I have a friend who dropped his career to go be an emergency medical tech / wilderness firefighter for about six years. He was/is a top operations guy, network guru, Plan 9 contributor, etc. etc.
Recently he got a bit tired of the firefighting life. Workplace politics mostly, believe it or not. Also, an interesting contrast: in the tech world, you can advance as fast as you can learn things. Not so in the firefighting world, where it takes years to convince others of your skills and to lobby for a good position on an elite team.
So he jumped back into the startup world and he's doing great. What he doesn't have in recent social contacts he more than makes up for in fundamental skills.
So, just a data point - it is possible to leave technology behind for a little while without ill effects, especially if you have deeper skills. If you're only good at the latest web framework du jour it's probably more of a gamble.
Recently he got a bit tired of the firefighting life. Workplace politics mostly, believe it or not. Also, an interesting contrast: in the tech world, you can advance as fast as you can learn things. Not so in the firefighting world, where it takes years to convince others of your skills and to lobby for a good position on an elite team.
So he jumped back into the startup world and he's doing great. What he doesn't have in recent social contacts he more than makes up for in fundamental skills.
So, just a data point - it is possible to leave technology behind for a little while without ill effects, especially if you have deeper skills. If you're only good at the latest web framework du jour it's probably more of a gamble.