Listing (Such As / Etc.)

Giving a few representative examples: are they things, or things you did?

～たり、～たり します vs Noun や Noun など～: Use たり〜たり for actions (読んだり書いたりした), and や〜など for nouns (本やノートなど). Both mean the list is partial, but たり conjugates the verbs, so it is the only one that can list what happened rather than what was there.

You want the 'and so on' without pairing it with や.

～など vs Noun や Noun など～: など stands on its own after a single noun (コーヒーなど), which や cannot do: や needs two items to sit between. Used alone after one item, など also works as a softener, offering it as a suggestion rather than the only option.