[brandall10]

About 15 years ago I noticed most devs w/ an online presence invariably had a side hobby they were quite passionate about - more often than not it was photography w/ thousands of photos on Flikr, esp. for those who spoke at conferences and traveled a bit.

Found some article discussing the phenomena of those engaged in knowledge work having a hobby like this, acting as a relief valve when things get too intense - whether up-skilling in knowledge or pushing through a slog of a project, or perhaps they're in a somewhat Kafkaesque situation in regards to political structures at work/academia to avoid burnout situations.