We are all about inspiring people to take a career break and travel, so we were excited when we came across three couples who will be venturing off soon on year-long traveling career breaks! We can’t wait to follow along on their adventures and hope you do the same as well.
Two Backpackers
What amazed me the most was the number of colleagues who advised me to take the typical approach to leaving a job. Of course for many of them, there were other responsibilities (spouse, children, mortgage) that I did not have to consider as part of my decision. But in the end, the choice to leave without another position secured did seem incredibly risky.
By nature, I’m not the most foolish individual, nor do I avoid a new challenge. I consider myself a prudent saver and investor, so I took this opportunity to invest in myself for a period of time. I wanted some time to examine what I had accomplished in my career and begin to understand not only my strengths and weaknesses, but also what were the characteristics I would be looking for in new position and employer.
LISTEN HERE WITH ONE OF THESE TWO OPTIONS:
What made you decide to take a career break and travel with your family?
Danielle: There wasn’t any one thing in particular, it was more of a gradual realization that our secure and stable life wasn’t completely fulfilling.
Marc: Yeah, we were definitely stuck in a rut. I realized I was spending way too much of my time driving in traffic or staring at a computer screen and not enough with my family. The kids were in a rut, too – spending too much time at school doing mindless busy work or preparing for tests and not enough time really learning and growing. I decided something drastic had to be done!
What was your travel experience like prior to your break?
Just occasional week-long vacations (mostly cruises) that never seemed to last long enough. Before this trip, the longest we’d been away from home was 8 days.
