XP TRACKERReal life side quests: ideas and how to make your own
A side quest is a small, optional adventure you do once: a new walk, a food you've never tried, a message to someone you miss. It sits outside your daily habits and gives a normal week something to remember. Below are 50 ideas and a simple way to write your own.
Short answer: real life side quests are small one-off adventures with a clear finish line, such as "eat a dish you can't pronounce" or "walk to the highest point in town". Pick one a week, keep it under two hours and cheap, and write it down when it's done. They work best next to your daily habits, never instead of them.
In games, side quests are the optional jobs off the main path. You don't need them to finish the story, but they're often what you remember. Real weeks work the same way. Work, chores and daily habits fill most days, and the week blurs. One small, chosen detour gives it a shape.
Side quests also suit people who get bored by routines. Your daily habits can stay steady while the side quest changes every week. If you want a random one right now, try the side quest generator.
How to write a good side quest
- Give it a finish line"Explore the city" never ends. "Get off the train one stop early and find a café" ends the moment you sit down.
- Keep it smallMost side quests should fit in 15 minutes to two hours. Big trips are fine sometimes, but small ones actually happen.
- Make it a little newA side quest should include one thing you haven't done before: a place, a food, a skill or a person.
- Set a cost capDecide your limit in advance, including zero. A free side quest is still a side quest.
- Log the lootWrite one line when you finish: where you went and one thing you noticed. After a few months, that list is a record of a year you actually lived.
50 side quest ideas
Under 30 minutes
- Watch the sunrise or sunset from a spot you've never used.
- Walk a street near home you've never walked down.
- Buy a fruit or vegetable you've never eaten and look up how to eat it.
- Learn one card trick, knot or origami shape.
- Send a voice message to someone you haven't talked to in a year.
- Write down five things in your town you'd show a visitor.
- Find the oldest building within a 15-minute walk.
- Learn to say "thank you" in the language of a café or shop you visit.
- Sit in a park for 20 minutes with no phone and count the birds you can name.
- Take one photo of something you pass every day and never look at.
One to two hours
- Eat alone at a restaurant serving a cuisine you've never tried.
- Get off the bus or train one stop early and explore on foot.
- Visit a library branch you've never been to and borrow one book from a random shelf.
- Cook a recipe from a country you'd like to visit.
- Go to a free talk, open mic or museum late night.
- Walk to the highest point in your town or neighbourhood.
- Write a letter by hand and post it.
- Find a second-hand shop and buy one thing under a set budget.
- Try a new kind of exercise class or a beginner's session at a climbing wall.
- Ask an older relative to tell you a story you've never heard and write it down.
- Swim somewhere new: a different pool, a lake or the sea, where it's safe.
- Draw the view from your window, however badly.
- Visit a market and talk to one stallholder about what they sell.
- Play a board game you've never played with a friend.
- Do one hour of volunteering you can book on the spot.
Half a day
- Take a train to a town you've never visited and walk around until lunch.
- Hike a trail within an hour of home.
- Ride a bike to the edge of your city.
- Spend a morning in a neighbourhood you don't know, with no plan.
- Take a one-off beginner class: pottery, dance, cooking or woodwork.
- Visit a botanical garden, a castle or a nature reserve nearby.
- Go to a local sports match for a team you don't follow.
- Plan and cook a three-course meal for a friend.
- Find the best view in your region and take a flask of tea there.
- Go to a concert or play by a performer you've never heard of.
Connection side quests
- Reconnect with an old friend and suggest a date.
- Invite a neighbour for tea.
- Thank a teacher, coach or old boss who helped you.
- Ask a friend to teach you their skill for an hour.
- Host a small games night.
- Leave a kind review for a small business you like.
- Call a grandparent and ask about their first job.
- Cook something and bring it to someone having a hard week.
- Join one meeting of a local club.
- Write a note to your future self and open it in a year.
Skill side quests
- Learn to change a bike tyre or a fuse.
- Memorise a short poem.
- Learn the names of five stars or constellations and find them.
- Bake bread from scratch.
- Learn three chords on a borrowed instrument.
Fitting side quests into a real week
Side quests fail for one reason: "someday". Pick the quest on Sunday evening and give it a slot, the same way you'd book a dentist. Saturday morning works for longer ones. A lunch break or a commute works for the short ones.
Keep a list of 10 to 20 ideas on your phone so you're never stuck choosing. Add to it whenever you see something interesting: a poster, a street, a dish on someone else's plate. When a week is too full, do a 15-minute quest and count it.
If you live alone, side quests are also a gentle way to get out of the house and meet people without a big plan. The living alone page has more on keeping weeks from blurring.
Common mistakes
- Only planning big ones. A trip abroad is a great side quest, but you can't do one every week. Most of your list should take under two hours.
- No finish line. "Try new things" stays an intention. Write the exact action.
- Turning them into chores. If a side quest feels like homework, swap it. They're optional by design.
- Letting them replace your habits. A fun adventure doesn't cancel your daily walk or reading. Do both.
What to do today
- Start your listCopy ten ideas from this page that you'd actually enjoy.
- Pick one for this weekChoose a day and a time, and put it in your calendar.
- Do a tiny one nowTake the 15-minute walk down a new street, or send that voice message.
XP Tracker has several side-quest-style add-ons you can pick from the quest library, such as Solo adventure, Day trip somewhere new, Try a new recipe and Reconnect with an old friend. They run as weekly or monthly quests next to your daily ones and earn XP like the rest. See how quests work.
Questions people ask
What is a side quest in real life?
It's a small, one-off thing you choose to do for fun, curiosity or connection, outside your main goals and daily habits. Trying a new café, walking to the end of a bus line or learning a card trick all count.
How often should I do side quests?
One a week is a good start. That's about 50 small adventures a year without crowding out your routines. Some people prefer one bigger side quest a month instead.
What are good side quests to do alone?
Eat at a restaurant on your own, visit a museum or a library you've never been to, take a long walk with no destination, go to a free talk or class, or spend a morning in a neighbourhood you don't know.
What are cheap or free side quests?
Most of the list on this page costs nothing: walk a new route, watch the sunrise, write a letter, borrow a library book in a genre you never read, cook a recipe from an old family member, or visit a free museum day.
What's the difference between a side quest and a daily quest?
Daily quests repeat and build habits, like reading or a workout. Side quests happen once and add variety. Read real life daily quests for the repeating kind.
Related pages
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