Keith Savage of Traveling Savage is one person who has not allowed societal pressures to stop him from pursuing his career break dreams. He’s not afraid of the unconventional. In fact, his career break plans are quite unconventional! Over the next two years Keith plans to visit 8 countries for a month each (4 months total a year) while beginning a travel writing career. All with the support of his wife, who will remain at home working and taking care of their three cats.
He shares with us what led him to this point in life.
Could you tell me more about what made you decide to take a career break?
The American system of moving from childhood to adulthood usually involves going to college and identifying your future professional pursuit. Going to college also involves far too many parties and tons of interesting “flavors” of coursework. I graduated from school with degrees in creative writing and psychology, but I failed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Actually, I think I secretly knew what I’m consciously aware of now: I simply don’t want to do the kind of work that has come to typically define the word.
With no aspirations of seeking higher education after graduation, my liberal arts degrees effectively became little more than proof that I successfully completed undergraduate studies. I was on my own for job hunting, but, by the grace of some long-forgotten god, I managed to land a job as a technical writer at an amazing software company after only a few months. By any estimation this was the best “first job” I could have gotten.
Sometime in 2006 I’d decided it was time for a change. I had a good job, a nice house, a great relationship and lots of interesting friends. But I also had a vague sense there was something better than sleepwalking through a comfortable existence. Nice as it might look on paper, this was not my American Dream. After some inspiration from the likes of Rolf Potts and Rita Golden Gelman, I started formulating plans for an extended trip. The lure of selling our house and getting rid of most of our stuff was intoxicating. I began collecting tips and ideas in a huge binder. I bookmarked every interesting travel site I could find. I read tons of blogs. I sketched out routes on maps and signed up for airfare alerts. In my mind, I was well on my way.
