip to a great restaurant!

17. Take a class

We all have unparalleled access to online courses, both free and paid. Ryan and I are personally on our twentieth Masterclass as we speak: Emily Morse Teaches Sex and Communication.

We have the Masterclass All-Access pass and have made heavy use of it. It completely replaced our Netflix shows and was something to look forward to every evening.

From James Suckling Teaches Wine Appreciation to Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation, learning is fun when it’s not for school!

Masterclass is only one of many online course platforms. If you’re interested in learning more specifically about Masterclass (which we highly recommend), read our review where we rank our favorite classes.

18. Family heritage

What better hobby to dive into as a couple than learning about your family heritage?

Whether that means interviewing elderly grandparents, taking a 23andMe ancestry and DNA kit, or building a family cookbook to pass down to further generations?

Fun fact: Ryan learned that he’s heavily neanderthal from a DNA test!

19. Board games

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve enjoyed getting lost in long tournament-style board games.

So, we polled all of the biggest board gamers we knew and came up with the ultimate list of board games for couples.

Our favorites right now? Off-Topic and Azul! Or, if you prefer playing cards, here are the best card games for two people

Hobbies for couples board games

20. Book club for two

Ryan and I have instated our own book club for the past few months, and it’s been so nice. It gives us an excuse to relax in bed in the mornings and evenings, and talk about what comes up.

Ours is pretty informal — we’re both reading the same books at our own pace — but you can structure yours as you like!

For some of our favorite book ideas, we listed a few in our Duo Life Book Club.

21. Start a band

If both the Partridge and von Trapp families could do it, why not you?

Even if you and your partner have always wanted to learn different instruments, see if you can learn the same songs to form your own duet!

22. Gardening

Get in touch with your natural side and try your hand at revamping your garden together. This is a great hobby for couples that’s good for your health with all of the Vitamin D and Vitamin Earth.

Even better if you start growing your own vegetables and fruits!

23. Redecorate the house 

While redecorating may not seem like much of a hobby, take some time to learn about design and even feng shui. Plus, handy carpentry and upcycling skills never hurt anyone!

24. Geek out about your drink

Have a favorite drink? Learn how to brew beer, make wine, or become amateur mixologists.

After honeymooning in Cuba, the mojito is our go to cocktail. 

Additionally, we can’t get enough of Colombian coffee. It’s turned into a full-blown hobby as we’ve now been to multiple coffee farms in different countries and try different brew methods at home.

25. Grow your own food

We’re envious of the few who are able to provide completely for themselves.

For us, we’re still taking baby steps but have worked on growing our own sprouts, sourdough starter, and turning milk into kefir with these organic kefir grains (ebook included).

Why not save some money at the grocery store while growing your own fresh food?

Romantic Hobbies for Couples

Spice things up in your relationship with these intimate hobby ideas for couples.

26. Dancing lessons

Learning the Texas two-step for our wedding brings back so many memories. And anytime Ryan wants to be romantic, he pulls off a quick spin!

27. Movie night

While we usually endorse more movement than sitting on the couch, we researched the best movies for couples.

Studies found that these movies actually double as marriage counseling and therapy!

28. Cooking class

The way to the heart is through the stomach, right?

A cooking class is more than just a fun event, it’s a way to look forward to months of great meals… and maybe even a future vacation!

29. Travel

The whole world is dying to travel these days, but we’ve got good news: the anticipation for a trip can be just as intoxicating!

Start by reading books, watching movies, and eating your way through your destination’s cuisine! And one fun way to keep this hobby of travel going? Pick a traveling theme.

Whether you’re hitting up all the best scuba spots in the world, tasting the world’s best cups of coffee, or seeing in-person all of the paintings in your art book, you can have a full schedule of trips for a lifetime.

Want to see the travel gear of two digital nomads? Check out our Amazon shopping list.

Hobbies for couples travel

30. Volunteer

Volunteering your time and effort together as a couple makes you doubly appreciate what you have at home. What’s more romantic than that?

For romantic and fun date night ideas, see our list below. 

31. Couples Massage Lessons

This one is pretty self-explanatory and tops our list as the most romantic hobby for couples. Mutually beneficial for your bodies as well as your relationship!

Giving your partner an excellent massage at-home is, in our opinion, a necessary life skill. But, if you’re like us, you’re not a professional masseuse.

If you want the basics, our article titled ‘How to Give a Good Massage‘ will help you avoid mistakes and learn simple techniques. 

For us, we went from giving mediocre to ‘excellent’ massages by hiring a couples massage coach. 

Melt: Massage for Couples is an online couples massage class that teaches you and your partner how to give deep, therapeutic, professional-quality massages at home.

Ever since Ryan and I started, it’s like love at first sight all over again. It’s almost laughable how bad and inefficient we were beforehand!

We promise it’s nothing corny or horny. Melt is a straight-up awesome couples massage master class. Ryan and I have been having a lot of fun with it and now give more spontaneous massages while at home.

So, if you’re in the need of more massages in your life, we couldn’t recommend Melt enough. It’s accessible, easy to follow, and you learn everything from deep tissue massage to the most decadent neck massage routine.

At-Home Date Ideas Menu_Ryan and Alex Duo Life

Our Proven Tools for Healthy Couples

Based on our research and experience, these are our proven tools to optimize your relationship.

Download our guide for the best books, movies, apps, date night ideas, quizzes, questions, and games for healthy couples.

Closing Thoughts on Hobbies for couples

These couples hobbies increase love and intimacy while providing an opportunity to spend quality time together.

Did your favorite hobby for couples make the list? Comment below and we’ll keep on crowd-sourcing the best activities for you and your loved one.

For more resources for couples, such as the best apps for couples or “would you rather” questions for couples, head over to our Healthy Couples page.

At-Home Date Ideas Menu_Ryan and Alex Duo Life

Proven Tools for Healthy Couples

A decade of experience, hundreds of hours of research and testing, and over 50,000 words of wisdom condensed into one PDF.

Download our guide for the best books, movies, apps, date night ideas, quizzes, questions, and games for healthy couples.

As Seen In Feature Bar Ryan and Alex Duo Life

Hey we're Ryan and Alex

A husband-wife duo, two engineers, and the creators of Ryan and Alex Duo Life. 

After eight years working in the corporate world as engineers, we left to tackle our true passion:

Helping highly motivated couples optimize their relationship and health by cutting through the muck and sharing what the research says works.

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