The first hobby that I tried was Astronomy. Last year at this time my father-in-law and I went out in his backyard with a very cheap, very flimsy telescope and we started looking at the moon. Separately, we we were both interested in space and science but this night was the convergence of our interests. We strted with observing the moon and then we moved on to the Andromeda galaxy and Orion Nebula. From there the hobby grew more extensive (and more expensive). Matt, my father-in-law, got a 6" short tube telescope, and I got a 4" long tube telescope. That was satisfactory for about 3 months, then Matt got a 10" reflecting telescope. He and I joined an Astronomy club where we still reside as members. Astronomy people are great people, very knowledgeable and helpful. I highly encourage folks to head to our Astronomy page on Facebook where we are chronicling our Asrtro-Adventures.  https://www.facebook.com/JMastroblog/