5 ways you can change your life with a career break
There comes a time when the sight of your office desk or cubical walls is enough to make you snap. Cue fantasies of palm-fringed beaches and overland journeys across exotic landscapes. While for many these images will be squashed by anxieties about unemployment and bills, the truth is a career break may be crucial. While travel isn't necessary for a career break, here are five ways hitting the road and taking a break from your routine can change your life:
Answering life's big questions
According to Sherry Ott, founder of the career-break resource Meet Plan Go, the benefits of a career break are numerous.
“In general, the biggest benefit is stepping away from their daily routine and constant plugged-in status. From a personal standpoint, it can be a great time to work on those big questions in your life or implement change. It allows you the time to reflect upon where your career is to date, how it may have gotten off track, and how to refocus on what you really want to do.”
Finding new passions
Even when someone desires a career break, there are range of concerns that may stop them: Debt, altering family dynamic and, perhaps most of all,Being unable to find work after returning. Diana Edelman, travel blogger at d travels ‘round took a career break during the recession and firmly believes if you’re contemplating one, it means you need one.
“If someone quits their job to travel, who knows what other worlds can open up. I became passionate about responsible tourism on my break, and now I’m heavily involved in that. It opened doors for me I never imagined being opened.”
Getting inspired
For those afraid of losing their jobs, Morgan-Trimmer adds:
“You can still ask for a sabbatical even if your workplace doesn't have a formal sabbatical policy. It's cheaper for them to let you go away for a few months and keep your job open than it is to hire someone new. Plus, they get a refreshed, loyal and more skilled employee back.”
Enhancing your resume
Alexis Grant, founder of Socialexis, found that taking a break to backpack Africa actually enhanced her resume by focusing on gaining skills and networking on her trip. She gave herself a goal of writing one freelance article per month, and when she returned home was able to say she was “freelancing from Africa” rather than “just traveling,” giving her trip purpose while helping to immerse her in local culture.
Setting goals
According to Ott, the first step when taking a career break is to really think about what you want to get out of it, in order to create a framework for your planning decisions and create the narrative that will help get you back into your career upon return. This will also dictate your budget.
Ott says:
“At Meet Plan Go we talk a lot about traveling with purpose and ensuring that you infuse meaningful travel or learnings into your itinerary while still mixing in all of those bucket list items.”
Also consider how fast you want to travel and how much of your itinerary you want to plan or leave open. Generally, Meet Plan Go recommends those who need a plan map out the first third of the trip, leaving the rest open to “give you a chance to ‘check in’ with yourself and see how desires and goals might have changed already.”
Career break resources:
*Uncommon Child for those with families
*Family on Bikes for inspiration on doing extended trips with kids
*The Career Break Site for project and job abroad listings
*Meet Plan Go’s free online 30 Career Break Planning class
*The Career Break Traveler's Handbook
*Meet Plan Go newsletter for workshops and events
And who knows? Maybe you’ll become like us, the travel bloggers who ventured off on that career break and never looked back.
Jessica Festa is the founder on the solo and offbeat travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and the online responsible tourism and culture magazine, Epicure & Culture. She's constantly searching for local experiences beyond the guidebook. You can follow her travels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.