Hard to get away from it totally though
I formally left the tech development world 20 years back, but stayed in the corporate sector, the investment sector, for 8 years. But I always found that my tech skills were of value, could always be leveraged, and I ended up refreshing my skill set every 4 years, over a 4-5 month period each time. That actually turns out to be in sync with tech development phases where a new generation of tools and frameworks rolls out.
For the past 12 years, left the corporate world too, returned to India to a remote forested community, set up an outreach organization to deliver essential social services to poor households. Services include microfinance, microenterprises, primary health and education. Lo & behold, tech is needed for all of these, can make a super difference in service offerings and operating efficiencies. So had to go back to self-study again, were among the first to apply enterprise-wide Linux on netbooks, building apps on tablets and smartphones for health and other services - its unbelievable how the internet has changed the world. Sitting on a remote dusty field a zillion miles away from any city, I am probably as up to date on mobile technologies than people who work right across the street from Google. Go figure!
I left tech originally because it was too interesting, just ruins your social life. I can't wait to get away again.
