Author: Sean Keener

Is a career break realistic?

Sometimes the only thing keeping you from doing that thing you want to do is not having someone standing next to you saying, “I’ve done that. It’s awesome. You should totally do that.” Yes, even go-getters sometimes need to be pushed in order to turn a dream into a reality.

“I was very excited to know there are people organizing this type of meeting and giving a human-touch reality to the blogs and travel sites I followed for years. The biggest impact I got was to realize that I am not the only one taking a career break. Now I’ve been traveling for 3 months and I am as happy as I can be – this is my dream slowly becoming reality day by day.” – Pablo

You’ve heard us talk about the upcoming Meet, Plan, Go! event this year, and you might have been following along with our new weekly series called Round the World Wednesday. Perhaps you’ve read the articles, or read about Meet, Plan, Go!, and thought, “Yeah, that would be cool. But…” – and that’s where you’d insert whatever obstacle you think is keeping you at home.

“The Meet, Plan, Go! event helped me to see that there’s no better time than NOW to start! I was amazed at all the people that have already done this and it was so helpful to see that this idea I had to leave my job and travel was not a crazy idea!” – Katy


The thing is that it’s easy to assume the people who take career breaks have some special ability that you don’t have or to make excuses about why your situation is so different – until you meet them. Which is exactly what you’ll get a chance to do on October 18, 2011 at this year’s Meet, Plan, Go! event.

“It’s quite funny, as soon as you commit to doing it, you get so much help to do it. Since I started telling people I was quitting my job I started learning about all sorts of resources that accelerated and helped motivate my efforts.” – Stu

There were more than 2,400 people at last year’s Meet, Plan, Go! meetup nationwide, and 23% of them reported that they were already in the trip-planning stages before they got to the event. Afterward, that number shot up to 41%. There’s no getting around it – meeting people who have done what you want to do, or are at least further down the planning path, can be a life-changing experience.
Are you ready for that kind of swift kick to the rear?

“Without a doubt, I can say this trip has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Ever. I was so nervous to leave behind my job — something I had worked so hard for and that had consumed every waking, and sometimes non-waking, moment of my life. But four months into our trip, I can honestly say I feel happier, healthier, and perhaps most of all, stronger than I have in years.” – Liz


Sign up for the national Meet, Plan, Go! event in the city near you, and in the meantime let’s see if we can inspire you to take a few more baby steps before October 18.
Career Break Inspiration: