If you suddenly developed a severe allergy to keyboards, spreadsheets, and Google Analytics, what would you do? What’s your non-software dream?
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When I’m tired of intangible stuff that are computer programs, I’ll surely get into woodworking. Now that you can touch.
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A little pub with a stage where folks with guitars and small indie bands come and play in the evenings. I’ll be happy to sit at the back corner table for the rest of my life.
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Someone already said woodworking (which is a distinct possiblity for me) so I’ll go with my other one: food. I’ve toyed on and off with adding caffeine to things it’s not normally in. If I couldn’t touch a keyboard ever again, I’d probably try selling such things.
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Very nice. I’d accelerate my “retirement” plan of growing grapes in western Colorado’s wine country. Or running a demolition company… I just love watching those machines.
I’ll definitely be hanging out at @andrey’s pub.
I used to play in bands, skateboard, and draw and paint and stuff like that. I don’t do any of that stuff anymore.
My intention/hope is to “retire” by age 40 so I can so those kinds of things plus whatever else I feel like doing.
I’d also like to do more studying of things like math, philosophy, history, science, engineering, etc. just because I find that stuff interesting. And try to somehow help humans to stop destroying the environment somehow, although I’m not exactly sure what form that might take. I would also like to play Legos more, and I’d like to do a coast-to-coast bicycle tour.
So I have a bunch of various crap that I plan to do once I have the whole income problem taken care of. If I had to pick just one, it would definitely be music.
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I’d like to spend some time on a boat just going around South Pacific islands and surf/dive/swim etc.
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Probably something in the fitness space. I keep thinking about doing Personal Training qualifications anyway, I could lead nerd-fitness sessions at tech conferences 
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I’d love to build green homes.
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I would live on the golf course. My wife would see less of me than now!
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I don’t really have any desire to do another job. I just spent an exhausting month creating an MVP for a new product (more details to follow!) and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I would like to travel more. I have a vague dream that I would like to travel the world, staying with various mISVs and helping them with their marketing/usability etc in return for accomodation. A bit like Erdos, the eccentric itinterant mathematician. I think that would be a fascinating and non-touristy way to see the world. Its not really practical while I have a son at school though. Maybe one day…
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I also have a pipe dream about setting up a small charity in the 3rd world (where money goes a lot further) with local staff, supporting it financially and spending a month or two a year there helping out. Preferably somewhere with a nice climate! But thought of dealing with all the red tape and issues that go with it (e.g. government corruption) and running something like that from another country is pretty daunting. If anyone knows someone who has done that, I would be interested to hear about it.
Of course, there are lots of wonderful charities doing great work already. But you never get to see the results from of any money you give to them.
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I think doing something as a hobby/entertainment and doing it as a business are very different things. Just as hobby programming is very different from running a software product business.
My grandfather always wanted to run a pub. But it was much tougher than he expected. Long hours of cleaning, stock taking, book keeping etc. Nothing like sitting in a pub as a customer. So he quit it after a few years. On the plus side, my parents first met in that pub. ;0)
A recent hobby of mine has been aquariums and keeping corals/fish.
So a non-software dream would be something in that industry. Whether opening a store or doing some sort of wholesale import/export of livestock.
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You should come to Cape Town sometime. South Africa is in a lot of places a 3rd world country with a 1st world infrastructure. I’ve got a bunch of projects on the go here that you could make a massive impact on in a short time I’m sure. Perhaps wrapped into a visit to speak next year at http://scaleconf.org/ which I help organise… let’s talk 
My non-software dream is to learn to fly and do disaster relief work across the continent. These days I’d also want to come equipped with a bunch of drones that we could then use for mapping the problem areas in more detail.
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This is more of a long term goal for me at present. Currently I am very busy with PerfectTablePlan, a new product, consulting, training, blogging, Code Club etc, as well as trying to have a non-work life. But I would be interested to hear more.
One of my someday/maybe ideas was to start a nightclub… and suddenly that’s actually happening. I always imagined it’d be a goth/industrial/metal night like JWZ’s at Death Guild / DNA Lounge, but instead it’s a Eurovision nightclub in Perth, Australia (obviously). Our first night is going to be in mid-November, and if it’s successful it might become semi-regular. So far it’s turned out to be easier & more affordable than expected, but I’m sure that’s famous last words…
I’d also like to record an album at the studio where Achtung Baby was made (Hansa Studios in Berlin). I got to tour the studios last year, and while I can’t afford it yet, it’s cheaper to record there than I thought. I’m not a very good musician, but if Andrew Mason from Groupon can make an album…
I’d also like to become a Kiva Fellow one day, but until I’m ready for that I’m still an active member on Kiva. It’s still my favorite charitable organization.
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@syneryder I’d love to hear more about your experience starting the nightclub. Maybe you can put up a thread post or a blog post about it? Non-software, physical businesses fascinate me.