Anonymous wrote:Birders are very chill, unless you’re at the very top and going it professionally (yes, that’s a thing, there are book writers and bloggers and tour leaders). Many people like birding in groups because with the crowd-sourcing you’re more likely to see or hear birds, and get opinions on ids. They tend to be older, though, because really good binoculars and a scope can get expensive, plus travel if you really get into it.

I could get into this. I love spotting animals in the wild. Not just birds. Love the travel aspect too. I wonder if birders keep logs or photos of what they've seen that would be an interesting thing to start.

^^adults who are into Disney generally have no taste and don’t read much. It all depends what you yourself are into!!

Anonymous wrote:I'll never understand it as a hobby, but Disney fans are usually super sweet people.

I disagree. All of the Disney enthusiasts I know are all very type A and very tightly wound.

+1 to the shooting clubs. Very welcoming people and a very diverse group.

I'll never understand it as a hobby, but Disney fans are usually super sweet people.

Shooting clubs. Diverse and inclusive.

Hiking...try wanderbirds.
Also my husband dragon boats and that's a fun, nice, diverse group.

I volunteer a lot and that's been a good way to meet kind, accepting people.

Anonymous wrote:Church people are nice.

Yes.


Volleyball too

Hiking. Something about all that fresh air and sunshine makes hikers so darn pleasant and kind.

I rowed in college and still keep up in the community. It’s small enough that if you are in it for a while, every boat you are in is going to have at least one person who knows someone you know, and it’s large enough that just about any medium to large city is going to have a club somewhere. But I have met so many interesting people through rowing. Most of the adult team is usually young men and women who just finished college, and it’s nice to hang out with young people. There are certainly some older people as well, and many get really into it as they become empty nesters or approach retirement. There are a ton of doctors for whatever reason. Almost no lawyers . I will say that for that reason, we meet at 4:30am so surgeons can get off the water and into the operating room by 7am.

It does take some investment of time and money to learn, but it’s worth it!

Anonymous wrote:Fanfiction, cosplay, and LARP have been really warm and welcoming in my experience. I had a miscarriage, a medically fragile newborn, and a divorce during a 30 month period in which I didn’t even participate in the activity and people still supported me.

+1 my DH doesn't have time to write fanfic anymore but he made some amazing friends while he did. Nerds are the best!!

Fanfiction, cosplay, and LARP have been really warm and welcoming in my experience. I had a miscarriage, a medically fragile newborn, and a divorce during a 30 month period in which I didn’t even participate in the activity and people still supported me.

Anonymous wrote:Watch out for the knitters. I know a gossipy and mean spirited knitter who likes to start dramas. She is in a knitting club, so it's not all sugar and sunshine. Of course she preys on nice people so maybe everyone else is nice.

I have always met nice people doing volunteer work.

+1 to being careful about making assumptions about knitters. My mom— 70+ yrs old in a small Southern town— left her knitting group in tears a few times before she quit going entirely. It was like middle school all over again.

Hikers
Agree bikers are not (very agressive)
Agree birders are
Agree wilson swimmers are not, takoma swimmers maybe. Not even the old ladies at Wilson are friendly, they have attitude too!

I can see knitters being nice and mellow and inclusive. Yes, they carry those sharp weapons but they channel them into fuzzy stuff they hold on their laps. They can't get too obsessed or argumentative or they'll drop stitches (my mom make socks, mittens, hats, sweater vests when I was a 60s kid and did she ever yell when we distracted her stitch and row counting, although we all --3 boys and me--learned to knit--we knitted marble bags!). Knitting is also relaxing and you can't ingest a lot of other stuff because your hands are busy.

Anonymous wrote:Bollywood Karaoke enthusiasts. Truely. And the food is always great.

That sounds amazing.