Just trying to figure out whether it’s normal to go out a lot or being a homebody during the week is the norm. Particularly where couples are concerned.
I know a lot of it may come down to money, but in cases where money isn’t a factor, is the UK particularly designed for nightlife that isn’t bars and restaurants?
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Are you including Friday night or not? Usually max of once Mon-Thr and it’s usually very low key – e.g. walking home from work and having a drink or two on the way, quiet date night, etc.
A few times a year.
I might meet a friend for a pint after work or sometimes I go for a game of Warhammer at my local game store.
The west in general has been losing 3rd places – which are the places you go between work/school and home.
I don’t largely because most of my friends are close to an hour away.
I’m out almost every night of the week with community groups with whom I volunteer or occasionally the gym, though I’m a morning person normally. This week is a quiet one, only out 3 nights.
I don’t personally know anyone who goes out after work on a weeknight, other than a Friday maybe. Saturday night is the busiest I would say. Definitely more popular to go out over the weekend if working Mon-Fri.
Night life here is mostly pubs, bars, restaurants, live music, theatres, the odd group activity you can do whilst eating/drinking like bowling or mini golf. Shops and coffee shops/cafes close pretty early mostly.
When I was working, I’d do stuff after work but not really nightlife clubbing stuff. I did sports, pub quiz, and a volunteering gig every week and then usually met up with friends for boardgames and food.
What do you count as ‘going out’ – I go to a run club once a week and we go to the pub after and then on average I probably go out for dinner or drinks with friends one other evening. Other days I go to yoga classes but not sure if that is what you’re asking! Less often (maybe once or twice a month) I go to the cinema, a gig, a play – those would be the sort of things you’re asking about but obviously depends where you live.
I used to go out most weds after work, then recently it became Thursdays but now it’s one or the other maybe once a month as the places we go have put prices up too much or changed hands and become something else or even shut down and quite a few of my friends hours at work have changed and they are up early the next day
F, 27 here. So me & my partner have been together 6 years, and living together for 5. During the week he basically hardly leaves the house as he enjoys gaming, and pottering about doing a little DIY and gardening.
However, my hobbies require me to leave the house really regularly! I run 2x on weekdays, usually in the evenings and then once on the weekend. I go to some yoga and gym classes on other weekdays too.
In terms of “going out out” / drinking, we don’t really drink much in the average week, but will if it’s for a friends birthday or something.
If money wasn’t a factor, I don’t think we would choose to spend the money on alcohol – it’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no real reward to it in my eyes. I did a lot of partying when I was in uni and really enjoyed it, but now I kind of feel like I’ve been there, done that and don’t get excited about it as much anymore unless it’s a specific event/ reason I’m going out. I think once you’ve got a partner, you want to spend time with them, or doing hobbies, not spending it getting groped by sweaty strangers in nightclubs.
Primarily I would say it’s a personal preference thing. The UK generally is very alcohol heavy, a lot of social events centre around alcohol, but it doesn’t mean you have to drink, or need to drink to excess. Nightclubs are fun, and there are a lot of them (not like Europe though, where they stay open till 6/7am, majority close at 3am) but I just think you age out of them after a certain point & you have different preferences once you get older?
You have to remember that once you get outside of London that the transport infrastructure can make that tricky because many people drive or drive to a unit on an industrial park.
So depending on where you are – getting a critical mass of people together is difficult.
Do you mean out as in drinking or out as in leaving the house? A couple of times a week if it’s the latter to go to clubs. Rarely go out for a meal or drinks or anything like that though.
Depends on the person. I know a lot of people who do stuff after work. It depends on the social energy. Some people still have a lot after work. Some people need a break. It depends. I think it’s about what people are used to and habits. When I got into the habit of being social, I was with people all the time, and my down time was minimal.
Very rarely. If I do it’s usually on Friday for a beer with one of my coworkers but that’s not a regular thing by any means. When I was in my early twenties I would but I don’t have the energy to go out after work now.
Never. Maybe 5 times in my entire life.
I’m including weekends because we work through over half of them, we go out socialising 2 to 3 times a week, but we don’t need to get up before 8am.
Usually 3-4 times a week. Various clubs, halls, bars, activities, etc. More often during winter, obviously.
As in Going out out? or just going out?
A trip to Tesco is the only place I’m visiting after work. I’ve not the energy to go out and look half decent at a restaurant after a shift.
I’d say I’m out 3-5 week nights a week.
At least once a week. I have a regular date night with my husband where we play table tennis then go for dinner; I’ll meet friends for dinner/drinks once a month ish too. I love my local city and live quite near which probably helps!
I honestly wish I had the time and effort to go out. But working so many hours takes it out of me
I think it’s an age/children thing.
In our 20s and early 30s we were out 2 or 3 times a week, then the children came along.
We facetime with our daughter and her husband (now in their 30s, no kids) every Sunday and they say, “oh, we haven’t done much this week”, and proceed to reel off at least 4 things. Like this week, a pub quiz, a movie (movies are their thing, they are both in the biz), dinner with friends, a networking event and the gym twice (her), the gym three times, (him).
Are you counting gym/sports clubs as going out? I think that’d impact the totals a bit. A regular team sport with potential pub after is good for social life and is usually once or twice a week.
I definitely go out less since moving in with my partner but we also moved to a quieter town where there’s less going on than the city I was in before. I also work one night a week (24-hour shift so don’t do much the night after getting home either).
Still, with 3 nights a week (excluding Friday and Saturday) I go to a monthly Green Drinks and probably one or two other eco things I volunteer for, a weekly yoga class, a date night maybe once a month, cinema every couple of months, see friends once or twice and then an occasional bigger event like a gig. Plus a boring thing like the big shop so we don’t have to go at the weekend but that’s probably fortnightly. Now weather is getting better we’re likely to take the dog out for a walk further afield in the evening or Sunday afternoon. Sunday evening is usually spent at home.
It soon fills up.
I’ve been out loads the last week.
Mon: Freemasons Meeting
Weds: Tai Chi Lesson
Thurs: Wife’s work had a charity thing I was at
Fri: Another Freemasons Meeting
Mon: Pint with friends
Usually I’m at Tai Chi on Weds. and out on Friday and that’s it.
Very rarely, usually only for dinner with friends or my partner. We don’t drink and apart from bars near us, there is nothing else! If we have a lighter next day we might go to the cinema but we usually leave all that for the weekend. In Summer we do more though because it is lighter until late
Very rarely do I do anything after work, I have a toddler and there’s a two hour window between nursery collection & bedtime. The most I’ll do after work is go to the supermarket and even then I huff and puff as I’d rather do it in the morning or during my lunch hour.
If I’m really desperate for an hair appointment, then sometimes I’ll go for a later appointment then.
And we may go for a walk with toddler after work like we did last night, and we’re not going away from that – we have a Loch in front of our house & I’ll walk 30 seconds to feed the ducks and two minutes to the play park.
I would go for a quick drink or dinner with a friend once or twice a week but less so now, but that’s mainly because I now work from home and most of my friends have young kids. I do go to gym / exercise class most evenings during the week. My partner and I will go for the odd dinner / cinema trip mid-week, maybe once every month or so. I go to gigs with friends and/or partner probably once or twice a month, normally mid-week so heading straight from work.
What do you class as out?
To the Pub, Never
Gym, 3 days a week but I wfh so usually go at lunch when its dead or first thing in the morning
Cinema, sometimes depends whats on
Resturants, one fancy one a month
Our house is lovely and where we like to be 🙂
I take my mentee out once a month. That’s it with work people. I have different friend groups who I meet roughly every 2 months, so I go out about twice a month. When I was younger it was a lot more but now I’d rather stay home. Plus, it’s bloody expensive now to go out!
This is Reddit, a lot of people don’t go out.
Source: A similar post I made recently https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1j72gft/can_you_spend_a_whole_day_without_leaving_your/
Getting a takeaway is often as exciting as it gets on a week day other than that just the usual errands to do
About once a week on average.
It depends, if I can walk to places then I’ll go out almost every night. If i have to get the bus or train? fuck that, once a week is my limit.
The less you exercise, the less you want to, the less you socialise, the less you want to. I feel like if you go round trimming bits off your life, it just gets smaller and smaller – eventually you end up as an older person who goes nowhere because you’ve trained yourself to be good at staying home. There are older people who are always out and about, funnily enough they often tend to have less chance of morbidity in old age. Use it or lose it, don’t spend your twenties and thirties training for it.
Every day
Is it normal? Sure, but it ain’t common. Assuming you do 9-5, generally people get home after being stuck in traffic, they eat and just wanna be a potato. However, you can do stuff like pottery or dance, or gym, board games, or whatever else you’re into.
Me and my partner generally don’t go out, as he prefers being home and I don’t really care either 😅 UK is not really designed for nightlife anymore. Night clubs are shutting down all over the place, most things are based around drinking alcohol and eating. But if you’re in a city, you should be able to find other activities. Otherwise get a dog and make them choose your plans 😅
I work 12hr shifts 6.30 till 18.30 4 on 4off I’m up at 04.30 on workdays but still manage to go out at least 1 evening after work.
Pre-kids, a few times a week. Now it has to be planned in advance so more like once a month
Once or twice a week. Mostly to events that are quite cheap, like local comedy/ music gigs.
I love staying in but I need future plans to make life worth living.
Well I never go drinking, I just wouldn’t go during the week. but i mostly go out for a run or to the gym. Sometimes a walk. Occasionally bowling or the cinema. Rarely a restaurant but its not never.
Very rarely, maybe a handful of times a year.
Exercise at home so don’t need to go to the gym. Used to go to a local comedy night once a month but the prices were raised, so stopped.
My choices of local eatery are Nandos, McDonalds, KFC, Subway and Wetherspoons, so not much point really.
I go out dancing up to 3 nights per week, but I don’t drink and jive!
The pub a couple of times a week.
Board game group, book club, social meetings, dinner out on occasional nights.