A number of years ago, the finest dev I personally know hit peak burnout. He quit his job, went to truck driving school, and became a long-haul truck driver.
He did that for five years or so, and is now a dev again.
He said that it was a great decision. The work was different enough that it let the dev parts of his mind rest, but had enough similarities that it stayed interesting enough for a while.
He also said that he was completely surprised by how many truck drivers he met who used to be devs. I'm not sure if that speaks to software development or truck driving, but there seems to be an overlap there.
In any case, I do think that a viable option to being unemployed is to take up a job that exercises different muscles than your current position does for a while. It worked for one person, anyway.
He did that for five years or so, and is now a dev again.
He said that it was a great decision. The work was different enough that it let the dev parts of his mind rest, but had enough similarities that it stayed interesting enough for a while.
He also said that he was completely surprised by how many truck drivers he met who used to be devs. I'm not sure if that speaks to software development or truck driving, but there seems to be an overlap there.
In any case, I do think that a viable option to being unemployed is to take up a job that exercises different muscles than your current position does for a while. It worked for one person, anyway.