Lets hear some stories. Why did you do it? What did you do? Would you do it again?<p>Call it a quarter-life crisis and almost being 30, but I'm currently looking at my ability to take ~1 year off. I'm not terribly happy at work and before I buy a house and settle in for the next 30 years, this could make sense. Worst case scenario, I take a 30% pay cut in 1.5 years. Best case, I start a business or learn new skills or god forbid, relax.
I did this, taking off from February through August 2001.<p>Taking a sabbatical destroyed my professional career but probably saved my life.<p>If you do it make sure you have a rough plan of what you hope to accomplish during the sabbatical, and figure out what you're going to do for work at the end of the sabbatical, before you start it.