You saw my original spiel about going to work to exchange labor for money? I don’t go to work to find excitement. I go to work to provide food and shelter.

My excitement during the first decade of my career came from my working hobby as a fitness instructor and running with friends. In less than a month my “excitement” is going to come from my wife and I living out of two suitcases flying across the country staying in mid tier hotels for a few years.

I could spend my free time learning a new programming language. But I am finding it much more “exciting” learning Spanish so when we stay in Mexico for a few weeks, I can at least be able to communicate somewhat.

If you want a job you can easily switch for an equivalent job, which seemed to be your pitch for using a boring language, then that job is at best going to be a 9-5, which will take up something like half your waking life (at least for the decades when you're the most healthy). I'm a big believer in life and hobbies outside of work (and when I want to learn a new programming language, I look for a way to do it on the clock), but an engaging, interesting job that pays less is often a very worthwhile tradeoff.

I just left a job two years ago that literally paid $100K less than I make now. I am a lot more engaged now…

Not bragging, it’s about what a mid level developer makes at most of the large tech companies.

I definitely couldn’t have afforded my current adventure at my old job nor could I have afforded to retire my wife.

I went the other direction. Took a job that paid half as much as my previous one, but it's interesting work, and I'm a lot happier. Grass is always greener I guess.