I second the trip advice. Do it on the cheap too (backpacking / developing nations) in order to stretch your budget and therefore time off. Take your laptop and

I second the trip advice. Do it on the cheap too (backpacking / developing nations) in order to stretch your budget and therefore time off. Take your laptop and spend a set number of hours everyday learning / working on the tech stuff you want. Relax the rest of the time and get the creative juices flowing.