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25 things to do while you wait

Quarantine is decidedly not fun, but all hope is not lost. Here are 25 things you can do for free online while the apocalypse rages. Happy hunting!

  1. Take an online tour of Blarney Castle in Cork County, Ireland. This castle was built nearly six hundred years ago by one of Ireland’s greatest chieftains, Cormac MacCarthy.

  2. Explore a national park online. While the National Parks Service has yet to close any of its parks to the public, taking a trip to a national park amid the pandemic may not be a viable option for many people for the time being.

  3. Join a live living room UK pub quiz from a small cabin at the bottom of a garden. Keep your trivia skills sharp!

  4. Play “Words with Friends” on your phone.

  5. Take a tour of the Taj Mahal in New Delhi, India. No lines, no waiting.

  6. Tour the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, and plan your trip for when this is all over.

  7. Organize a group hangout on Zoom and stay in touch with family and friends.

  8. Take a free course or learn a language with Open Culture. (The available options of courses, books, and free information will boggle your mind.)

  9. Learn to build a virtual robot and test it in a “low-gravity” environment.

  10. Get qualified answers to absurd hypothetical questions at XKCD’s “What if?” (How many fireflies would you need to match the light of the sun? What would happen if you tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw?)

  11. Learn how to build primitive tools and huts in the jungle.

  12. Work on your pushup form or take up yoga to stay fit while staying at home.

  13. Take 60 small steps to improve your life. Tips on personal development, finances and more.

  14. Participate in the “1,000 Journals” project and add your own page to one of the journals still making the rounds. (Be sure to watch the documentary on Netflix.)

  15. Join a virtual book club and share your insights and favorites with friends.

  16. Learn to play D&D and other role-playing games online.

  17. Discover all the strange things preserved on Google maps.
  18. Learn about all the unusual hidden things around the world (like the ornate piano discovered on a WWII battlefield.)

  19. Learn about a new way to navigate the world that brings help to your door much faster than before.

  20. Peruse the “Theme Time Radio Hour” archive for hundreds of hours of themed playlists of songs from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and beyond. Themes abound of love, colors, cars, foods, and more.

  21. Brush up on your memes and pop culture references, and have a laugh at some old favorites.

  22. Find your next hobby project (or just gawk at what people are giving away!)

  23. Get a crash course in brutalism architecture, art, and poetry from the BBC.

  24. Get into geocaching (but mind your social distancing!)

25. Strike up a conversation with an Artificial Intelligence.

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