I strongly considered grad school and academia. My conclusion was similar to yours. It seemed that everyone there was extremely enthusiastic about their work and loved the environment. I decided I likely did not have the amount of passion required to enjoy being paid a low wage for years for a small chance at a small number of available positions. I think it’s a rough path if you don’t absolutely love what you’re working on.
Grad school is one of those things you have to do for the love of the game
Like the author of this piece, I also opted out of pursuing an academic career, for various reasons.
I regularly get asked about whether it was "worth it" for me to get my PhD.
Honestly, I have very mixed feelings on my time in grad school.
I was in school for 6 years, from the ages of 26-32. I can't say I regret it. While I was in school I was dealing with some difficult medical issues and the flexibility of my program gave me the space to heal. However, because of those issues,. I was not a very competitive student. And by the time I defended, I just wanted to put that period of my life behind me.
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Academia is basically a high-prestige pyramid scheme. You know the scam of "we'll pay you in exposure" to get artists to do work for you for free? That is basically how academic fields function: we'll pay you in prestige!
On the other hand, you do get to work with people who genuinely love what they are doing. It is fun to be around people who are not just in it for a pay check.