What can you do at 80 without a group?

As someone who doesn't have time to raid and who doesn't enjoy PvP, heroics are the only way I can engage in group play at the level cap. However, with the addition of the dungeon finder and the heroic chain-run binge it brought about in me, I have since grown tired of heroics. Having gotten all that I can out of the fishing dailies, cooking dailies, and all that I care to get out of the Argent Tournament (seriously, I really don't like that place), I have been pondering; what is there that is left for me to do? As I said in my post on the homogenization of Wrath of the Lich King solo content, most of what there is to do at level 80 is split into five categories: 5-mans, raiding, battlegrounds, arenas, and dailies. I have been growing more and more tired of dailies, but I suppose that is because I am no longer working towards a meaningful goal. I used to do the dailies for the reputation, then I did them for the money in saving up for the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. Now, when I do them, it is simply as something to do, and they aren't that enjoyable in that way.

So, that brings us to our topic: what can one do at level 80 that doesn't involve groups? In writing this list, I am excluding the Argent Tournament and doing dailies for the sake of making money.

Finish any quests you never did
I am, of course, referring to the one-time quests, not the dailies. I personally hit 80 in Sholazar Basin, so that left two whole zones of quests for me to do. If you haven't finished off the one-time quests in Northrend, do them. They give you gold and are quite fun, as well.

Work on your reputations
There are quite a few factions in Northrend, and you can try to get exalted with them if you need something to do. Sadly, the only way to get exalted with most of them is through dailies and heroics, but if you do dailies while working toward a goal, they aren't so bad. The main benefit of doing this is that eventually you'll be able to talk to anyone when you want to repair your gear and you'll be able to get the repairs at the lowest possible price. If you decide to work on your reputations, see my post on how to level Northrend reputations without championing, which goes over how to get exalted with the Northrend factions without grouping.

Level your professions
There's a chance you didn't get your professions to 450 on the way to 80. I know that as an enchanter, getting to 450 was very difficult and took a lot of time, so your professions may be lying in your spellbook, waiting to reach their full potential. If so, max them out. It will make leveling them easier when Cataclysm hits.

Level your secondary skills
Granted, if you are starting from scratch, cooking and first aid will require doing more than just grinding in Northrend, but you can level fishing anywhere now, so your only concern in that case is overcoming the boredom you will inevitably feel while doing it. Cooking is a no-brainer to level now, and I imagine first aid isn't much more difficult (as a druid, I don't really have any use for first aid, so I haven't leveled it to Northrend levels).

Go out and farm stuff
Collect things with your gathering professions. Go and fish somewhere. Grind some elementals for some motes. Grind some beasts for some meat. Go to Storm Peaks and grind some Relics of Ulduar. Go out and grind the materials for some high end crafted epics, or just sell the stuff you get. Ironically, the monotony of farming can really break up the monotony of chain-running heroics quite well. It may not be the most efficient way to make money, but when you are bored with the best way (dailies), the second best begins to look even better.

Explore
Northrend is an amazing continent. It is really well designed and looks just beautiful. Why not get on your flying mount and just go out and explore? Find some little nook or cranny you missed while leveling up. Fly to the top of a really high mountain. Do something with no mind for the reward. You just might get an achievement for it as well.

Sadly, because of Blizzard's homogenization efforts, there isn't much to do at level 80 that doesn't involve dailies or groups. If you don't like any of the ideas above, your only choice is to go back to old content. Next week, I'll write a post about things you can do in the old world if you are bored with Northrend's end-game.