I did this last year by accident, after a layoff from a high intensity but failing startup. Easily one of the most productive, eye opening, bucket list kicking experiences of my life. I ended up doing 6 months, traveling, starting a company, got CELTA certified, met a woman who turned my perspective on dating upsidedown, and generally was much happier.

Oddly though, all of my personal coding projects went almost immediately into the bin. I didn't have the motivation to push them when I was employed and lost all motivation when I didn't touch the field on a daily basis.