In 2003, I founds myself in almost the same place. I made a huge change in my life, and it worked out really well for me. Make sure you really want to move somewhere else and change your life, though - getting a new job with 6 weeks of vacation a year is not going to be easy.
So, I'll tell you the medium-long version of my story, but YMMV, of course.
I had an OK IT job, making OK money, with OK vacation/time off. But, things on the job had changed, the career path had taken a wrong turn in the startup crash in 2000 and I found myself doing production work when I wanted to do development. I wanted to take a sabbatical and try to refresh myself at work since my heart wasn't in it. It was going to be a climbing road trip, and they wouldn't let me take it, even though it was supposed to be part of my compensation package. So I evaluated my options, did a lot of careful math to make sure I wasn't totally screwing up my financial situation, and decided to quit, go on the trip I wanted to do, and then get a new job after the trip.
Meanwhile, I had met and was dating a guy who was also going through a big career change, he had done some bike touring, and we decided to tour together. The relationship didn't make it past the last day of that 2-month tour, but I loved touring. When I got back to real life, I got a job at a bike shop for a little while, then a contact from my old job, who had been layed off and was working with another company, had some temp work for me. I rented a room from my sister and worked. Then that job ended and I toured again. I repeated this pattern for a while, and on one of the tours met a man, who turned out to be The Man for me. Temp work morphed into contract work, The Man and I decided that living in my sister's house and his van wasn't going to work long term, and we found a place to live out here in Boulder.
So now, 8 years since quitting my full time IT job, I have contract work part time, make the same amount of money as I did working full time, own a house, married The Man, and life is good. However, I haven't done any more really long tours for a couple of years - last year I did a 3 week tour (and several 1-week supported tours), the year before a 7 week tour. Even with contract work, I have to be available a reasonable amount or lose the contract, and when I'm not actually working, I'm not getting paid - so it's a balance between goofing off and paying the bills. I didn't have to buy a house, but it seemed like the right time (market, interest rate, comparative rents) but now that I did I do have to keep making money.
All in all, I'm really happy with the choice I made to leave that job and try something new. I learned a lot about myself and what I think is important. I also tested the "grass is always greener" waters, and found that although I love touring and being on the road rock climbing, I actually do get a lot of intellectual satisfaction out of my work, and full time touring wouldn't be any more fulfilling for me than full time work. Also, I found I like having enough income to buy stuff without worrying about it too much - I'm not a very big consumer, but I'm not a total freegan by any means, so having decent income is important to me.
I did make some choices that are questionable financially - I'm fine now but I'm sure not going to retire in luxury, or maybe at all. Part of my decision making process initially was that I had fully accepted that some things need to be done NOW, instead of waiting for a later that might never come - so I'm taking a risk with the retirement, but taking it with my eyes open.
Since you can take sabbaticals, I would recommend you go ahead and do that next year - take the longest sabbatical they will let you and spend the entire time touring, in the same style you would if you didn't have a job to come back to. Then go back to work, let the whole thing settle in your mind for a while, and then make any longer term decisions.
Anyway, hope any of that helps at all. THink it through all the way and be patient with your decision making process, so you are confident you are making a good decision before you leave your job.