When I was active in 70s and 80s, I did everything. Talk late into night, wake up middle of the night to work US stations (from Japan), home brew, rig updates, antennas, etc, etc, etc,. I used to build new antennas or new something every weekend. When I came to US, I was shocked with abundance and price of surplus business radios. Convert high VHF radio for 2 meter band and hit repeaters, joined club, etc, etc, etc.
After initial excitement of talking to far away people faded, technical side of amateur radio stuck. These days, I buy 70s and 80s dream radio and refurbish. I don't even put it on the air. FR101D is my favorite, then 101, then 820, etc, etc, etc.... All for far less than price of one new radio. Then I got into time-nutting, test equipment collecting, etc, etc, etc.... I have a home lab my friend nicknamed WWII bunker. It's full of 80s and 90s HP and Tektronics, again pennies on the dollar.
While I may no longer quality for an active "ham", the spirit of ham lives on. Curiosity, experiment, and passion for knowledge. Being on the air is just one aspect of ham, as far as I'm concerned. In that sense, I'm very much alive. Microphones and keys are not even plugged in.