For me, it's about safety.

I live in an area [0] prone to severe weather and especially violent tornadoes. The local Skywarn [1] repeater is probably the best source of immediate first-hand information when things get bad. There's usually at least a few storm chasers out following the storms, and reports from various places in the area help you get a real feel for how bad a particular storm is.

Moreover, the repeater is monitored by all of the local TV and radio stations as well as the city EMA (Emergency Management) and the local National Weather Service office. So you're basically getting first-hand information directly from the source. I always have my radio on during severe weather and keep one in my truck as well.

It's not difficult to get a license, either. A reasonably intelligent person can self-study for the technician exam in about a week and you can get a decent handheld for less than $100.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Alley

[1] https://www.weather.gov/SKYWARN

I enjoyed using a $20 rtlsdr dongle to listen to phone calls on the iridium satellite phone network using a window pointed antenna made out of scrap wire, a stick of balsa, and a milk bucket, http://erewhon.superkuh.com/milk-bucket-1626MHz-helicone.jpg The https://github.com/muccc/iridium-toolkit made it easy.

It's not an amateur mode but is something you can do as an amateur. And it's actually easier than decoding weather satellite images.

I lost a fuel line in a place with no cell reception. It was pretty cool to sit back and wait for help after calling on my ham radio. Yeah, not as cool as satellites, but it can be a very useful hobby, even on a budget.

Also, from areas without cell service, sending a text message from a radio to a phone is pretty cool. Even the teenagers were impressed with "old man" technology.

No affiliation, but check out hamstudy.org

Ham radio has something for everyone, there are many hobbies within the hobby!

For me personally it is Morse code on the shortwave frequency bands, often with very low power, with battery driven gear operated from the nature. Morse is still very much alive and - most of all - fun. I like to compare it to playing and listening to music.

There are many active mountaineers (https://www.sota.org.uk/) and nature lovers (https://wwff.co/) who take their radios with them and have fun "activating" summits or nature reserves, and on the other side there are many guys hunting/collecting these activations.

There is a great feeling of community between those pursuing similar goals and many life long friendships have been formed through ham radio.

As I said, this is only a tiny fraction of what ham radio is all about, but the one that I personally love.

For me it’s really cool just to be able to speak with someone halfway around the world with no infrastructure other than your radios.

Contesting. See how many contacts you can make in a certain time. Compare your score with friends and rivals. Improve your station. Does it help your score improve?

Satellite grid chasing - using amateur satellites to contact every “grid square” in the country.

There are also awards. Some are easy to obtain (confirmed contact on any band with 100 countries), but can you work the world on just one band?

Don’t like talking? Digital modes eliminate pesky talking.

Want to learn to solder? Make your own antenna. Make it better. Make it bigger.

Have friends nearby with radios? Use your radios as direction finding equipment and have a “fox hunt”. Find the hidden transmitter!

Are you an insane conspiracy theorist who believes the covid vaccine will turn you gay, blind, and autistic? Boy do I have good news for you. 75m band is chock full of yokels, Magas, and covidiot gun nuts for you to trade insane rantings with.

Should I keep going?

Shortly after I got my general license, I set up a ZS6BKW antenna up in some trees in my yard, made from wire from Home Depot and some ladder line from my local ham store. One of my first contacts on WSPR was a research station in Antarctica, all the way from Colorado! Just with some hobbled together wire in trees. That got me hooked for sure.

you can decode satellite images as they cross overhead you with a cheap handheld or $20 sdr (https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-receiving-noaa-weat...)

i personally do a lot of digital mode stuff with really low power (<1 watt), with a small antenna inside an apartment and sometimes get really far contacts (relatively speaking for my setup) on things like WSPR

No one's mentioned it yet but if you do find a numbers station they are rather cool, although they are increasingly rare.

Maybe it is obvious, but apart from the equipment you need to pass the exam and get a license.