8 issues retirees do for enjoyable that Gen Z is weirdly adopting as a life-style development

Retirement used to conjure up pictures of quiet afternoons, golf programs, and perhaps the occasional shuffleboard event.

But one thing unusual has occurred. Gen Z—the technology raised on TikTok, memes, and fixed display time—has began adopting habits and hobbies that retirees have been doing for many years.

What appears to be like like “old person fun” on the floor is popping into life-style tendencies for younger individuals carving out new methods to stay.

Let’s dig into a few of the most fascinating ones.

1. Eating collectively

Remember when household dinners had been simply…regular? Retirees by no means actually let that go. Meals for them are as a lot concerning the dialog because the meals.

And now, Gen Z is rediscovering the magic of consuming socially—whether or not via potlucks, brunch golf equipment, or these chaotic Friendsgiving spreads the place ten individuals carry hummus and no one brings plates.

There’s a cause this feels so good. As famous by Breaking Bread: The Functions of Social Eating, “People who eat socially more often feel happier, more satisfied with life, have more friends they can rely on, and are more connected to their communities”.

I see this on a regular basis in my very own life. I’ve spent years chasing effectivity—solo lunches, consuming at my desk, skipping meals altogether.

But the occasions I’ve felt most alive had been after I slowed down and shared a meal. Gen Z appears to know this intuitively.

2. Playing video games

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” That line from George Bernard Shaw could possibly be the thesis assertion for this entire development.

For retirees, video games—card nights, bingo, puzzles—are a lifeline to neighborhood and pleasure. And Gen Z? They’ve taken that very same spirit and turned it into Dungeons & Dragons meetups, board sport cafés, and digital trivia nights that final method too late.

The psychology is straightforward. Play lowers stress, sparks creativity, and strengthens bonds. When I used to be touring via Japan, I noticed older people in parks enjoying Go collectively day by day. It struck me that the healthiest communities deal with play like a necessity, not an afterthought. Gen Z appears to agree.

3. Journaling

Here’s a curveball: handwriting is again. Retirees have all the time saved diaries, gratitude journals, and even simply notes in spiral notebooks.

And Gen Z—regardless of dwelling on screens—is obsessive about journaling. Bullet journals, temper trackers, and aesthetic notebooks dominate total corners of Instagram and TikTok.

This isn’t nearly fairly stationery. Research by James Pennebaker & Beall exhibits that expressive writing improves each emotional and bodily well being, lowering stress and even the variety of physician visits.

Personally, I didn’t take journaling significantly till my late 30s. Now it’s a part of my morning ritual. I write down what’s on my thoughts earlier than I even contact my telephone. And it’s superb how totally different the day feels. Gen Z adopting this early? Smart transfer.

4. Gardening

Retirees have all the time liked digging within the dust, rising tomatoes, or tending to flowers. It’s grounding, sluggish, and deeply rewarding.

What’s humorous is that Gen Z—usually accused of being glued to screens—has flocked to gardening too.

Urban gardens, balcony vegetation, hydroponics—it’s in every single place. For many, it’s not nearly vegetation; it’s about taking again management in a chaotic world.

When the whole lot feels digital and short-term, watching one thing develop daily affords a sort of remedy you may’t swipe away.

I attempted it myself final summer season with a number of basil vegetation. Let’s simply say my pesto sport leveled up, however greater than that, it taught me persistence.

There’s one thing about ready weeks for a sprout that recalibrates your sense of time.

5. Thrifting

What retirees name “going to the secondhand store,” Gen Z calls “curated vintage.” Same factor, totally different vibe.

For older generations, thrifting was about saving cash. For Gen Z, it’s each an aesthetic and an act of rise up towards quick trend.

They’ll line up exterior Goodwill earlier than opening simply to snag a denim jacket that smells faintly of the 80s.

This crossover fascinates me as a result of it’s an ideal instance of values aligning. Retirees worth practicality. Gen Z values sustainability.

Thrifting occurs to ship each. And as somebody who’s hunted down vinyl data in dusty thrift bins, I get the joys. There’s a treasure-hunting vitality you may’t faux.

6. Walking golf equipment

If you’ve ever seen retirees power-walking via a mall at 8 a.m., strolling isn’t simply train—it’s neighborhood.

Gen Z has taken that template and rebranded it as “hot girl walks,” group hikes, and metropolis strolling excursions.

The deeper level right here is that strolling collectively offers each motion and dialog. It’s train with out stress. Socializing with out screens.

When I lived in Spain, I observed how individuals ended their evenings with a paseo—an off-the-cuff stroll via city.

It wasn’t about getting steps in. It was about being collectively. Gen Z appears to be tapping into that very same rhythm, even when they’re sharing playlists whereas doing it.

7. Book golf equipment

Book golf equipment had been as soon as the area of retirees with an excessive amount of time on their fingers. Now? They’re trending on TikTok.

Gen Z is devouring bodily books once more and treating guide golf equipment like social occasions, not chores.

This is sensible. Reading is a solitary act, however discussing a guide turns it into connection. I joined one just lately the place we learn essays on behavioral science, and the conversations usually outlasted the snacks.

Here’s the place Rudá Iandê’s new guide, Laughing in the Face of Chaos, has been exhibiting up in my very own circle.

His insights on authenticity over perfection and questioning inherited beliefs hit arduous with youthful readers.

One line specifically stayed with me: “You have both the right and responsibility to explore and try until you know yourself deeply.”

That’s precisely the vitality Gen Z is bringing to their guide golf equipment—treating studying as a strategy to experiment with id and values.

8. Crafting

Knitting, crocheting, woodworking—these had been traditional retiree hobbies. But in the event you’ve scrolled via TikTok just lately, you’ve seen 20-somethings proudly exhibiting off their handmade sweaters, candles, or pottery.

Why the resurgence? Because making one thing together with your fingers is an antidote to digital fatigue.

It slows your thoughts, builds ability, and produces one thing tangible in a world the place most of our “work” disappears into the cloud.

I began dabbling in pictures years in the past as a inventive outlet. What shocked me wasn’t the top product—it was the meditative state of the method itself.

Crafting works the identical method. Gen Z adopting it en masse feels much less like a development and extra like a survival technique.

The backside line

What retirees have identified for years—connection, play, creativity, and persistence—Gen Z is now adopting as life-style selections.

It’s ironic, however perhaps not so stunning. In a world that strikes at breakneck velocity, slowing down and reclaiming these “old” methods of getting enjoyable feels radical.

So perhaps the generations aren’t as totally different as we predict.

Maybe retirees and Gen Z are simply assembly within the center—selecting pleasure, neighborhood, and which means, one shared meal or thrift-store discover at a time.