Peter Pan syndrome wrote:
He did it because it was “rad”.
His life is not uncommon, there are lots of guys like him, his type, you see it all the time with ski bums, surfers, climbers, etc. It’s a very selfish way of living, which is fine, it’s their life, but as the person ages it becomes increasingly sad; a refusal to grow up. A lot of them try to tie in their outdoor hobby with some sort of spiritualism - a connection to the outdoors/mountains/ocean whatever - which makes it more sad. Although, I know that I, and I think a lot of people, have a soft spot for these sorts of people. My favorite person of this type was the “Grizzly Man”. The documentary about him was fantastic.
But, if you look at some of these people and the contributions that they make are much greater than if they had just been office workers, even if in the end they didn't make or save much money.
The climber Fred Beckey is an example. If I recall correctly, he slept on couches and relied on friends. Especially toward the end of his life. He didn't have children and he didn't marry. But he made his mark with his first ascents and his books.
If they can inspire people with their athletic talent, then maybe being a Beckey, Honnold, Steck, or Kupricka isn't as selfish as you might think. But it won't work out that way for most of these people, for sure.