How Do Your Characters Relax?

We’ve talked about the workings of the station, where your residents get their basic supplies, their special supplies, and where they eat. But how do they relax after a long day at work? After all: all work and no play make people very dull and unhappy. People relax differently, some merely need a good book and comfortable place to read. Other people need activity and it would be smart to have some sort of sports complex. In a previous series I wrote about how to put sports for all ages on a space ship which may give you some ideas on how to integrate sports and physical activity into your designs for your station. Some people prefer to relax by putting in a good movie and sitting down with a good snack while others prefer to sit with friends and chat or drink alcohol. Everyone is different and what they may want one day may not be how they want to relax the next night.
The many Star Trek series created what they called a “holodeck” which could be used for anything from sports games to training programs to fantasy rooms of any type. It was a great way for the crew to relax as well as group bonding sessions. It also had it’s bad side, as do all inventions: people could become so addicted to the fantasy of having everything exactly as they wanted it that they no longer wanted to deal with reality.
However you decide to allow your crew and residents to relax, remember to allow your characters in your story to relax as well.