A good friend of mine's dad (who was like a father to me) homebrewed back in the 90's, right when I was in college and just getting into craft beer. There was also a local brew-on-premises place in the early 2000's that I went to a few times. So homebrewing was always on my radar, but I never actually picked it up.
A few years back another friend of mine started homebrewing with his wife. That really lit the fire for me. I sat in on a brewday, saw how easy it was, and decided to jump in. It was also right after my son was born, and I was looking for a new hobby that I could do at home, so it was just the right timing (finally). My wife got me a kit for Christmas that year, and I found this forum before I even brewed my first batch.
Even though there were a few other times where I almost picked up the hobby, I'm actually glad it happened a bit later. Homebrewing has really come a long way in recent years. Within a few months I was brewing beers that I was really happy with. Back in my younger years, I don't know if I would have stuck with the hobby that long. Especially if my beers were so-so, while there was a ton of good craft beers that I had easy access to. Right now, it's the perfect hobby for my current situation and I make beer that is just as good (if not better) than a lot of the breweries that are flooding the market right now.