#stayathome: 4 activities to beat boredom
In spring 2020, half the country was stuck at home and desperate for ideas to beat boredom. We recommended four back then. Which of them still work today – and which were only ever suited to lockdown life.
In March 2020, going out wasn’t an option, so we suggested four ways to escape cabin fever: dining in style at home, living-room concerts on Instagram, home workouts and virtual travel via video chat. Five years on, it’s clear which ideas were genuine solutions and which were stopgaps born of extraordinary times. Three of the four have stuck around; one we’ve never touched again.
- Dining at home in style was a consolation prize in 2020 – today it’s a ritual. The home dinner survived lockdown.
- Living-room concerts were born of necessity, but streaming sets are now a staple for many artists.
- Home workouts have endured, even with gyms open again. Providers like Eisbachfit in Munich now train outdoors instead of on Zoom.
- Virtual travel via video chat was charmingly intended, but it never convinced anyone. The one thing we don’t miss.
Four ideas, one lockdown, four very different half-lives. We’re going through them one by one – and telling you honestly what we think of them today.
What’s left of the fancy dinner at home
In 2020 it felt like rebellion: when your favourite restaurant is closed, you set the table yourself. Candles lit, best china out, a bottle opened that you’d normally save for a special occasion. We jokingly called it “Ristorante Quarantena.”
The surprising part? The ritual stuck, long after the restaurants reopened. A deliberately arranged evening at home is no longer a stopgap; it’s its own discipline. The goal isn’t to mimic a restaurant, but to create something a venue can’t offer: your own music, no time limit, wine from your own cellar. Three courses aren’t required. A well-made pasta, properly served on a table that already feels like evening, is enough.
In 2020, dining at home was a consolation prize. Today it’s a discipline-and better than most reservations.
For those living alone, the video-chat version was a lifeline back then. It still works today, though less out of necessity than desire: two people, two kitchens, the same recipe, an open call. There’s something no delivery menu can replace.
Living-room concerts: from makeshift to mainstream
On 29 March 2020, the second #wirbleibenzuhause Festival streamed ten hours of live music on Instagram-one artist every thirty minutes, from Antje Schomaker at noon to Dermot Kennedy that evening. In between came Nico Santos, Max Giesinger, Johannes Oerding, Clueso and Rea Garvey. Concert halls were dark, so the musicians played from their living rooms to the world.
Back then it was a stopgap. What stuck is the realisation that a stream needn’t only stand in for the real thing. Many artists kept the living-room format because it creates an intimacy impossible in a sold-out hall: no bombast, no light show, just voice and instrument. You watch even when you could buy a real ticket any time.
From digital studio back outdoors
When gyms closed, many trainers moved classes online overnight. The Munich team at Eisbachfit, for example, streamed its sessions live via Zoom during the #stayathome phase. Other coaches posted daily body-weight workouts-exercises that need nothing but your own body.
Today Eisbachfit trains where its name comes from: outside, at Haus der Kunst, Tucherpark and Schyrenbad, still linked to Urban Sports Club and similar platforms. The Zoom stream was a chapter, not the new normal. What remains, though, is the home workout itself. Once you realise an effective session doesn’t need a bench press or a studio contract, you’re unlikely to go back. Two short sessions a week in the living room beat a membership you’d never use anyway.
The one idea we don’t miss: virtual travel
Then there was virtual travel. The 2020 tip: load a Paris backdrop in Zoom, brew Earl Grey, and spend an hour dreaming with friends of London or Paris. Zoom still offers virtual backgrounds today-even AI-generated ones.
Only nobody really did it. A photo of the Eiffel Tower behind your head doesn’t replace travel; it only underlines that you can’t travel right now. Of the four ideas, this is the only one that vanished with lockdown and never returned. Some stopgaps are exactly that-and that’s perfectly fine.
What remains is the deeper lesson of those weeks: a good evening depends less on location than on intention. Set the table nicely, eat well, move, listen to music that matters. You can do it at home just as well. More ideas for the home as living space are in our piece on the bedroom as the heart of recovery, and if you want to extend the dinner idea, read our guide to a summer dinner without the kitchen marathon. How those living-room concerts of yesterday became a lasting streaming format is traced in The Show Must Go On at InspiredByBeatz.
Quick Answers
▸Does a fancy home-cooked dinner really make sense without a special occasion?
Absolutely. The magic isn’t in the date on the calendar, but in consciously shaping an ordinary evening. A properly set table, good lighting, and a dish you prepare with care turn a Tuesday into a little event. It worked in 2020-and it still does today.
▸Are those living-room concerts from the pandemic era still around?
The big collective festivals like #wirbleibenzuhause were tied to lockdown life. The format itself, however, lives on: many artists continue to stream intimate sets from their living rooms or studios, often alongside their tours. What began as a stopgap has become a permanent channel in its own right.
▸Do I need expensive equipment for a home workout?
Not at all. Most of the online classes from back then relied on bodyweight training-exercises using nothing but your own body. Two short sessions a week are enough to feel the difference. Equipment is a bonus, not a requirement.
▸Do virtual Zoom backgrounds still work?
Yes, the feature remains, and Zoom has even added AI-generated backgrounds. It’s still handy for video calls, though it never convinced as a travel substitute-back in 2020 it was more of a gag than an experience.
