You're right. I've found that taking long periods of time off from working makes it harder to get back into the grind. Not only do you not WANT to go back, but employers figure you're probably some sort of free thinker or other undesirable. If you want to take long bicycle tours or just have adventures but still be able to buy a house and have 2.3 kids, etc. then your only hope is to be really, really good at what you do and have an occupation where you are in high demand. That way you can take off for 6 months, come back, and start working again and make lots of money. Good luck. I couldn't figure it out so I let my engineering career die and now I make poverty level wages working in a bike shop in a ridiculously expensive city. On the plus side, I can take off lots of time without pay to tour or whatever and I get to be around bikes instead of computers. It's all about priorities.