After my mother and I returned from our sailing sabbatical and we realized the impact that time away from work had on our business partnership and our individual careers, we wondered: Are companies recognizing the power of time off?

Indeed, some are – and the trend is growing. The company-sponsored sabbatical began in the 1960s with the likes of McDonald’s and Intel. Work for one of these companies, and you’ll get a sizable chunk of time away from the job (often fully paid) every so many years (the average is five) to fulfill a lifelong dream, travel, or do something you’ve been longing to do but couldn’t in a week’s vacation.

Even in an economic downturn, companies like Deloitte and General Mills rolled out sabbatical programs for their employees. And it’s not just an offering at big companies; companies with fewer than 20 employees are also on yourSABBATICAL.com’s list of 100+ companies that regularly offer career breaks to employees. And we continue to add to the “Workplaces for Sabbaticals” list of forward-thinking companies.

Like the folks at Briefcase to Backpack, we’re working hard to impact the way we work and live, believing every career should include meaningful “pauses” along the way. The old model of educating ourselves and then working hard for 45 years BEFORE we can go and do something that we dream of doing no longer makes sense.

The companies that realize this and nurture their workers with holistic approaches, valuing both the professional and personal lives of their contributors, are worthy of recognition. They’re typically great places to work – so check them out, if you’re in the job market.

Our New York City panel for Meet, Plan, Go! share the reactions they received when telling family, friends and colleagues about their decision to take a career break to travel. And you may be surprised by how positive people can be.

So what were some of the reactions our panel received?

Brook Silva-Braga (A Map for Saturday)
Co-workers and family were surprised such a career-focused person would up and leave. They didn’t understand my ambition transcended money, it was an ambition for accomplishment and adventure in various forms. But in my experience very, very few people took a negative view of the decision; they were jealous or perhaps confused, they didn’t think it was realistic for them (for a series of dubious reasons) but they thought it was a cool idea.

Jennifer Baggett (The Lost Girls)
It definitely helped that I was going to be traveling with two other women as I think our family and friends mentally thought the decision sounded more structured and a bigger, more “legit” deal doing it together. But I was still very surprised at how supportive everyone in my life was including bosses. Of course my boyfriend at the time (who I was at a major cross roads with relationship-wise) had a tough time accepting the decision – one that ultimately broke us up – but my uncertainly about the relationship was one of the factors that made me decide I wanted to leave NYC and travel.

Although partly fueled by society, but more so just personally, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to achieve certain milestones by a certain “magic” age (getting married, having kids, scoring a high level position in my career, etc.).  So at first I viewed the trip as a last big hurray before I had to buckle down and get really serious – a sort of “well, I’m about to turn 28 so it’s now or never to do this before settling down” attitude. Interestingly, by completely removing myself from my present (and then pretty stagnant) situation and getting out and seeing the world drastically changed my attitude and self-imposed deadlines. Now, at 32, I’m much happier to take things a day at a time and not worry as much about when I achieve certain goals or whether or not society accepts certain things about the way I live or choices I make. And making bold decisions to travel or take time off to write my book or switching jobs when something wasn’t working ultimately made me more successful and opened more doors than if I’d taken the safer route.

Michael Bontempi (Briefcase to Backpack)
It is in this category alone that I think was the true inspiration for Briefcase to Backpack. It was eye opening to me that we live in a business environment that truly does not value the individual. I say business environment as I have friends who are academics who take periodic sabbaticals with the intent of bettering their skills for the benefit of the university.

For me, this was purely a selfish act that had a specific purpose for me. I did not leave my job for a career break, I left my job because I had hit a plateau and it was time for a change.  What I chose to do next is take a career break.

Sherry Ott (OttsWorld)
Some people like to ski down a mountain at deathly speeds, I like to shock people with unconventional life choices. To each his own. I told my family 2 yrs early so they could get used to the idea. Since I didn’t come from a big ‘travel’ family, they were quite confused at first. My father was concerned about my career, stability, future.  My mom’s reaction – “Why can’t you just travel in the US for a year instead of leaving the country!” I had already had experience with ‘bucking’ societal norms as a 36 yr old unmarried, single woman who didn’t want kids.  But leaving my career brought this to a new level. Most work colleagues were supportive & excited for me; my boss and Sr. Executives weren’t quite as supportive though when I sprung my resignation on them with 2 wks notice. Friends embraced it completely and many joined me along the way in my travels.

Brian Peters (No Debt World Travel)
My parents – OK really my Mom – were worried while I was on the road. Otherwise all my family and friends were excited for me. Some admitted they were jealous. Some assumed that it took a lot of money for long term travel, which is part of the reason I continued my blog and wrote my book after I came back. American society focuses on work and making money. I heard a lot of “I wish I could do what you are doing.” When I ask why they haven’t they give the usual excuses: job, mortgage, career, kids, money, etc. Most times they just don’t think it is possible for them and so they don’t even pursue it. If they did even the preliminary research, they would find it is really within their grasp. They just have to reach out and grab it.

Marie Elena Martinez (Marie’s World)
Most people were very excited for me, though I did encounter some jealousies, and tried to tune them out. I heard a lot of “I wish I could do that,” and now, having done it — I can reply “you can!” My mother was supportive, if not worried. My sister, a stay-at-home mom whose idea of a vacation involves fruity drinks and expansive stretches of sand thought I was crazy, but wasn’t shocked. My father, however, gave me a really hard time. He is of the school that you work at the same company for 30 years and retire with dignity and accolade.  He refused to read my blogs, and until I started gaining recognition through my writing, we fought often over my decision to travel. Inwardly, this caused me a LOT of angst. With respect to work, I was headed for a promotion, I was a rising star, and I think my superiors were shocked. I had always openly expressed a desire to travel extensively throughout my working years, I just never acted on it.

Michaela Potter (Briefcase to Backpack)
I always made travel a priority in my life, so I was never bothered by people’s reactions. To me, climbing a corporate ladder, finding a husband, settling down, etc… were never priorities. And because I’ve always been proud of how I live my life, people are very excepting of my travels. In fact, people now associate travel with me and I feel like I let people down if I don’t have any travel plans in the works!

And luckily, I met and married a man who embraces my values and priorities. I did a lot of extended travel and took career breaks before Michael and even while we were dating. And during our career break in 2007 is when we even got engaged.

So my advice is that if this is important enough to you, stand behind your priorities, be proud, and others will respect that. If they don’t, you shouldn’t feel badly about it.

What are some societal fears holding you back?

Thank you to our Premium, National, and Local Sponsors for making last nights events so invaluable by offering great resources as well as amazing prizes for our attendees:

Gap Adventures offers the widest selection of affordable small group adventure tours, safaris, treks and expeditions to more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Offering a range of different trip styles and comfort levels to suit every traveler, their award-winning trips allow you the freedom to explore off the beaten path in an authentic and sustainable way to bring you face-to-face with the world’s most fascinating cultures, customs and natural wildlife.

GeoVisions offers exciting ways to experience first hand a new country, a town, a community through their volunteer abroad and teach abroad programs. You have the ability to immerse yourself in a completely different land and culture while gaining a new cultural understanding.

STA Travel is a global travel specialist with 30 years experience advising people on extended travel and adventures abroad. They offer flights, accommodation, and insurance among other valuable travel products. They are specialists in Around the World airline tickets and you can also view sample itineraries as well as plan your around the world itinerary on their site which caters to the long term traveler.

The Unconventional Guides are the brainchild of Chris Guillebeau who’s mission is to fight the status quo and live the life you want. His book and travel tips/guides will help propel any want-to-be career breaker to break free of the cubicle.

Tara Russell of Three Month Visa Coaching and Consulting has worked with dozens of clients to help them get clarity on what they want from their time off, define clear and attainable goals for their preparations and then stay on track as they work towards the day they are ready to step on the plane!

Thanks again for all of your support and we look forward to spreading this Career Break Movement together!

Are you stuck in the closet – afraid to come out and act like you really want to? I bet you are. In fact – I bet about 90% of you are. You are lurking in the dark, afraid to declare your secret desires, but willing to watch; from a safe place.

You are in the career break closet.

Research shows that about 90% of the people who read online media do not actually participate in the conversation; consumption vs. production. That’s fine, I understand, communicating online isn’t for everyone.

However I’m willing to believe that a percentage of that 90% are not lurking because they want to, but because they feel like they have to. They are staying in the closet because they can’t yet let people know about their career break plans. They must stay in the closet in order to remain at their jobs and while they quietly plan their getaway.

Keith and Amy Sutter from Green Around the Globe share their time in the career break closet:

In January of 2009 Amy and I made the big decision, to travel the world for a year. And with all of the excitement and anxiety that comes with such a big decision there was one unpleasant aspect that regularly kept us up at night. We now had a huge secret to keep from everyone we knew. There are practical elements to keeping your decision a secret initially. What if you decide not to do it? What happens if something comes up? A family member gets ill, you get ill. There are any number of potential events that could change your plans. So Amy and I went into the “traveler closet” for 6 months. This meant that as we were doing our initial research, reading books, blogs and anything else we could get our hands on, we had to be sure to keep it all under wraps. When friends came over for dinner we had to spend 10 minutes scanning the condo to make sure an incriminating book was not left laying out.

When we did start telling people, starting with close family we had to bring them into our “circle of trust”. We had to make sure we controlled who knew when. Practically it was to make sure we handled giving notice at our respective workplaces on our terms and in a professional manner. We could not afford, either financially or professional, for word of our plans to leak back to our companies before we were ready. The other reason to control the information is so that we would be the ones to personally tell every one of our family and friends. That reason was selfish, we wanted to be there to see or hear their unfiltered initial reactions. One of the best parts of planning the trip is telling the people you are closest to and getting their reactions.

I completely understand this feeling. When I was planning my career break to begin in September 2006, I actually started the planning a year prior to that. Even though I’ve never been married, I likened the planning process to that of a wedding. After all, most people who take a career break don’t simply decide one day and leave in a week; it takes time to shut down your ‘normal’ life in order to branch off into the adventurous unknown.

My year of being in the closet was one of the hardest I can remember. It was full of self doubt, stress, worry, indecision, and temptation. Only my closest friends knew of my plans as well as my family. I thought it was important to ease my family into the concept of my career break; especially my father.

As it got closer to my departure the really difficult things had to start happening. The ones where you knew there was no turning back…such as telling my landlord and subletting my apartment. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

Then there was work. As an IT manager we were always planning out into the future. When we started having to plan out past my future at the company – and only I knew about it – stress overwhelmed me. The thought of committing to things at work knowing that I would be leaving and would never even see or really care about that project was not as fun as once might think. In fact, my sense of responsibility got the best of me when I started having nightmares about leaving my job…the job I hated.

So – why I am feeding all of your career break closet dwellers stories that will keep you in the closet? I’m telling you this stuff because I WISH there would have been something like Briefcase to Backpack and Meet Plan Go when I was in the closet. Hence, it’s one of the driving reasons why we developed the site and the nationwide event.

Briefcase to Backpack is a safe place where you can actually crack the door of the closet open for a bit and actually speak up; talk about your fears, excitement, plans, and indecision. We’ve all been in your position. You can comment and not use your real name if you want…no one will know! We just want you to know that we, and our community of career break veterans, are here for you to make the transition from Briefcase to Backpack a little easier.

When you can finally tell people, it makes all of the waiting worth it and sometimes it even comes with benefits! Here’s Warren and Betsy Talbot’s story:

When we made the decision to leave our lives in Seattle to travel the world there was a huge question around when I would tell my employer. After all, I would be walking away from a great job as a Director and leaving a career behind. We set the date for 2 years out to give us time to save and sell everything we own, and as a result we were torn between sharing our excitement with others and the fear of being exposed at work. To help relieve some of the pressure we started our Married with Luggage website/blog using the aliases Husband and Wife.

However, the truth is that keeping the secret was something that I knew I could not do until we left. After months of wrestling with the decision, we decided that the pain of keeping the secret was not worth the risk posed by telling everyone. Thus, 14 months before we were set to leave on our multi-year trip around the world, I told my bosses about our plans. The response was overwhelmingly positive and they have all been more supportive than I could have imagined. In the year since telling them I have been promoted, given a new opportunity to drive change, and have been assured that if I ever want to return the door would be open. After so much angst it was an amazing feeling to be able to share my plans with everyone in my life.

Sometimes coming out of the closet can be the best thing for you! If I can even get one of you closet lurkers to speak up, then it will be worth it! Come on…speak up, tell us about your career break dreams and preparations, ask us questions, and feel free to come out of the career break closet for a little while; your in good company.

Sabbatical programs are a great way for companies to build employee loyalty and retention. According to a 2008 survey conducted by the Families and Work Institute, 24% of small businesses and 14% of large businesses allow their employees to take sabbaticals (paid or unpaid of six months or more).

Some companies that provide paid sabbaticals include Intel and Morningstar. Intel provides eligible employees with an eight-week sabbatical, with full salary and benefits, after each seven years of full-time service. Morningstar believes that their sabbatical program is one of the most touted benefits of working for them. According to their website “Every four years, you are granted a six-week paid leave to explore, experiment, and experience. What you do is up to you. We view the sabbatical program as a way of saying thanks for helping us grow, and as a way to help you grow.”

And companies like REI offer unpaid time off. Their Personal Leave of Absence program allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in order to pursue any personal interest including volunteering, traveling the globe or going back to school.

During downturns in the economy, sabbaticals also allow companies a way to avoid layoffs of experienced employees. Accenture created a voluntary sabbatical program called FlexLeave, which allows consulting personnel an opportunity to take a voluntary sabbatical for a period of six to 12 months, while earning 20 percent of their salary and retaining full benefits.

During this economic crisis, it’s worth investigating to see if your company might offer this incentive.

If your company doesn’t already have a sabbatical program, it is worth discussing creating one with your HR department. Develop a list of goals that you hope to achieve during your career break and how they can be applied to your role in your company.

In addition to retaining a loyal employee, your career break offers another benefit to your company. It is believed that in the future, companies are going to have to offer some sort of sabbatical program, as younger generations will expect it as part of their benefits package. According to Quintessential Careers, an online career development site, “Generation Y gets the concept of lifelong learning, and seek employers who offer tuition reimbursement, sabbaticals, and other types of learning experience.”

You can help prepare your company for the future workforce.

We’d love to hear from you:

- Share with us your company’s sabbatical program
- Let us know if you helped craft a career break with your company - Share here.