Building and Learning
If you want a hands-on experience, you can actually build your own radio from a kit. There's nothing like the knowledge that you are talking around the world on something you actually built by hand. If that's a bit ambitious for your time budget, designing and building antennas is a favorite activity for radio amateurs. Software helps you design the antenna of your dreams, and then you actually get to hear the results when you've hoisted it into the air. Sometimes, the oddest-looking antenna works the best, so this is a great avenue for someone with a fertile mind!