Yeah, I have a few family friends who are pilots, and when I was younger I used to be able to right seat for free. I'm still to get my license as my logged hours are under the required minimum (if I'd logged all of my hours, I'd probably be more experienced than my instructor, who looks not a day older than I

) and working a fair bit like I had to to pay for it earlier isn't as viable as I thought it would be in my final years of school.
As an alternative to powered flying, gliding is also very, very good. I've been recommended it by all the ex-Air Force blokes I've talked to, as it's a cheaper and easier way of getting really good stick/rudder coordination, good lookout, and attitude flying ability in a few hours. And on top of that, it's one of the simpler and cheaper ways to unwind.
But yeah, I agree, a nice trial intro flight is a good use of your time, if anyone's interested.