Zip lining $ 🎓 💪💪

Take a long wire and attach one end higher than the other.  Put a wheel on the line, and slide down it.  That's zip lining.  You set it up in your own back yard for short distances, - like from a tree house to the ground, but to really enjoy it you get a professional to set it up with a lot of safety equipment from huge heights.  Then you can go over tree tops for large distances.  Often you have to walk up a lot of stairs or climb a mountain to get to the top.

It is on the cheap side and takes almost no skill to do - although you do need significant skill to set it up.   It does take some muscle, but if you can walk up a steep hill, you should be able to do it.  The amount and kind of equipment vary a lot.  For a backyard zip line you sometimes just hang onto the pulley.  For most of the long/high versions you have some kind of harness that you are strapped into. If you do it in the US, chances are they are going to take a lot of safety precautions.

Men and women both like to do this.  Kids enjoy it a lot. Seniors are welcome (and sometimes get a reduced rate).


I did it in South America, but you can do it almost anywhere.  There are places in New York, New, Jersey, and Massachusetts.  Sometimes they even set one up in street fairs.  Here's one in Vernon NJ: http://www.zoomziplines.com/en/usa/index.htm

Precious Metal Clays $$$ 🎓 💪

Precious Metal Clays (PMC) are strange, wonderful things.  In the 1990s, Masaki Morikawa found a way to mix metal dust with an artificial, burnable clay like material.  You mold and shape the PMC into the desired shape, then fire it a kiln just like normal clay.  For some smaller pieces, you can use a blow torch, rather than a kiln.   What you are left with is pure metal - if a bit less dense than the normal stuff (it has holes where the clay used to be).  But it is almost 100% silver/bronze/gold/copper/steel once fired.

I used silver because gold is very expensive.  But even silver is expensive.  It's not just the clay (which obviously costs more than regular silver).  You also need a small kiln, and I would strongly recommend classes unless you are just working with the base metals (bronze/copper/steel).  Otherwise you will waste a lot of silver/gold learning simple things.

It is very easy to work with and requires no muscle.    But if you want to make something fantastic, you may need more skill.  I was capable of making a ring and earrings.

Typically you use it to make jewelry, though you could use it to make anything out it.   You could in fact make a bronze key, fix a broken zipper pull, a can opener, etc.  It's pretty sturdy.

Like most jewelry making classes, the far majority of students are female.  The woman that taught me focused on an older crowd, though that might be different at different places.



I took classes here:
http://www.silverclay.com/

Caving $ 🎓 💪💪

I've done a lot of caving, but mostly on tours.   They have climbing tours where you climb, floating tours where you float down an underground river, as well as the far more common walking tours.

Almost all caving tours are cheap - minimal equipment and training required.  Do NOT just go into a cave without a lot of training and safety equipment.  That way lies death.  Getting lost or hurt is easy without a guide, and human presence can dramatically affect the cave - your hand print leaves oil that will affect the wildlife that lives there.  Going on a tour doesn't take much skill, but without a guide, you need a lot of knowledge.  Basically, going without a guide is for experts, and if you are getting any information about caving from me, you are not an expert.

Everyone likes to check out caves - young and old, men and women.  You obviously need a flashlight.  If you are in a river cave, you will need a life jacket and possibly a wet suit.  You definitely want water shoes of some kind.  Tours should provide this.

Walking and floating tours require you to be in reasonable good shape, but not more than that.  Climbing tours are for the more advanced people.  They take more skill and muscle.

Of the tours I have taken, I liked the floating tour the best.   It was in Mexico, near Cozumel, at the Rio Secreto:
http://www.riosecreto.com/

Improv $$$ 🎓 💪

New York City is a major theater town and there are a LOT of classes for various types of acting, including improv class   It tends towards young people, but older students are welcome!  It's pretty balanced gender-wise.  You also don't need any other acting experience.

They usually start with a warm up exercise that is similar/identical to kid's games.   Then you are taught the rules of improv - things like "always say Yes and",  never reject the premise ("It was all a dream"),  mime using the device rather than being the device (pretend to hold a gun rather than shape your hand like a gun), etc.  All the while you are given a lot of time to practice and try things out.   It's good, safe, fun.

It's a bit expensive, mainly because they sell you 8 classes at once, rather than a monthly set of group classes.   But I really enjoyed it. They do offer work study, which can help with the price.

On the plus side, eight classes mean you really get to know your fellow students.  It's easy to become friends with them.  It's very social, you make friends.

It doesn't take much muscle nor does it require you to work hard.  Even if you are not a good actor you can still have a lot of fun.  You do put on actual shows - and convince your friends/loved ones to come see them (paying money for the privileged of seeing you too.)

I took classes at The People's Improv Theater:

http://thepit-nyc.com/

Rock climbing $ 🎓 💪💪💪

Climbing a rock wall - real or artificial is a very athletic sport.  There are several  types - I have tried free climbing (with a safety rope), and bouldering (no safety rope, shorter heights, thicker pad to fall on).  There is also underwater climbing, solo climbing, and ice climbing, but I have not tried any of those - yet.

Most often people learn on artificial walls.   Typically they put multiple routes up a single wall, color coding them and classifying by color.

So if you go to such a wall, you have a choice.  The easiest route is ignore the colors and just climb up anything.  If you want something a little harder, look at the chart and select the 'easy' color.  Then climb using only the hand holds coded that color.   On that same wall you might pick the blue rocks, which could be the hardest route (there is no standard rule about which color means harder).

Rock Climbing is cheap, can be easy (assuming you take 'easy routes' up the wall), but takes a lot of muscle.  It's a real work out.    They offer classes, but you do not need to take them.


If going free climbing, you need someone to belay you.   If you take a class, that is a given.  If not, invite a friend as a partner and take turns.  One advantage of bouldering is that you don't need a partner to go with you., but you need to be more willing to trust your own strength, and withstand a short fall.


You need the right kind of shoes - flexible and thin  - to do this.  Many kinds of tennis shoes, but not all, work well.  A lot of places rent shoes.

 This is a fairly gender neutral sport and kids are welcome.  Not many people over 40 (heavy work out), it's a younger crowd.  But they take really young kids - 3 years old sometimes.  Kids like to climb.

I went bouldering at Steep Rock Bouldering:

http://www.srbnyc.com/

and free climbing at Manhattan Plaza Health Club (a gym but you don't have to join the gym to climb):

http://mphc.com/climbinggym/

Butter Churning $ 🎓 💪

This is not a euphemism,  It's remarkably easy to make butter.   Here are the steps:

1. Buy a  cartoon of heavy cream.  Open it up.  We want bacteria in there.  You can optionally add a bit of yogurt or cheese cultures.
2. Leave it on the counter for a day.  Yes, open to the air for the full day.
3. The next day, mix it up.  You can use an electric mixer/whisk for 3-10 minutes.  Or you can put it in a mason jar and shake it for 10-20 minutes. 
4. Strain out the liquid buttermilk, leaving the solid, sweet butter. 
5. Rinse with cold water removing any remains of the buttermilk
6. If desired, add any flavorings you want (salt, herbs, whatever fancy thing you like.) and refrigerate.

Anyone can do this, even the youngest of kids or the oldest of seniors.  Women are more likely to be interested.   

You don't need to go anywhere else or learn anything else to do it.  Just buy some heavy cream at the grocery store and go to your kitchen.  Or you could do some internet searches for desired flavorings.

Snowmobiling $$ 🎓 💪

Snowmobiling is riding on a motorized tread  with skis to steer.  It's similar to jet skiing, only on snow instead of water.  Obviously a bit colder, you need to dress warm.  But if you run out of gas, you can just walk back - following the trail you left to get there.

You definitely need gloves and a helmet (although some states do not require it, do it anyway).  You easily go 50, 60 mph, which is about the same speed as a jet ski, but the ground, and trees are a lot harder than water.   You don't have to go that fast, but you need the helmet and gloves anyway.   It's expensive to buy, but lots of places offer rentals/tours.

Snowmobiling is moderately priced, fairly easy to do and doesn't require a lot of muscle or stamina.  If you want to go fast, that will use some more skill and muscle, but you don't need them to try it out. The machine does most of the work.

Snowmobiling trends male, but they have women too.  Kids love it, but the age in which they can drive varies by state (Maine is 10, Wisconsin is 12, for example).  Similarly some states require licenses.  Check the laws before you do anything. 


Dress warmly, wear a helmet - even if the law doesn't require it, common sense does.

I went in Vermont, you can find places to do it near any ski resort.

Make your own Pop Up Card $ 🎓🎓 💪

It's fairly easy to make rather spectacular pop up greeting cards.  You don't even need to take a class, their are some free templates and lots of videos available.

You cut the strong paper (card paper works well) in the right way, fold along certain lines, tape certain things, then close it up and mail it to someone you like.   If you have a color printer you can even print out a design before you cut it, so it has color.

This is very cheap - free to start, takes a little bit of practice, particularly if you want more than a simple box, but takes no muscle.

It trends female, but men do it too.  Any kid old enough to handle scissors can learn how to do this.

 
I learned at a course offered by NYCResistor (https://www.nycresistor.com) but they no longer have one scheduled.

Instead I suggest trying one of these:

•  Youtube Videos for "Pop Up Card"
•  http://www.popupology.co.uk/
•  https://www.makepopupcards.com/free-pop-up-card-sign-up/

Dog Sledding $$ 🎓 💪

Dog sledding is a fun thing to do in the snow.   It is fairly easy as the dogs do all the work.  Most of the time the sleds have one passenger sitting in the cargo area and one driver standing on the back.  The passenger doesn't have to do anything at all.  You do need some balance and the stamina to stand up while the dogs pull you.  Generally you go with a guide, and he has to know the route and what he is doing.   He travels in front and the dogs will follow the sled in front of them.   You also need the brains to let the dog do their thing instead of trying to tell them what to do.

The dogs are working dogs bred for the weather.  They are usually treated pretty well and have a better life than some pets.  Not as boring, and they have a real pack, rather than one or two companions.  They have heavy fur and suffer in the heat of summer.  While they are running they are more likely to overheat than to be cold (exercise keeps you warm).

It's typically moderately priced, at least for a short trip "try it out" trip, obviously if you try to do a full day or extended camping trip it moves into expensive territory.   It's easy and takes no muscle if you are  the passenger, and just a little if you are the driver.  Note, you can also find some deals, particularly if you are looking for a shorter trip in a non-touristy part of the country.
 
It's split male/female fairly evenly.     It's kid friendly and elderly friendly - you don't even need to be able to walk.  At the same time, if you want to 'mush' the dogs, it's not that much more work.

Dress warm, you won't be exercising like the dogs.

I did it at Jackson Hole Wyoming, taking the trip to the Hot Springs and went swimming for lunch (cost more to do that):
 http://jhsleddog.com/

If you aren't in Wyoming, you may not get a hot spring, but some kind of dog sledding is available near most winter ski resorts - but do some price checking.  Usually they charge per sled not per person.  Price and availability are also also fairly time dependent - if you try to do it on Christmas eve you will pay a lot more than a random Thursday in January.

Metal Casting $$ 🎓 💪

Metal casting is similar to the mold casting I mentioned earlier, only instead of poring liquids that turn solid, such as plaster or rubber, you pour molten metal into the molds.

As such, the molds have to be sturdier.  You can use a mold carved out of cuttlefish bones, a plaster mold (often made by crafting a wax  version, then covering with plaster, then heating to melt the wax out - called the lost wax method), or sand molds.

It is not cheap - you are working with molten metal.  It is fairly easy to do, at least if you don't care that much about making it perfect.  Nor does it take a lot of muscle. 

Mostly used for jewelry and similar items, this class trends female, especially if you are making stuff out of pewter, which is a lot easier to use than bronze.  Bronze is mostly copper with a little bit of tin and/or other metals.  Pewter is mostly tin with a little bit of copper and/or other metals.  Bronze is much harder to re-melt and requires a much hotter flame, so it is harder to work with.  If you are using pewter, make sure it is lead free if you are going to make anything that comes in contact with food.

Because it involves molten metal, this class is not for young kids.   A wide range of ages take classes, some are very young artists, some are older people.

I made some nice bronze pieces back at 3rd ward, but they closed down.  Brooklyn Brainery offers a pewter class that uses the cuttlefish bone method and the sand method:

http://brooklynbrainery.com/courses/pewter-casting-workshop

White Water Rafting $ 🎓 💪💪

Get in an air filled raft and head down the river.   You have a raft captain that needs to know what he is doing, but you can be clueless.   It's that simple.  The one thing you have to do is pick how strong a river you want.  There are six main levels (sometimes they use a - or + to indicate weaker/harder versions of the six main levels).

Class I, is mild, Class V is harder.   Even the youngest child can do a Class I or  II.  Teenagers should be able to handle Class III at the very least.

But if you are looking for excitement, then you want Class IV or Class V.    Don't try class V until you have had some experience on a class IV.

But wait, I said six levels, and V stands for five.   So yes, there is a Class VI.   It is the term for a river that that is too harsh to run.  For example, Niagra falls is a Class VI rapid.  Do some people go over it anyway?  Yes.  We call them suicidal.  Don't try this unless you are a) an experienced raft captain and b) not taking anyone else with you.

I have done Class IV rapids in Alaska.  It was a lot of fun, the wet suit kept me warm and dry.   I do like speed.

Note, price depend a lot on length of the trip as well as the class.  It's only cheap if you go for a short 4 hour or shorter trip.  If you go for much longer than that, it edges into expensive, especially if you are talking class IV or V.   If you go for a full on multi-day camping trip, expect to pay thousands.    While it takes  a lot of skill to captain the raft, you need no training to just do it.  While you don't have to be in good shape to do it, you should at the very least be able to swim.  If you can't swim, stick to Class I or II.

You will have to wear a life jacket even if you can swim.  A helmet is heavily recommended.  In colder locations, a wet suit (including shoes) is needed.

If you want a Class IV or V experience, you may be dependent on timing - rivers run faster when dams let water out or when snow melts.

White Water Rafting  is gender neutral.  They take kids as low as 4 years old (at least for the milder stuff).   Seniors are welcome, especially for the milder runs.

You can learn more about White Water Rafting here:
http://www.raftingamerica.com
 

Mold Casting $ 🎓 💪

This is the process of making a rubbery mold of something, then filling the mold with plaster or similar substance to make an exact duplicate.    How exact a duplicate?  If you make a plaster copy of your fingers, the fingerprints will match what's on your hand.  Depending on the material, their may be some shrinkage/expansion.  You can intentionally make smaller or larger versions, by careful selection of the material.  While the original shirnkage/expansion ratio is relatively small, you can use repeat the process to make something twice as big as in real life or half as small.

It's cheap, easy, and doesn't take a lot of muscle.

It's got a good mix of male and female.   It's not that hard to do, teenagers kids can easily do it, as can seniors.

Dress for a mess, both the mold making and the casting involve liquids that turn solid.

I took lessons and bought my materials at "The Complete Sculptor".  When I took it it was a class called "life casting" and focused on making casts of living things, such as your foot, hand, torso, head (with breathing tubes), etc. You can just as easily do it with other things - toys, cups, etc.
Now they have called it Rubber Resin and split into two classes - 1) mold and 2) casting.  It's basically the same thing, but cheaper because of the split.

http://www.sculpt.com/

Snow boarding $$ 🎓🎓 💪💪💪

Snowboarding is very similar to skiing.  Both involve going down a snow covered hill at high speed.  Both are mainly about balance.   Both are only cheap if you live in the area, both are good exercise.

But snowboarding has you on one wide board, rather than one on each foot.  The balance is now more about forward/back rather than side to side. That makes it significantly easier to do as the human body is designed to deal with forward/back balance more than side to side.

It is very very hard to stop while snowboarding, unless you sit down in the snow.   So generally that's how they teach you to stop.   Doing it too quickly is called 'falling' and hurts.   Some people can stop without sitting down, but it takes a lot of skill.   Many snowboarders get pads on their butt - both to protect it from a fall and from the cold.   After about two days or so you learn to do it slowly, in a more controlled, less painful manner, and you start sitting rather than falling.  This is a significantly FASTER learning curve than skiing - but you don't fall as much with skiing.

Snowboarding is slightly more male than female, but that is changing.  Most people recommend kids start snow boarding later than skiing (age 7 rather than 3).   Snowboarding is still a young person's sports - it's a relatively new sport and once your learn skiing you often have no desire to start over and learn a whole new sport.  You don't see 60+ year old people snow boarding, but you will see them skiing.

Snow boarding also has the advantage of a more comfortable boot.  It's not as rigid, as you don't need to be able to 'edge' the foot.

You can snowboard at most ski resorts - but you should double check with any place you go before heading there.

You can snow board at Mt snow, just like skiing:
http://www.mountsnow.com/

Upholstery $$$ 🎓 💪

Upholstery is the process of adding cushions and/or fabric to furniture.   It has advantages over simply putting a pillow on the chair in that it looks far better and the pillow doesn't move around.


The main pieces of machinery you need are a pneumatic staple gun - and someplace to use the thing as it is LOUD.   You may also need a sewing machine, some hand tools (industrial strength staple remover/crow bar, hammer - perhaps a button machine to make cloth covered buttons)

But all the skills are remarkably EASY to do.  Frankly, any teenager should be able to do it, if they put their mind to it.  It does take a while to do, is expensive, but as long as you are working with a small piece (chair, ottoman), it won't take much muscle.  If it weren't expensive to learn and do, everyone would do it.  Frankly, it's a great retirement income hobby job if you don't want to sit around doing nothing, and want to earn a little extra money.

And it has the advantage of many of my activities in that if you pick good materials, it will come out looking pretty darn good even if you personally are a beginner.

It is more female than male, and the crowd does not normally include teenagers (expensive).  Seniors can easily do it.

A common practice is to go to a flea market, pick up a chair with good bones (wood) and re-upholster the old chair with new padding and new fabric.  You can do the whole thing in a weekend or two if you have the right materials.

I took Upholster classes at the beloved 3rd Ward (passed away to due to severe mismanagement of their non-profit).

But the Furniture Joint in New York is still around and offers classes:
http://furniturejoint.com/index.htm

Downhill Skiing $$ 🎓🎓🎓 💪💪💪

Strap a pair of long, flat, edged, boards to your feet and head down hill!   Well, it's a bit more complicated than that.  You need some safety equipment (helmet), appropriate clothing, skis, boots, and a ticket to ride the lifts.  Unless you want to hike up the mountain, (takes a lot of time but saves a lot of money) - which is really a different sport (called "Telemark skiing", uses a different boot and binding).

Skiing is all about balance and ankle movements - move your balance to the left (tilting your feet/skis)  and you turn left.  Move your balance to the right, tilting your skis, and turn right.  Turn enough and you face up hill, which slows you down.  You also need to be above your skis, not sitting back for the best control.   The boots have to be fairly tight, as it is all about ankles.

But you get going fairly fast.  The world record is over 150 mph.  Most people won't go over 50 mph, and beginners usually stick to 10 mph.

Skiing is a rich man's sport, but you don't have to be rich to try it.  You can easily get a first time skier package that includes rental, lesson, and ski equipment for less than $75.  Most of these are state specific - i.e. to qualify for it you must live in the state that is offering it.   Moreover if you are from out of state, transportation and housing really drives the price up (unless you take a bus at 6 AM to be at the mountain by 9 AM, then bus home - but that's hard core).   For that reason I did not classify it as cheap.    For most people a ski trip costs more than $200 per day, involving transportation, hotel, equipment rental and a lift ticket.   But if you are not alone, you can split a lot of the costs, it's not per person.

It's very different if you live within 40 miles of a ski resort.  Then you can buy a season pass, buy your own skis, and sleep at home instead of a hotel.  Then it becomes a very affordable hobby, which explains why so many Olympic skiers come from locations that are famous for skiing - they have done it since grade school, even if they grew up poor.

Nor is skiing easy to do - expect to take lots of lessons (again, expensive), and it is definitely a work out, particularly if you go fast.   

It's split fairly evenly down the middle, with lots of men and women.  Kids are welcome, if you can afford it/live near by.  They take them as young as 3.   Many ski resorts offer discounts for older skiers and you see a solid mix of all ages.   But the age limit for the cheap skiing has gone up as skiing became more popular among the wealthy senior citizens.

I grew up skiing at Mt. Snow:
http://www.mountsnow.com/

It's the closest of the really big ski mountains to Manhattan.  It's very crowded during winter weekends (particularly holidays), a lot less so during non-holidays weeks.

But if you live closer to a smaller mountain, consider checking them out.   Especially if you live within an hour of ski resort.  Some people move to be near a ski resort.

Stone Carving $$$ 🎓🎓 💪💪

Lots of people paint or draw - it's easy to pick up a pen/pencil and go for it.  Not many people sculpt - that takes a lot more effort, particularly with stone.  Clay and other mold-able stuff is easy - you can fix your mistakes.   Not so with stone, you cut a piece off, it's gone.

I took lessons in carving stone.  You pick a piece of stone that is slightly bigger in all dimensions than your piece - perhaps something that looks interesting.  Perhaps you make a drawing or two to help you think about what you want.  Then you start chiselling away until it's in the shape you desire.   There are several kinds of chisels - teethed ones that are easier, but leave a rougher surface and smooth ones that leave a smoother surface.  Once you have the right shape, any part that you want smooth requires a lot of sanding.  You start with a rough sandpaper.  Then sand again and again and AGAIN, each time with finer grit.  Finally you cover the thing with wax to shine it up.  Hopefully it will look good.

Note carving stone takes a LONG time.  Much quicker to draw or do some kind of casting (see life casting and metal casting).  It's not a quick afternoon hobby, but more like a month long project - at the minimum.

The main reason it is expensive is the time - even small projects take forever.   This is not easy, but not particularly hard - if you are going for an abstract look. If you want something that looks exactly like an existing object/face/body, then it will be a lot harder to do.  It can be a bit tiring, particularly when you are at the hammer and chisel phase.  But it's not really a work out.

Genderwise it is pretty neutral, the same goes for age.  Kids can do it fine.


I took lessons and bought my materials at "The Complete Sculptor":
http://www.sculpt.com/

Ski Biking $$ 🎓 💪💪

This one is a bit strange.  Take a bike.  Remove the pedals and the gears completely.  Replace the wheels with small skis. Take it to the top of a mountain and get on it.  Put two little skis to strap to your ski boots.  Now go down the mountain, gravity powered - just like nordic skiing.

Ski biking is easier than skiing or snow boarding.  You are sitting down, so you have greater control over your weight shifts (affecting turning) AND you have a steering front ski.  This is much easier than just using your ankles to control turns.

You can't (or rather I can't) do moguls (very bumpy terrain),  nor do you go as fast as regular skiing, but you have a lot more control and it is a lot easier to learn than snow skiing, and a little easier to learn than snow boarding.  It's also involves much less falling on your butt than snow boarding. 

You need to use a ski lift, (and bringing the ski bike on the lift takes some muscle)  so it's priced about the same as skiing - not cheap.   It's significantly less strenuous on the body than skiing, but as I said earlier, you will need some muscles to do it.  Some places let you rent it at the top of the mountain and bring the bike up for you.


More men than women do it, children can do it, and if you are older and can't ski, you might be able to ski bike.   If you are disabled (even missing limbs or partly paralyzed)  then ski biking will be a LOT easier than skiing or snow boarding.

I did it in Breckenridge, lots of places allow it.  Many rent bikes and/or offer lessons.  You can learn more about it (including which mountains allow/rent/teach) here:

http://www.ski-bike.org/

Shoe Making $$$ 🎓🎓 💪

Shoe Making is expensive and time consuming, but not that hard to do.

You start by making a plaster mold of your foot (and leg if you want anything boot like).  Around the plaster mold exterior, you wrap masking tape (two layers, criss-crossing).  Then you draw your design on the masking tape, cut the tape and remove it.   Trace the tape designs on paper, cut the paper out, and once again trace the paper on to leather leaving some extra space for seams.

Then cutting the leather out, you assemble it, with a piece of foam and plastic added to the sole, all held together by a combination of glue and sewing.

The main equipment you need is a good post sewing machine (you need one that can easily work around the shape of the shoe, hence the 'post' version).   Most of the rest is fairly standard - exacto knives, hammers, sanders, something strong enough to cut the sole leather.   You may also need a metal shoe anvil for use with the hammer.  All of it the equipment should be in the class, if you take it.


If you have a good eye and a steady hand, you can make something very pretty and useful.    Sandals are much easier than full shoes - they don't have a full heel or full toe, both of which involve multidimensional curves which require a 'last' and some serious stretching/hammering of the leather.   Note, I do not consider boots to be worth paying more for a special class - the extra material is also the simplest part of the shoe - only one dimensional curve, no sole.  Yes it takes more time and material cost, but you don't really need extra instruction on how to do it.  But heels and lasts on the other hand, are both much more complicated and if you want to learn to make them, it's well worth the extra money.

This class is expensive, but you get a nice custom made to order pair of shoes out of it.  It is not easy to get something perfect, but what you do make is high quality and lasts a long time.  It doesn't take a lot of muscle or stamina - aside from lugging all the gear to and from the workshop.   That can become a lot, as my teacher did not have the storage space to let all the students store.


The classes are fairly even when it comes to gender, perhaps a few more men then women.  It has a good mix of older and younger students.   There is no reason a 10 year old child or a 90 year old can't do this, except for the money.

I took classes from Olivier Rabbath, here:
http://www.howtomakebootsfromyourgarage.com/

Olivier is a nice french man that's been doing it for quite some time.  He's a bit of a character and really knows his stuff.

SNUBA $$ 🎓 💪

No, I didn't misspell it.  SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.  SNUBA stands for Surface Nexus Underwater Breathing Apparatus.   It is a combination of Snorkeling and SCUBA diving.

Take a large bottle of air, just like they use for SCUBA.  But instead of wearing it on your back as you go into the depths, put it on a small float/bloat.  Connect a 20 ft long hose from the air to a mouthpiece.  Put on some flippers, goggles, and the mouthpiece and explore the oceans - or at least the top 20ft of the oceans.

SCUBA (with a C) is expensive, hard, and difficult.  It is expensive not just because of the gear, but because it takes a lot of classes - you have to get certified before you can do it alone.  Not to mention time to learn.  In large part because it is not the safest thing in the world - if you don't pay attention to time, you can unwitting give yourself 'the bends' (especially if you go right from SCUBA to an airplane), risking your health and life. If you have asthma (like me), doctors recommend you do not SCUBA.  So that is not on my list. 

SNUBA does not have that risk.  It is far safer, easier, and less athletic.  Not to mention cheaper - no lessons and certification.   You don't go deep enough to worry about the bends, but you still go deep enough to see glorious fish.   It was good enough for me, so I never felt the need to go SCUBA diving.   

You just need to be able to swim, and at least 8 years old.  Men and women both like to do this.    No real age limit, it's easier to do than walking is.


It's become pretty popular - tourist destination that have multiple places to SCUBA diving should also offer one place with SNUBA.

I did it in the Caribbean, but I forgot where. 

You can find SNUBA online for less than $75, but most places try to charge around $100.   So I gave it $$, rather than $.  Here are a couple of places that have it for less than $75:

Cancun:
http://www.xcaret.com/snuba-arrecife-xcaret-cancun-mexico.php
Hawaii:
https://www.prideofmaui.com/activities/snuba/

Fly an airplane $$ 🎓🎓🎓 💪💪

Flying an airplane is a strange experience.  It combines a sense of power-fullness and power-lessness.   Yes, you have the ability to fly, yes you move faster than you have ever done before. 
But, at least in the small airplanes I was taught in, errant wind push you around like you were a feather.

Don't expect to take off or land on your first flight - those come later (if at all).   But on your first class you can definitely take the 'wheel' of a small aircraft and be in total control of it.

I did it in Texas, and it was a gift, but places in NY area tend to charge more than $100.  If you can get it for $150, that's a good price. While basic control of the plane is easy in air, dealing with an emergency, taking off, and landing all take a significant amount of training.   It takes a bit of muscle, but not a huge amount.

Flying trends male and older.   People over 40 are more likely to have the time and money to spend on this hobby.  You can start as a teenager, but it's rare.  Note, in Alaska, some places need an airplane to get, so it may be more female and younger there.    You can turn this into a job - if you are young and talented at it, particularly in Alaska.

Most small airport should have someone selling lessons of some kind.   Do a google search and you should be able to find it.