Having your mind free of the same routine and exploring interesting fields will really make your thinking process more elastic and new ideas will pop up more easily. But depends on why you want to take a long break.
Coming back to work, I found multiple HR compelling or asking more about my two years gap and telling me that I've to get a step back in my career. *uck them, is full of jobs at the moment and as always my rule is: if they talk about degree or career position instead of abilities is not worth it.
Going back to work is exactly as the last day that I left. Technology is evolving but not that fast, and filling a knowledge gap is quick. And you will not forget what you did for years ahah.
I traveled a lot, of the grid, did some project, read topics etc. So I obviously kept active at coding and technology.
If you have the gut is an experience that I recommend and I will do that again one day.
P.S. I'm learning Clojure. Rich Hickey developed it in two years off in his career as a hobby. So something good can came out from a long break sometimes.