If you look at your bank account right now, what percentage have you spent on restaurants?
If you dine out more often, the number will likely surprise you. Hence, you might wonder if dining out would count as a hobby.
See Also: Bucket List Of Hobbies From A – Z
So, Can Dining Out Actually Be Considered a Hobby?
Yes, dining out is absolutely a hobby if you actively do it for enjoyment. A hobby is doing something that gives you pleasure repeatedly. This can be something as simple as listening to music, and yes, even dining out can be a hobby if you do it for fun. Dining out has become one of the popular recreations. It’s more than eating to remove hunger; it is a recreation of fun out to be out and meet other people.
While cooking at home seems like a part of the typical routine, dining out serves as an escape from the daily routine.
People enjoy it as a departure from daily cooking routine for occasional and fun treats hence can be considered a hobby.
The argument of something not being a hobby is that if you are doing something needed to survive, such as eating, drinking, and surviving, it’s not categorized as a hobby.
However, this is not true, and it entirely depends on an individual’s perception of the activity.
If you enjoy the prospect of dining out and ritualizing the activity, we can consider it as a hobby.
Why Should You Consider Dining Out as A Hobby?
There are various reasons why people choose to dine out in the absence of their home kitchen.
1. The Exciting Experience Of Dining Out
Dining out offers an exciting experience in trying out foods they have never tried.
This gives the eating activity to a greater level than just trying to get the nourishment from the meal. Most people cite enjoyment of food as the essential factor in choosing a specific restaurant.
While eating out creates a fantastic experience, it also uplifts expectations of the next meal out due to the memories of the previous dining out experience.
This causes an increased lure to dine out to recreate the positive experiences.
Generally, eating out is an exciting experience and gives you a chance to connect with different foods and eating cultures.
2. Increased Socialization
The socialization aspect of eating outside the home is essential in choosing to dine out.
It is sporadic to see someone dining out alone. Dining out provides a better opportunity to socialize with a stranger, maintain or build romantic relationships, and celebrate events with family and friends.
Ultimately, eating out can help in fulfilling your social needs.
Dining out in restaurants creates a positive environment that most people can use for socializing without pressure.
3. More Convenience
Another reason you should consider dining out as a hobby is convenience and being used as a time-saving resource.
While eating out is fun and a hobby, many people are motivated to dine out due to convenience.
To cook at home, you need to make a lot of effort in preparing food, washing utensils, buying the needed ingredients from the store, not forgetting the skills needed in cooking different menus.
On the other hand, dining out just requires sitting at your favorite restaurant and enjoying your favorite dish.
4. Escape From Routine
Another area of interest is an escape from the cooking routine that happens when eating out at a restaurant.
Imagine coming back from a stressful day at work, and you have nothing to eat at home. Starting the process of preparing food can be even more stressful.
Dining out provides a way of escaping from the regular daily cooking routine.
It serves as an occasional treat or a special occasion that you enjoy escaping from the usual routine.
Most people view home cooking negatively as it regularly serves as a routine.
More so, most home cookers have a limited set of foods that they prepare, and they rarely go outside the box.
Dining out allows you to enjoy different dishes without leaving your comfort zone in food preparation.
5. Trying Out A Variety Of Foods
Preparing new dish types can be intimidating, mainly if you are not sure if you will love it or not. Eating out gives you the freedom to try new dishes without investing your time and effort.
Different restaurants offer different types of foods from different cultures, which allows you to try foods that you cannot prepare yourself or are costly to make.
For families with different food preferences, the variety in a restaurant menu may provide something for everyone.
While some individuals like eating their usual favorite dishes at a restaurant, others are more adventurous and love trying new dishes. While eating out is a lot of fun, you should not only eat because the food looks and tastes delicious.
6. Health
There is a heated debate on the effects of dining out on health issues such as obesity.
This has encouraged more restaurants to provide healthier food choices.
According to the 2010 federal law, big restaurant chains are required to indicate the number of calories on their menu offerings.
While the restaurant menus vary, some offer extra information to help you make healthy choices.
For instance, a menu can highlight meals with no trans-fat or provide gluten-free dishes for people with unique dietary needs.
What Are the Disadvantages of Dining Out?
As you can see above, eating out has many advantages, whether as a hobby or a requirement.
However, it also has its disadvantages. So, while eating out can be tempting and fun, it can also have its cons.
1. Expensive
One of the disadvantages of dining out as a hobby is that it’s significantly expensive compared to home cooking. Often, restaurant foods tend to be overpriced.
You can prepare a similar dish from a restaurant menu for less money at home.
It might be an option to prepare your own meal at home instead of spending extra money.
2. You Have No Control Over How The Food Is Prepared
All of us have our preferences regarding how our food is being prepared, whether the ingredients or how well cooked we want the food to be.
Dining out can limit our preferences and our alterations to food. This can mainly be an issue if you have dietary restrictions.
Cooking at home allows you to make adjustments to the ingredients in your dish as you please.
3. Less Hygienic
Another issue with dining out is that it’s not as hygienic as cooking at home.
You might sometimes get sick after dining out because the type of hygiene you have at home is hard to replicate, even in the most reputable restaurants.
So, if you have in the past had health issues due to unhygienic foods when dining out, you should consider avoiding that restaurant the next time.
Bottom Line
That’s it! The answer to whether dining out can actually be considered a hobby is yes.
If you go out to eat for leisure, enjoyment, and fun, it’s definitely your hobby.
In addition to eating out, most people enjoy the idea of eating different foods, different environments, wearing different clothes, and socializing with other people when dining out.
The whole experience of dining outside makes people feel like they are on a food vacation.