I am a linux administrator/software developer. I left IT in 2016, went back to school nearly got a PhD in History before returning to IT in 2022. I enjoy being a Linux admin and missed that, but I also missed the income that I can get in IT. If I started right out of High School I could have probably made History work over the long haul, but starting later in life I just couldn't afford the deep cuts it entails.
I applied a while back. Made it through months of tests, interviews, all the way to an interview with Mark Shuttleworth. I respect what he has built, but the interview only really focused on what I had done in high school. I graduated 36 years ago - I just don't see the relevance. I am glad he passed on me given all the news coming out since.
I left after over 25 years. I love programming and love working with Linux, but the jobs always came down to "help us steal peoples personal information so we can slam them with spam for products the neither want or need." It was unfulfilling. I went back to school and got an MA in history. I teach humanities though I still teach a couple of programming classes. I miss it a little. I would go back in a heartbeat for the right position, but I am through getting mauled in tech interviews which turned into combat trivial pursuit. I love technology and I still create applications mostly for myself or to help automate my school. I get new ideas from HN.
I just recently went on a vacation that included two 14 hour days of travel. I setup a Raspberry Pi as a Wifi hotspot for the car, added a 128GB USB thumb drive, loaded it up with movies, attached it to a 20,000mAh battery pack. My wife and son were able to watch movies on their iPads using the VLC iOS app for the whole trip.