Ask HN: Have you ever taken a 6-month to 1 yr break anytime during your career?

I have been working in the software field 20+ years. During all this time, I have never really taken a long break. I have thought about it a lot recently, and feel that stepping away from a 9-to-5 grind for some time (with the intent of getting back) would be helpful for the following reasons: 1) Exploring tech you are interested in on your own schedule. If you are exploring something deep, I feel like its very beneficial to set your own pace and schedule. 2) Having a free mind might allow some ideas to emerge that you can refine and work on. And maybe set a track for a new job when you get back.

My aim with this question here is not to solicit suggestions on whether a break is good or not career-wise. I am also not concerned about employers seeing a gap in my resume, since I feel I would not do well anyway with employers who raise it as a red flag, and I would avoid them.

I am just trying to get an idea of what you did during a break like that, and whether you thought it was worth it, or if it helped you in some way when you got back to the grind. I would be more interested if your activity during the break was somehow related to tech, as that's what I am aiming to do. I am aware that traveling and unplugging/digital detoxing and all are excellent options - just not something I have in mind for this iteration :)

Thanks in advance!