You should quit, especially if you don't major obligations (debt, family). In 10 years you'll always regret not having done so. And definitely think you can emerge on the other side just fine- thats largely a function of how you're willing to market what you did. Its a constant fear of people to have to explain gaps in their resume, but recruiters at companies that you'd actually want to work for (e.g. ones that aren't looking for docile employees) won't care about that as much as your drive.

I spent the last 3 years working at a firm where luckily, the concept of "sabbatical" was accepted and almost encouraged in your third year. I've seen a number of different things that people have done, and given your goals, here are a few ideas that you might find relevant:

- Take a job that you absolutely would never take for the money, but want to do for the experience. Former colleagues of mine have taken eye-opening jobs working for various non-profits all over the world, had the chance to travel, and reboot. The benefit here is you get a chance to think about your career and what you might actually want to do. Take a job at another company that you're interested in, if permitted - If you're going to spend time doing stuff you can do remotely, do it in a foreign country where you can ride the currency exchange and do really cool stuff when you're not working (e.g. buenos aires, china, etc.). Mobility is priceless