Ergo, your problem is motivation. Allow me: I'm going to keep calling you a pussy over and over again until you quit your job. Of course, you won't be able to hear me because I'm in my basement and you're not[1], but trust me, I'll be saying it. Pussypussypussy.

[1]Unless you're my black lab, in which case one of us needs to get the other to the hospital.

"Good morning! Did you work on [side project] yesterday? You're not going to be awesome unless you do!"

Simply being accountable to a mysterious voice on the other end of the telephone every morning might actually motivate a lot of people.

http://lifehacker.com/software/motivation/jerry-seinfelds-pr...

Might sound silly at this point, but I thought there was a serious chance that comment would get down-voted into oblivion. Sure, it's at +64 right now, but what if the OP hadn't responded like he did? Good example of that Derek Sivers guy's "First Follower" principle. I'm not usually a Sivers fan (got nothing against him either) but First Follower is some real-ass shit.

A month after I returned the CTO at my old job contacted me and gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. How about that.

I like a lot of things about the job/company/people. I think I just needed to get that out of my system. Although, I would like to do more trips in the future.

My life has returned to normal in some ways, but I'm much wiser and more mature than before, and also making more (and saving more).

I can't think of any negatives about the experience. Although, yeah, quitting was tough--including all the stuff you need to wrap up (i.e. moving out, into storage, canceling subscriptions, selling car or other stuff you won't need, breaking the news to your parents, etc).

I kept a travel blog, if you want to get inspired: http://bp321.com/travels

And my top 100 photos from the trip (in random order): http://billpaetzke.smugmug.com/Travel/Best-of-Southeast-Asia...

Do it.

I do plan to take a laptop though because my primary goal is to use this as an intense personal study period.

I noticed a few weeks ago that I am always kind of tired after work, and can't do anything really useful. So I decided I'd go to bed early, and then get up at 4am to work on stuff I wanted to work on. Fresh coffee, fresh from sleeping, and not tired from work.

Then around 9, I go to work and have a normal day. I might be a little tired at work, but I'd rather have the awake-and-creative me for myself. I don't get paid enough to give them that.

Or do you stay up later on weekends? Or perhaps you're able to do longer days because it's more meaningful now. How do you manage?

I am sticking with the 4am thing for two reasons. One, I like to ride my bike around 5:30 or 6-ish in the morning because nobody is out running on the trail I like at that time. (Runners are very dangerous.) If I go in the afternoon, I have to skip the trail and use surface streets instead, and a 14 mile ride takes an hour and a half. In the morning, I can do 25 miles in that time. So more exercise, less cars, and better scenery is one incentive to get up.

Another thing is that I have all my meals delivered via some service that does that, and they come at around 4:30 or 5. So I have to get out of bed anyway.

In the end, there is an infinite number of things to do that take time, but only a finite number of hours in a day. So if you are intent on setting a routine, you aren't going to be able to do everything you want. If you are flexible, though, then you might be able to.

For me, I identified, "I am tired after work" and moved things that don't require being non-tired (watching TV and sleeping) to after work. Then I moved everything else to before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/dining/05diet.html

Here in Chicago, I use Organic Life: http://organiclifeonline.com/flash.html.

It's expensive and you don't get a lot of food, but everything is very good for you and I've lost about 8 pounds in 2 weeks. Lots of green vegetables, fiber, and fish. And I get steak and potatoes every so often!

Wouldn't your company notice that and complain? Most software companies I know expect their employees to give 100% effort.

My current job consists mostly of listening to people whine in meetings about a broken system that my team is trying to maintain. No need to be awake for that.

I wish I could go into more detail about this project. But I'll just say I spent a few hours completely rewriting this project, and my version uses no proprietary libraries or protocols, has the ability to scale linearly, and was 200 lines of Perl. The real system is too slow for our users, impossible to scale, dependent on 5-year-old proprietary libraries, and is 100,000 (or so) lines of C#.

Now you know why we charge those $35 overdraft fees.

If it is not automated, the managers usually keep a mental note.

You've inspired me to give it a try sometime though. :)

Midway through, an idea that began as a learner project turned into a startup, 3-6 months turned into 9+, and I'm learning more than I ever have, and about more than just the programming topics I'd planned on.

Meanwhile, I've gone to meetups and startup events (like the Work at a Startup Day), and my personal projects -and my commitment to developing the skills to build them on my own- have been the starting points of lots of conversations with cool people from cool companies, opening doors to opportunities I'd have never had if I'd still been working at a full time gig that my heart wasn't into.

The most important thing for me has been making sure to use my time well. It's easy to squander the time, so it's paramount to have a plan and stick to it. That said, the plan can be pretty flexible since you set the schedule (assuming you don't have dependents limiting that).

My biggest concern is whether I'll be able to go back to a "regular job" after the freedom of working on my own projects on my own schedule. But I'm hoping that I won't have to find out.

Do it!

When my job ended this past February, I booked a ticket to Europe and spent the next four months in "mini apprenticeships" making cheese in France and the UK. I learned to milk goats and sheep, castrated pigs, sheared sheep, and improved my French markedly. There's a lot to be acquired by immersing yourself in a different culture for an extended period of time.

Before I'd left I'd received a lot of remarks claiming I was "sabotaging my career" (or something to that effect) by taking extended leaves to follow my passions. The way I look at it is that I'm doing these things while I'm young and still physically capable of doing it, at a time when I'm not prevented from doing them financially or because I have a family to support.

You could wait to start living the care-free dream when you're 65 and retired...but who knows if you'll even be around then?

These days most tropical beaches have wifi, so you can still do all that boring stuff you listed above. You'll just do it from a laptop while living in a grass hut and eating Thai food every meal. Trust me, it's way better that way, and it's also a lot cheaper than sitting out your sabbatical in your expensive apartment.

Step one is to head down to the bookstore and park yourself in the Travel section. See if you can make it 20 minutes into Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring before you head over to the coffee shop to boot up and book a flight.

Don't worry about your career. It'll still be here when you get back. As others have said, taking six months off often just gives your friends time to find you awesome contract jobs at their companies. Chances are you'll have something lined up before you even leave the beach.

Good luck!

It makes sense on so many levels. You save money, you broaden your horizons, and you shake up your thinking enough to let some new ideas out. I figure when I'm done I will have either put together a much more compelling github resume than I ever would have in an hour or two a night after work and I might even have an idea for my own startup.

You're asking if you're going to have problems finding a technical job after quitting so that you can spend time improving your skills. Are you kidding? I can't even imagine this hurting you career, and I wouldn't be surprised if you end up with unsolicited interviews if you write up what you're doing in some way (whether it's on a blog or via something like github or bitbucket). Sure, there are companies that won't hire you after a sabbatical, but do you really want to work for those sorts of places?

P.S. Good luck (not that you'll need it)!

I spent the last 3 years working at a firm where luckily, the concept of "sabbatical" was accepted and almost encouraged in your third year. I've seen a number of different things that people have done, and given your goals, here are a few ideas that you might find relevant:

- Take a job that you absolutely would never take for the money, but want to do for the experience. Former colleagues of mine have taken eye-opening jobs working for various non-profits all over the world, had the chance to travel, and reboot. The benefit here is you get a chance to think about your career and what you might actually want to do. Take a job at another company that you're interested in, if permitted - If you're going to spend time doing stuff you can do remotely, do it in a foreign country where you can ride the currency exchange and do really cool stuff when you're not working (e.g. buenos aires, china, etc.). Mobility is priceless

  We rest here while we can, but we hear the ocean calling in our dreams
  and we know by the morning, the wind will fill our sails to test the seams
  The calm is on the water and part of us would linger by the shore
  For ships are safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for

And now I'm working as a contractor on a web app for some company called Apple. And am contacted by recruiters virtually every day, even without Apple on my resume.

My experience is that through contracting you can re-establish yourself even after extended time away. The bar is lower because the employer makes no commitment. And its likely you'll make more money in less hours contracting than a salaried job.

It also helps to know a few things that are in demand.

  http://www.deeptherapeutics.com/

The work will be waiting for you when you get back. If you're in an area with active tech gatherings you can show for those and keep up your connections. Nobody worth your time would hassle you over a short break that produces some noteworthy portfolio items(like open source work or a degree).

Instead, we came up with a compromise, I quit my job and start working as a contractor while she continue doing awesome at her job.

The compromise should give me the time and mental energy to find awesomeness.

To really answer your question, my path is easier, I could just find a "safe" job later when things get tough.

To answer the last paragraph, I just love programming so much. After a stressful day at work, I need my Python as bad as I need a cigarette. I don't need a break to seek that mythical awesomeness (My definition of awesome is to finally launch a useful service for real people). I need a break to ran away from those pesky Employee Agreement contract, crappy boss, and mental drain caused by him/her.

My life at home is not different at all nowadays. Just a lot less stress.

PS: Future boss might ask, why there's a gap in your resume? I know my old one would.

You get hired based on what you can do and how you come across in an interview. Taking time off to travel and code will improve both those things.

What happened in that 6 month gap? I built and launched [whatever].com. It's a ... built on ..., and it's cool because of .... Oh, and funny story, while I was building it on the beach in Mozambique, I actually had... [followed by some amazing anecdote about the local village chief coming in give me feedback even though he'd never used a computer]

Trust me, it's a net positive.

On the other hand, if you tell me it's because you really had to see all of Law and Order, that might be another issue.

You're probably burned out. If you use this time to do tech stuff, web surfing or playing video games, you'll be just as burned out at the end only you'll weigh a few pounds more.

My advice instead is to take a real vacation. Go to Thailand for 3 months, then go to Argentina or Brazil for another 3 months. Don't connect to the internet during this time except occasional emails back home to let them know you are alive. If you absolutely must, take your development laptop and work on things, but it's important to be disconnected. Having a laptop means you have to recharge it, find a stable source of electricity, etc. Things will work better without it.

I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with a person happily living with a corporate life. But if you are growingly sick and tired of it, then what's the point? From the sounds of it you do have a pretty successful corporate career, so I doubt it'll be hard for you to jump back into it.

If you are scared of the possibility of failure, fail faster (which reduces your opportunity cost), and fail spectacularly!

Eventually I got bored and got back in the game.

But it was such a good time. Really recharged my batteries and left me in a position to do much more interesting work than when I began.

Just do what seems fun and challenging and see what happens. Good luck!

Alternatively I would learn some new skill, preferably one that will increase my market value at the end of the six months (running your own business is also such a skill, even if you fail).

If you go about it in a more clever way then do what Patrick did and first build up your side line, then quit.

Just in case. That way you don't need to eat up your savings first.

From the description of your current situation I'd say it's worth it to go for it (go do your thing). But I think you already know that :)

Don't you think it's worth it to risk a little, put your neck on the line a little, maybe even put yourself in a bad spot for awhile, for a chance to live like you want to? Life is living, live it and make it.

A TED speaker Stefan Sagmeister makes it part of his career to take a year off every 7 years. I recommend watching this video before making any decisions.

The only issue is that I've had medical work done through employer-provided insurance, which I would lose of course. However, I'd quit after the insurance has paid its share (I've already paid mine). It's a commonplace procedure so I'm not too worried about complications.

I'll probably move back in with the parents to save the cash. It won't be as bold as traveling around the world, but perhaps that is for a later day.

You're not always going to be able to work with people with the exact same culture or skill levels. That is going to happen anytime you work at any place, including your own, where the number of people > 5 (it's my _magic_ number)

So why do people leave companies ? better money and better promotions. If you believe your master's degree will help .. do it (and get the paper) (sometimes they just do it to spend six months in Phuket)

I see you have not really mentioned about being an entrepreneur - maybe I'm reading too much Freud, but you need to think what you want out of the six months you wont be earning.

As long as your skills are valuable to someone you will be able to get a job.

Did you have the savings already saved up?

How much did you this end up costing you financially? What were your expenses like? Where did you stay?

Did you go by yourself (assuming you don't have any dependents)?

If you worked on your startup, did you have the idea before or after you left on your trip? Did you work on it the full time?

I want to do a startup, but I don't have an idea just yet.

And for those that coded on the beach with their laptop, how did you see the screen? I find being outside with a laptop I can't see the screen almost ever.

I see someone posted a link of a blog they kept, does anyone else have a journal of their trip they can share?

You won't make a lot of money, but at least.. you will make money when you need it.. and you will make enough money to survive!

Judging from his confidence (about his income and 6 months savings), Elance income won't cut it. I'd suggest local connections and Craigslist.

I say quit, but give yourself some buffer. There's the real possibility that if you start looking for work in March, it will be August or September 2011 by the time you find something.

Without a doubt. It might take a bit longer for you to find a new groove (or refind your old one) but you'll have no problem eventually getting back in the game.

Obviously a broad statement. you might, perhaps. My experience, though, has been people I've known who had this level of self-awareness and drive for improvement were never held back for very long at anything they set their mind to.

Luckily for me, I asked, well in advance (9 months from my planned start date, give or take), and my company said "sure," which made the whole thing a hell of a lot easier. Not paid of course, but I'll still have a job when I return.

How is anyone else besides yourself supposed to answer this? Only you have true insight into your motivations, skills, desire, and ability to succeed.

There is no cap or limit to what you are able to do (okay, let's set aside physical limitations - not everyone is meant to be a football player or pole vaulter) - there is a soft cap set only by your desire to work hard.

I'm sure you will be just fine after 6 months.

I've had a lot of luck so far in life with this approach: I assume I'll be successful at the thing immediately in front of me and base my plans around what I might do next.

1. Buy a round-trip (6-month) ticket to Delhi or some place that interests you.

2. Buy travel insurance.

3. Pack 1 (one) daypack. No backpack, just a small daypack. 2 pieces of underwear, minimal clothing. 1 small camera. No laptop.

4. Leave.

Besides that, if you think the culture is bad now, it's likely that you'll find similar settings intolerable after 6 months of sabbatical.

No matter how many times this gets asked on HN, the answer will always be 'it depends' and what it depends on is 100% you.

You guys are awesome!

Me? I lost my mom in my late 20s and couldn't work for about two years due to emotional overload. When I was ready, I worried about whether I could get another job. Turned out to be no problem; people readily understood personal tragedy, and were much more interested in what I was bringing to the table than whether I'd had time off.

As Towle_ said, if you have no dependents and won't be forced onto the street due to lack of money: go for it.