Take a SABBATICAL

After you've mentally committed to taking time off,
1.Think about what you really want to do, and why. Do you want to volunteer in Haiti? Learn Italian? Climb Mt. Everest? Without thinking through your 'why,' you can easily take six months off and end up back in the same unsatisfying place.
2.Begin putting your plan into action: start an automatic savings plan, choose a departure date and a length of time, and book it on all of your calendars. Then tell a handful of people about your sabbatical plans, so that they can both help you plan and make sure you follow through with your decision.
3.Figure out your employment situation. If you want to return to your current job after you leave, make sure your company values you highly. As well update your resume before you leave, because six months or a year after leaving you're not going to remember what you did.
4.Start saving as soon as possible.
5.Develop a plan for covering your responsibilities when you're gone. Give someone at home access to your bank account so they can help you transfer funds if necessary. Pay your bills online, and use Skype or prepaid calling cards to call home.
6.Don't let the uncertainty of a sabbatical stop you from taking one. The best sabbaticals are taken with a dose of faith. Learn to trust that things will work out. They almost always do, and there's no return on thinking otherwise.
Source: forbes.com