50 Fun Things to Do Alone After Divorce That Don’t Feel Sad or Awkward

There is a weird moment after divorce when you suddenly realize you have time you did not used to have.

A Saturday afternoon opens up.

The kids are with their dad.

Your friend has plans with her husband.

Nobody is asking what everyone wants for dinner.

And suddenly you are standing in your kitchen thinking:

Okay. What exactly am I supposed to do with myself now?

If you spent years—or decades—building your weekends, vacations, meals, traditions and social life around a marriage, having complete control over your own time can feel surprisingly strange.

It can also become really fun.

Not instantly. Maybe not every day. But eventually.

There are a lot of things to do alone after divorce that do not involve sitting cross-legged on your floor processing your emotions, reinventing your entire identity or turning every Sunday afternoon into a healing exercise.

Sometimes you need healing.

Sometimes you need nachos and a matinee.

Both have their place.

And one of the best parts of rediscovering yourself after divorce is realizing that you do not have to figure out who you are before you start living. Sometimes you discover yourself because you try things.

And then you notice:

Huh. I actually really liked that.

Or:

Good Lord, never doing that again.

Both are useful information.

If you’ve been working through the bigger identity question, my guide to Rediscovering Yourself After Divorce goes deeper into that process.

Today, though?

We’re doing the fun part.

Why Doing Things Alone After Divorce Can Feel So Weird at First

If sitting at a café alone feels perfectly normal but walking into a restaurant at 7 p.m. and saying “table for one” makes you suddenly feel as though a spotlight has been placed directly over your head, welcome to being human.

There is a difference between being alone and being lonely.

Being alone simply describes who happens to be beside you at that particular moment. Loneliness is the feeling that you are missing connection you want or need.

You can be alone and perfectly content.

You can also be married and terribly lonely.

Research on solitude makes the same distinction: voluntarily spending time alone can be enjoyable and restorative, while unwanted loneliness is something different. The American Psychological Association’s discussion of solitude explores that difference further.

And, of course, a happy solo life should not become isolation. Strong social connection matters too; the CDC’s information on social connection explains its importance to health and well-being.

You get to have both.

And a life you know how to enjoy when nobody else happens to be available.

If the emotional part of being alone is still the hardest part, start with The Freedom of Being Alone After Divorce Without Feeling Like You’re Failing.

Otherwise, let’s find you something to do.

Start Small: You Do Not Need to Prove Anything

You do not have to begin by booking seven nights in Bali.

Maybe your first solo date is coffee.

Maybe your second is Target.

Honestly, Target has launched many a woman into independence.

If you want more help with that first awkward stage, read Learning to Do Things Alone: Liberating, Scary, and Absolutely Worth It.

Confidence often shows up after you do the thing.

So choose something that feels about 10% braver than your current normal and begin there.

Here are 50 possibilities.

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Easy and Fun Things to Do Alone at Home

1. Make Yourself a Charcuterie Dinner

This is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

And believe me, I use the word charcuterie generously.

Add a glass of wine or sparkling water, put on music and call dinner done.

Solo life does not have to be performed beautifully to count as enjoyable.

2. Order Takeout From Somewhere You’ve Never Tried

Instead of your usual order, pick a restaurant or cuisine you’ve been curious about.

The beautiful thing about ordering for one?

Nobody gets to veto Thai because they’re “not really in the mood.”

3. Have a Movie Theme Night

Choose a theme rather than randomly scrolling for 45 minutes.

Old Hollywood. Terrible ’90s rom-coms. French films. Thrillers. Oscar winners. Movies set in Italy.

Add food that loosely matches the theme if you feel ambitious.

Or popcorn.

Popcorn is enough, especially if you add the boat loads of butter like I do lol.

4. Cook One Thing You’ve Never Made Before

Not because you need to become a gourmet cook.

Because it sounds good.

Homemade pasta. Thai curry. Fresh bread. Stroganoff. A ridiculously good burger.

Research has found associations between enjoyable leisure activities and well-being, which is one more argument for occasionally doing something simply because you enjoy it.

5. Buy Flowers and Actually Arrange Them

Not flowers somebody sent you.

Flowers you picked.

Choose the weird ones. The bright ones. The soft pink ones. The giant hydrangeas.

Sometimes flowers are just pretty.

That is sufficient justification.

6. Rearrange One Room

Move the sofa.

Swap lamps.

Turn your bed.

Create a reading chair.

Take down something you never liked anyway.

After years of shared decorating decisions, there is something wonderfully satisfying about realizing, Wait. I can put that there because I want to.

7. Start a Big Puzzle

Put it somewhere you can leave it out and wander back to it whenever you feel like it.

Add music, an audiobook or absolutely nothing.

This is an especially good alternative for evenings when you notice you’ve been doomscrolling for an hour without actually enjoying yourself.

8. Make the Soundtrack for Your Next Chapter

Create a playlist around how you want life to feel.

You can also borrow ideas from 10 Small Ways to Romanticize Your Life Again if ordinary life has been feeling a little too beige lately.

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Solo Dates That Don’t Feel Awkward

9. Take Yourself to a Café

This is Solo Outing Level One.

Order something delicious. Sit by a window. Read. People-watch. Browse a magazine.

You do not need to stare meaningfully into the distance and discover yourself.

Drink your latte.

10. Wander Through a Bookstore

Pick a section you normally ignore.

You may discover an interest just because you gave yourself enough time to wander.

11. Go to a Farmers Market

Buy one thing you’ve never tried, choose yourself some flowers or find ingredients for dinner.

Farmers markets are especially nice for early solo outings because you are alone without really feeling alone.

There is activity all around you.

12. Take Yourself to Lunch

Lunch can feel considerably less intimidating than Saturday-night dinner for one.

Choose somewhere you’ve wanted to try and go.

You may discover something slightly scandalous:

Nobody cares that you’re eating alone.

Solo dining itself is increasingly mainstream; OpenTable reported rising solo reservations and found that a majority of Americans surveyed believed even solo Valentine’s Day dining was becoming more socially acceptable.

13. See a Matinee

I strongly believe movies are one of the most underrated solo activities.

You cannot talk during the movie anyway.

You get the popcorn exactly how you want it.

And nobody asks, “Wait, what did she just say?” while you are also watching the same movie.

14. Visit a Museum or Art Gallery

You can stop for 15 minutes at something you love and walk immediately past something that bores you.

No committee meeting required.

15. Visit a Botanical Garden

Walk slowly.

Take photos.

Find a bench.

Buy something unnecessary but delightful in the gift shop.

This is especially lovely on a weekday when it is quieter.

16. Go Out for Brunch

Bring a book if it makes the first few minutes easier.

After that, order the ridiculous French toast (one of my personal favs).

17. Visit a Winery, Brewery or Tasting Room

If you drink alcohol and feel comfortable doing this alone, sit somewhere with staff nearby and try a tasting flight.

If alcohol is not your thing, look for coffee tastings, tea rooms, chocolate tastings or olive-oil tastings.

Same adventure. Different beverage.

18. Go Hear Live Music

Start with somewhere casual—a winery, outdoor concert, hotel lounge, restaurant patio or local acoustic night.

You can enjoy live music without needing a dancing partner or a group of eight women coordinating schedules through 73 text messages.

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Tiny Adventures When You Need to Get Out of the House

19. Explore a Nearby Town You’ve Never Really Visited

Choose somewhere within an hour.

Go home.

Adventure does not require an airport.

20. Take Yourself on a Scenic Drive

Choose a destination rather than driving aimlessly.

Build a playlist and make the drive part of the day.

21. Go Antique Shopping

Give yourself a tiny mission.

Find something under $20.

Something from your childhood.

Something hilariously ugly.

Or one beautiful thing for your home.

22. Spend a Morning at a Flea Market

Flea markets are wandering heaven.

There is no itinerary, plenty to look at and absolutely no requirement to buy anything.

23. Go to a Local Festival

Food festival. Art fair. Apple festival. Street market. Holiday market. Flower festival.

Search your city’s event calendar and pick something purely because it sounds fun.

24. Take a Food Tour

This gives you the adventure of going somewhere independently while still placing you with a group once you arrive.

It can be a great bridge between “I want to try things alone” and “I do not necessarily want to spend five uninterrupted hours alone.”

25. Take a Walking Tour of Your Own City

You might learn something about a place you have lived near for twenty years.

26. Visit a Pick-Your-Own Farm

Apples. Berries. Flowers. Pumpkins.

Go home with your haul and figure out what the heck you are going to do with seventeen pounds of peaches.

Future-you’s problem.

27. Take Yourself to the Water

Beach, lake, river, marina—whatever exists near you.

Bring lunch, a chair and a book.

Stay two hours or twenty minutes.

Nobody is keeping score.

28. Plan a True Day Trip

Choose something far enough away that it feels like a little adventure but close enough that you’re back in your own bed.

A day trip is an excellent way to test your solo-adventure muscles before jumping into overnight travel.

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Things to Try When You Have No Idea What You Like Anymore

You do not need to answer the enormous question, Who am I now?

Try smaller questions.

Do I like pottery?

Do I like hiking?

Do I like photography?

Much easier.

Your answers become evidence.

29. Take a Pottery Class

There is a good chance your first bowl will look vaguely like something discovered at an archaeological site.

Excellent.

You made it.

30. Try a Painting Class

Wine-and-paint class. Watercolors. Acrylics. Plein-air painting.

You do not need talent.

This point deserves repeating in adulthood:

You are allowed to be bad at hobbies.

31. Take a Photography Walk

Use your phone if that is what you have.

Give yourself a theme—doors, flowers, shadows, architecture, signs, color—and spend an hour noticing things.

32. Grow Something

Herbs on the windowsill count.

So does one tomato plant.

You do not need to become Woman of the Soil because you bought basil.

33. Take a Dance Class

Salsa. Ballroom. Line dancing. Belly dancing. Tap. Swing.

Look specifically for beginner or adult classes so you’re not accidentally standing next to someone who has been pirouetting since age four.

34. Take a Cooking Class

Choose something you genuinely want to eat.

You automatically have something to talk about with the other people there, which makes classes one of the easier ways to meet new people without the pressure of “making friends.”

35. Try a New Kind of Movement

The question is not, What exercise should a woman my age be doing?

For today, ask:

What might I actually enjoy?

36. Attend a Creative Workshop

Current research continues to associate hobby participation with better well-being, while creative and hands-on activities have become especially appealing as screen-free leisure.

37. Join a Book Club

A book club gives you both an activity and recurring social contact.

Look at independent bookstores, your library, community groups or local Facebook groups.

And if the book is terrible?

At least the snacks may be good.

38. Volunteer Somewhere That Actually Interests You

Choose something connected to what you care about rather than volunteering somewhere merely because you think you should.

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Slightly Braver Things to Do Alone After Divorce

Here is where things get a little more interesting.

Not because these activities are objectively difficult.

Because they may challenge an old belief that certain experiences require a partner.

39. Go to a Concert Alone

If the musician you love is coming to town, buy the ticket.

Please do not miss someone you have wanted to see for ten years because nobody else wants to spend $130 listening to them.

Once the music starts, everyone is looking at the stage anyway.

40. Sit at the Bar or Counter for Dinner

This is my favorite stepping stone between lunch alone and a full dinner reservation.

All four remain legal.

41. Make a Dinner Reservation for One

Yes, an actual reservation.

Not hiding at a fast-casual restaurant because you think a “real” restaurant is reserved for couples.

Pick somewhere genuinely good.

Wear something you like.

Order what you want.

42. Go to a Comedy Show

There is something delightful about laughing in a room full of strangers.

You arrived alone.

You are still participating in the same experience as everybody else.

43. See Live Theater

A play, Broadway tour, community production, ballet or musical works wonderfully alone.

You may discover you actually prefer not coordinating tickets, parking, dinner and seating preferences with anyone.

Dangerous knowledge.

44. Book Yourself a One-Night Hotel Stay

It can literally be in your own city.

Check into a nice hotel.

Go to dinner.

Use the pool.

Read in bed.

Order breakfast.

One night gives you the thrill of going somewhere without the logistics of a major vacation.

45. Take a Solo Road Trip or Overnight Trip

This one may feel big.

Start with one night if needed.

Choose somewhere familiar or easy to navigate.

And if solo travel grows into something you love, wonderful. If it doesn’t, also wonderful.

If you eventually travel internationally on your own, review the U.S. State Department’s travel guidance for women travelers while planning.

You do not earn extra Fearless Femme points for crossing international borders alone.

Although I will say that discovering I could travel on my own changed something in me.

You can read about my 16 Day Solo Road Trip Around Ireland here.

Not because every woman needs to do it.

Because I realized I didn’t have to wait for my life to line up perfectly before I could experience it.

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Things You Can Turn Into New Traditions

Some activities are fun once.

Others quietly become part of your new life.

46. Create a Monthly Solo Date

Once a month, choose something from this list.

Put it on your calendar before the month fills up.

The rule is simple:

Do something you genuinely want to do.

47. Claim a Weekly Coffee Ritual

Sunday morning coffee.

Tuesday afternoon café stop.

Saturday coffee followed by the farmers market.

Tiny traditions can make a week feel surprisingly personal.

48. Plan One Seasonal Adventure

Over time, you build traditions that belong to this version of your life.

49. Create Your Own Birthday Ritual

Your birthday does not have to depend completely on who plans something for you.

Buying your own birthday cake is also permitted.

Get the good one.

50. Take One Personal Getaway Every Year

It does not need to be extravagant.

A couple of days where the itinerary belongs entirely to you.

Relationships, family trips and girls’ weekends can all be wonderful parts of your future.

But they do not have to replace your relationship with your own life.

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You Are Allowed to Try Things—and Hate Them

One of the sneakiest traps in rediscovery is thinking everything you try needs to become part of your New Identity.

Nope.

You can take pottery and hate the texture of clay.

You can try pickleball and conclude that humanity did not need another sport involving a paddle.

You can go camping and decide hotels were invented for excellent reasons.

You can take yourself to brunch and discover that what you actually love is eating eggs at home in pajamas.

Trying something once still counts.

Rediscovering yourself is not about selecting a permanent personality.

It is about gathering information.

More of this.

Less of that.

Absolutely never that again.

That is how preferences become clearer.

And if you are learning to make those choices without worrying how they look to everyone else, Creating Your Own Rules for Life After Divorce is a natural next read.

What If Doing Things Alone Still Feels Sad Sometimes?

Then sometimes it feels sad.

You do not need to turn that into a failure either.

There will be days when alone feels peaceful.

There may be days when alone feels lonely.

On the lonely days, call someone.

Meet a friend.

Join something.

Ask for company.

Your ability to enjoy your own company does not require you to stop needing other people.

And on the days when solitude feels good?

Enjoy that too.

A full life can contain friendship, community, family, maybe another romantic relationship someday, and a strong relationship with yourself.

One does not cancel out the others.

Pick One Thing

Do not save this article to Pinterest, admire your good intentions and then never do anything on it.

Pick one.

Something easy.

Something interesting.

Something you have been waiting for someone else to suggest.

Put it on your calendar.

Because this is the bigger opportunity inside life after divorce:

You do not have to sit still until you have completely figured yourself out.

You can try your way forward.

Do something for no more profound reason than you thought it might be fun.

That counts too.

And sometimes, while you are busy living, you look around and realize something quietly extraordinary has happened:

Your life has started feeling like yours again.

If you’re ready for more of that, read What It Really Means to Choose Yourself Again After Divorce next.

Your challenge: Choose one thing from this list and put it on your calendar this month. Not when you’re braver. Not when someone is free to come with you.

Just because you want to go.