[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

I would define a hobby generally as something you like to spend lots of your spare time with, that you don’t do for a living and that is not directly related to daily needs like shopping

I think that’s a good a definition as any. With perhaps the addition that some kind of physical activity should be involved, as others here have mentioned. But I would say there’s a blurry line between “hobby” and “interest”.

For my part, playing the clarinet (in a wind orchestra) is clearly a bona-fide hobby. I would think that collecting film soundtracks (and other music) on physical media would also qualify. But that is something I do because I want to listen to this music – which is more of an interest and passion than a hobby.

Then there’s hiking and running. Definitely physical (duh…), and something I like to do in my spare time, but hardly a “hobby”.

Finally, my interest in astronomy and other sciences is not really physical, but then I sometimes go to science festivals or conferences. But does it qualify as a hobby? Not really sure. 🙂

By the way, Malte, I just became grand uncle to a little boy called… Malte!
Malte is definitely not a common name in Norway (but more so in Germany and maybe Denmark?), and as far as I know there have never been any Maltes in my family, so I’ll have to ask my nephew where that came from. But I like it!

And I guess that ties in somewhat with the “old codger” topic of this thread: some of us are actually grand uncles now – not just uncles. 😉