Earlier quoted context omitted.
In retrospect, I'm making the mistake of generalising my experience with the UK system. I guess things are different elsewhere. To clarify, you had "one" of what? :)
Master’s. More than one PhD would be…interesting (although the only person I ever met who did was from the UK)
I still had some restrictions (e.g. I had to publish on the schedule determined by publication deadlines, even if I wasn't quite ready) but even so, the freedom I enjoyed just doesn't compare to any kind of job I had before.
I studied AI and I think it would go great with entomology. A double PhD in AI and entomology, maybe with a third one in robotics... At the very least that would give me a unique background, now wouldn't it?
Ah, but ars longa, vita brevis...