<prompt> Human: Hi all, 28M here, living in Boston, MA. While I have been very fortunate to land a well-paying job out of college, one of the major downsides is that there are no travel opportunities, which clashes with my life-long goal of backpacking abroad for 3-4 months.Ive taken plenty of 2-week vacations here and there, but have never studied abroad in school, never lived outside of the US, and never gotten outside of my comfort zone for an extended period of time in an unfamiliar place before - something I have always dreamed of.My urge to travel has gotten so pervasive, and my superiors at work at such a loss for what to do about it theres not much travel opportunity at my firm, that I have finally made the difficult mental decision to quit next month. My job in general treats me VERY well aside from the travel aspect- great benefits, work-at-home flexibility, a family atmosphere, and a low-stress environment. They make sure I have everything I need, and are known for treating their employees extremely well. If I was 50 with kids, Id stay at my job in a heartbeat. Being 28 and still in my first job out of college, I want to try new things, see if theres something better out there, and possibly find a programming job outside of the finance industry.MY DETAILS:Job: Software engineer at an investment management firmSalary bonus: 130kSavings: 50k401k: 146kIRA: 10k Debt: 0Current savings rate: 60I am usually pretty financially literate thanks to rpersonalfinance!, and as a result have really been upping my savings this past year. I know that I can get by on 2000 month 1250 of which is toward rent utilities - pretty average for the area.THE PROBLEM:I majored in Mechanical Engineering in undergrad, and stopped there. I landed my programming job by accident, and want to keep programming though NOT in the financial services industry, but other than 6 years industry experience, am sad to say I have absolutely no accreditations to speak of. If I travel for 3-4 months, Im worried it will be tough to land a programming job again - people always say that interviewing negotiating is easier when you already have a job, but given the length of my desired trip, I dont think that interviewing now is really an option for me. Taking the risk of leaving what might be the nicest job Ill ever have is worth it to me, if I can get in some good life experience travelling and perhaps land a similar job afterward, even if its not as posh. And I know Ill regret not travelling while Im young.Am I making a smart life decision? Is there anything I could be doing differently? In general, do people see anything hugely wrong with my strategy, or have any tips on how I could best poise myself for not ruining my chances at winning in life?Thanks in advance Reddit - you are so great!!!  <response>: I would ask for a 2-3 month leave, instead of quitting. That way they still get a valuable employee back instead of having to hire someone new. And you still have a job. 