I wish I could do Kerouac-y shit. Having to have a job sucks ass, and it is ultimately what makes life terrible. I am an individual that actively avoids responsibilities, which is fine in regards to most things, but *everybody* has to have a job. It's like an arranged fucking marriage. Once you have a job, you have no free time. There may be the illusion of free time, but that time is instead used to either consciously or unconsciously remotivate yourself to get through another couple of days of workin' for the man. King for a day, whore for a week.
high end photography is good, but a little frustrating. You also have to be super good about taking care of your equipment. Then you get into an equipment arms race with your friends! (well, not really)
Actually, I was surprised by how durable some of the equipment is. I mean, I'm always careful with telephoto lenses that have a lot of glass in them, since they would be most likely to need professional recalibration, but SLRs above the entry level are really solidly built. I can probably smack a bitch in the face with my 40D and it would be fine. It's only "fragile" when you're changing lenses, and dust can get in, but that's easily avoidable, too.