Welcome :)
I know what you mean about maybe feeling that you have missed the boat with BTC & LTC, especially regarding mining. However Feathercoin is a brilliant place to start.
One word of warning though … I am no expert but it is not recommended that you mine using a laptop. Ask some of the others in the mining section for more detailed help.
Personally I just purchase my coins. It is still fun to save up, especially while they are sooo cheap. you can spend them in the marketplace too & at an ever increasing amount of other places …
:)