Yes, though I'm not awaiting retirement to take those long tours. At age 29, I took a six week tour. At age 34, I took off for 3 months. At age 38, I took off for 12 months. At age 44, I took off for 10 months. The next likely mark on the wall is when I'm 50 and I'm already dreaming and scheming of different possibilities somewhere between 6 and 24 months (depends a little what my employer says - if I can get a LOA it might be 6 months; if I can't then I'll quit and find another job on my return). In total, I'm thinking of spending 8 of the next 18 years working and the other 10 on vacation.

So, while I enjoy my work and get a lot of satisfaction from it, I'm not expecting a single model where I only work for a set number of years and then retire and don't work again. Instead, I've been taking some longer breaks along the way. I feel fortunate enough to have had some circumstances that have helped: being in a profession that has paid fine and being good at what I do, as well as being flexible enough to have moved across the US for different jobs. I've also been quite frugal in spending below my means and thus been able to take those longer breaks.