<prompt> Human: Ive been working as a software engineer for 10 years. This year Im considering taking a leave of absence for 6 to 12 months. Ill be taking the time to travel, study machine learning, and Augmented reality, and rest!. My salary including benefits 401k matching etc is 105k. My job is okay with me taking that many months off, but there wont be a guarantee that my position will be available when im back. I have a mortgage of 1500, but I have two roommates and that pretty much takes care of it. In addition Ive been doing pretty well with the stock market. Im thinking of focusing on this in the mean time. I have: - 205k on 401k - 87k roth ira - 5k HSA - 20k life insurance investment I know that was a dumb idea. - 500k on stocks - 280k on options. In terms of debt, I have 200k of mortgage left, 39k on a car. No credit card debt. I do have to pay probably 125k worth of tax for this year :. Ive been cashing out my investments to take care of this ASAP. - insurance 150 - Monthly car payments 400 Im I to reckless to take a leave of absence? Did anyone do something similar? I am 34 with no family.  <response>: Take it from a guy who DIDNT do it:Years ago a buddy and I ran into a couple in a bar on the west coast. The couple was from New York, and they were in the final leg of a year-long trip around the world. They had stuffed all of their belongings into a storage unit, quit their jobs, and were surviving on around 1,000 a month as they traveled.This was 5-6 years ago. Every now and then I sit and stare out my window and wonder what if. My life isnt bad, I love my job and my family. My wife and I always talked about slumming around Europe, but then she got pregnant, and it never happened for us...and that was almost 20 years ago.Can you afford to do it? Looks like it. Take it from an old guy - you will only get one shot at this. Make it count. 