Live on less than half of your net(take-home) pay and save the rest. Now for every month that you work, you are also saving a month's worth of living expenses. After two years of this you have two years of fuck you money. Two years is enough time to learn python or something else significant.

Your savings can last even longer if you get a $10/hr job such as waiting tables part-time.

Work daily on developing marketable skills. Work daily on communicating how your work impacts the business you're in. Imagine your boss asks you tomorrow, "Why shouldn't I fire you right now?". What would you say?

Always have a resume prepared.

Once you have done this you can go up to your boss and tell her you are taking two months off and you won't care what she says in reply.

There is no point in your life that you can more easily take 3 months off to do whatever you want than when you are a "recent college grad".

My biggest life regret was not realizing this at the time. I jumped into the workforce and pursued my career at 95 mph.

I should have spent a year travelling.

Improve your skills, build a portfolio, and switch into contracting as soon as you can. You make a lot more if you're good, can make your own schedule (including long vacations if desired, or working vacations), and the somewhat higher risk and uncertainty are easy to manage when you're young and without dependents.

You also get more diverse experience and contacts that increase your desirability if you want to return to 9-5 land AND if you're adventurous, you can go live in a developing nation with a low cost of living, which has the same effect as a big income boost, plus you get to spend your time somewhere that isn't yuppie land (and presumably has nice weather).

I did that as a mid level dev. I had timing on my side though. I waited until we finished a big project, and then I presented my two week letter and went on a month long trip. I came back and found a job almost immediately. My point being that when your body asks you for change, do not hold back, and make that change. Be confident in your skills and don't be afraid of telling your boss that you need a break. Because even though the Germans may think so, we are not robots.

I took the month of August off from my software dev job between my freshmen and sophomore years of college. That was in addition to ~3 weeks of other vacation time spread throughout that year. I spent the month traveling and volunteering. It was unpaid, but my expenses were pretty low at the time and I had enough in savings to get by just fine. I highly recommend it.

Save up for a few years so you can take your dream trip once you've gained some leverage?