I too started with slackware but I never mastered it. I moved back and forth between windows and Linux eventually settling into debian. I tried different distros and just never loved them. After a while of using Debian I tried redhat. I liked the ecosystem and have been on it for years. I still use Debian for servers without a wm.
I only reboot when I want to as well. Usually about once every 2 weeks. I check for updates and then reboot to update the kernel.