I think it’s a shame that a lot of bright kids go for “desk jobs” simply because that’s what’s expected of them. Dropping out of high school sounds pretty extreme though, hope it never came back to haunt him.
I don’t think he ever found anything he wanted bad enough to be worth furthering his schooling. He did get a GED when he dropped out because he knew he’d need it to get work but that was it.
He probably would have made a good hermit, not a risk taker really but always lived life on the edge.