Hobby Ideas?

octayn

I'm a programmer and new in town. I am wondering what are some good hobbies to meet new people that are not too expensive? I know it's kind of a general question but I would like to hear as many ideas as possible so I can research them and pick one I like. I've tried swimming but it was not very social and I did not meet people doing that.

SmokeStacks

Are you into roleplaying? D&D can be expensive if you buy a ton of the books, but it can also be played with nothing more than pen, paper, and some dice, and there are groups pretty much everywhere.

bowen

dnd
code/linux groups
hiking (see if there's a group that gets together for this in the area)
gaming (I've done some meetups with people I've played wow with before)
local community college course (languages, cooking, drawing, etc -- they're not too expensive for a one off)

You can still do almost all of the above and never really interact with others, so you'll have to kind of put yourself out there

Wassermelone

Just look through something like meetup.com and see if anything takes your fancy.

MichaelLC

Bicycling with a group?

Not to expensive unless you want it to be, and it's a good exercise.

zepherin

Im a big fan of board games at good game shops. Most of them have meet ups, depending on the OP location PA may have a meetup.

And for more physical stuff, many places have cheap or free line dancing lessons.

I used to be part of a go club, but that's akin to board games.

ceres

I got into hiking via a meetup group. The group always has anywhere from 5-25 people going, so even something like that can be a group activity.

Orogogus

If you enjoy singing at all, you could try a community choir. In San Diego, at least, there are plenty of choruses that have no audition to speak of and welcome new members of all ability levels, especially if you're a guy, and specializations such as Renaissance music, barbershop, or show tunes, as well as ethnic choirs such as Norwegian, Jewish and Chinese choirs if you have any interest in a specific culture. There are also community bands & orchestras, if you can play an instrument or want to learn.

BlindZenDriver

You could look into if there is need for community work in your new town.

Morblitz

After I finished Uni I was looking to get into a physical hobby that I could manage with my bad back. So I looked into archery.

I found a field archery club in town and I haven't looked back. It's a reasonable price in terms of attending and renting equipment, but the price starts to go up a bit if you want to buy your own equipment - which I would recommend you do at some point. You can save up a bit, do some research, and buy beginner equipment from an affordable vendor or even through Ebay.

But all in all archery is a great sport and hobbie that I have really enjoyed so far and I've met some super nice people that are passionate about an activity, so it's always a good time.

You might not be able to find a field archery club, but target archery is not much different. Where I live, field archery is the only game in town so choice was limited.

Edit:
To add, I recently met some people who are part of a swing dance club. They meet once a week for a lesson and a free dance. Everyone I met affiliated with the club were super nice and personable. It'd be a good way to get to meet people and boost any social skills/experience you feel might be lacking. I am a bit of an introvert myself so I'm considering it to help with that on top of it looking like a blast - as long as my back can hold up.

Quid

Is there a particular cause you care about? Doing volunteer work can be an excellent way to meet people with similar interests and values.

Kyougu

Going to second Meetup.com. It'll depend on the city you're at, but you should find some good groups. My advice would be to look for "new in town" or "adventures". They should have a good variety of stuff. Like the one I run we do boardgames, go on bike rides, hike, happy hours, museum tours, etc. A little bit for everything.

Also check out rock climbing. Its something you can normally do by yourself, but the climbing community tends to be really friendly.

tinwhiskers

If you are in the right part of the country try Curling. Kind of the wrong time of the year to get into it, but it's an extremely social sport.

Mugsley

Running clubs are literally everywhere. You can also volunteer at races/running festivals that will start popping up now that the weather is getting warmer.

In a similar vein/thread, you can also volunteer or work any local festivals to meet people. For example, our nearby small city has Polish, Greek, and Italian festivals in June every year.

Wonderwoman

If you enjoy running,you can run and meet the neighbor who has the same hobby as you. It's not the best idea but it will be a great beginning for you.

Chiselphane

Check your local library, LOTS of libraries are doing way more than just lending books nowadays. There are all kinds of groups, classes, programs they run and they're almost always free, and might not even need to have a library card to that particular location.