We already know that a career break can change your life but it wasn’t until recently that they have become popular in countries such as the United States. Ten years ago, a career break would have been considered a career suicide. And nowadays with the still uncertain economy, many assume that people should be happy with the job they have and not risk losing it. Even if you fancy such an experience there are a lot of logical reasons not to do so. It’s scary to think that you leave a somewhat stable situation behind and choose the unknown. And what about when you get back home? How would you get another job? That’s why people are looking for inspiration and examples of those who have already chosen to take a career break. They haven’t just left everything behind, many went on self-discovery journeys , whether they planned it or not. In many cases, the feeling that something was “missing” sparked the idea of traveling the world and taking a career break. Did you take a gap year or have you taken a career break? At one point in my life I was not happy with where my professional life would take me and decide to go back to a hobby: writing. I was un-employed and searching for freelancing gigs, [...]
This week we’re talking about career breaks, which might have you wondering just what is a career break, exactly? “Career break” is a relatively new term, used to describe a period of time when one steps away from the corporate world for any one of a multitude of reasons. According to our friends at Meet, Plan, Go!, a career break “can be from 1 month to 3 years. Anything shorter than a month really falls into the glorified vacation bucket. There are a few things that make a career break unique; namely that you should have a career that you are breaking away from. This puts the typical career break age range from 27 to 57 years old. Younger, and it might be considered a Gap Year and older it may be considered retirement. When people add the element of globe trotting to their break, then it’s career break travel. It may mean that you tick off a bucket list, travel around the world, or simply go live as an expat in another country. Basically, it’s about shaking up your normal routine in a big way with your passport in hand.” Reasons for taking a career break are as varied as the trips themselves. Some people are burned out at their current jobs and want to recharge and refocus away [...]
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 [...]
If you’re among the travel-obsessed, you’ve probably – at one point or another – dreamt about the idea of quitting your job to travel the world. One thing that may have stopped you from handing in your notice is that idea that taking off for a few months or years of traveling is career suicide. What would a prospective employer think or your year off? Would they view you as immature, impulsive, or unreliable? As it turns out, many employers now see travel, and extended career breaks, as positives on a resume. And more and more people are realizing that taking a break from their job can actually help their career in the long run. This week, we’re taking a closer look at career breaks. On Tuesday, we’ll start off with a fun look at some travel activities that can help you de-stress from your job. Then we’ll talk to some people who have taken career breaks, and see how it affected their lives. And later, we’ll help you beef up your resume, by highlighting job skills that you can gain from long term travel. But first, read a bit more about career breaks, and find out about an event you can’t miss if you are considering one: 10 Reasons to Take a Career Break and Travel Why It’s Not [...]
Last month, Meet, Plan, Go! shared why you should take a career break and told us a bit about their new Career Break Boot Camp course. Today, we’re excited for them as they launch their new Career Break Basic Training class — a lower cost and self-paced version of Boot Camp that we think will appeal to a lot of travelers who are contemplating the big trip, but not yet ready to commit to an 8 week class. So what do you get? The new Basic Training gets you eight self-paced lessons, ongoing community and forum access, and the opportunity to connect with like-minded peers for $149. The eight lessons have a defined objective and touch on key concepts such as finding inspiration, overcoming mental hurdles, saving & budgeting, alternatives to traditional tourism, owning your journey, essential to-do list items for the road, home, & career, and preparing for re-entry. If you’re looking to do extended travel or take a career break, this a great way to get your feet wet. Learn more at Meet, Plan, Go!
This is a guest post by Michaela Potter from Meet, Plan, Go! As the ultimate resource for independent travelers, we at BootsnAll, love that Meet, Plan, Go! is encouraging career breaks by offering planning resources and events to get more of you out there traveling. If you have ever visited the BootsnAll travel forums, you know that discussions are separated out by category, such as destination and travel resources. The one that stands out for me, however, is the Corporate Wasteland and Business Travel. Here people have the opportunity to discuss traveling for business, but most people actually discuss escaping the cube for a life of travel. Why am I so interested in this thread? Because as co-founder of Briefcase to Backpack and Meet, Plan, Go!, I want to help people like these to actually fulfill their long-term travel dreams. The biggest obstacle for most is the reaction of others – because society is not as accepting of unconventional ideas such as career breaks. When my co-founder, Sherry Ott, was plotting her escape back in 2006, she found very limited resources on the Internet that discussed the mental hurdles one must face when planning a career break. In fact, she turned to BootsnAll for most of her travel planning. So when she and I both happened to return from our [...]
We already know that a career break can change your life but it wasn’t until recently that they have become popular in countries such as the United States. Ten years ago, a career break would have been considered a career suicide. And nowadays with the still uncertain economy, many assume that people should be happy with the job they have and not risk losing it. Even if you fancy such an experience there are a lot of logical reasons not to do so. It’s scary to think that you leave a somewhat stable situation behind and choose the unknown. And what about when you get back home? How would you get another job? That’s why people are looking for inspiration and examples of those who have already chosen to take a career break. They haven’t just left everything behind, many went on self-discovery journeys , whether they planned it or not. In many cases, the feeling that something was “missing” sparked the idea of traveling the world and taking a career break. Did you take a gap year or have you taken a career break? At one point in my life I was not happy with where my professional life would take me and decide to go back to a hobby: writing. I was un-employed and searching for freelancing gigs, [...] 
This week we’re talking about career breaks, which might have you wondering just what is a career break, exactly? “Career break” is a relatively new term, used to describe a period of time when one steps away from the corporate world for any one of a multitude of reasons. According to our friends at Meet, Plan, Go!, a career break “can be from 1 month to 3 years. Anything shorter than a month really falls into the glorified vacation bucket. There are a few things that make a career break unique; namely that you should have a career that you are breaking away from. This puts the typical career break age range from 27 to 57 years old. Younger, and it might be considered a Gap Year and older it may be considered retirement. When people add the element of globe trotting to their break, then it’s career break travel. It may mean that you tick off a bucket list, travel around the world, or simply go live as an expat in another country. Basically, it’s about shaking up your normal routine in a big way with your passport in hand.” Reasons for taking a career break are as varied as the trips themselves. Some people are burned out at their current jobs and want to recharge and refocus away [...] 
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 [...] 
If you’re among the travel-obsessed, you’ve probably – at one point or another – dreamt about the idea of quitting your job to travel the world. One thing that may have stopped you from handing in your notice is that idea that taking off for a few months or years of traveling is career suicide. What would a prospective employer think or your year off? Would they view you as immature, impulsive, or unreliable? As it turns out, many employers now see travel, and extended career breaks, as positives on a resume. And more and more people are realizing that taking a break from their job can actually help their career in the long run. This week, we’re taking a closer look at career breaks. On Tuesday, we’ll start off with a fun look at some travel activities that can help you de-stress from your job. Then we’ll talk to some people who have taken career breaks, and see how it affected their lives. And later, we’ll help you beef up your resume, by highlighting job skills that you can gain from long term travel. But first, read a bit more about career breaks, and find out about an event you can’t miss if you are considering one: 10 Reasons to Take a Career Break and Travel Why It’s Not [...] 
Last month, Meet, Plan, Go! shared why you should take a career break and told us a bit about their new Career Break Boot Camp course. Today, we’re excited for them as they launch their new Career Break Basic Training class — a lower cost and self-paced version of Boot Camp that we think will appeal to a lot of travelers who are contemplating the big trip, but not yet ready to commit to an 8 week class. So what do you get? The new Basic Training gets you eight self-paced lessons, ongoing community and forum access, and the opportunity to connect with like-minded peers for $149. The eight lessons have a defined objective and touch on key concepts such as finding inspiration, overcoming mental hurdles, saving & budgeting, alternatives to traditional tourism, owning your journey, essential to-do list items for the road, home, & career, and preparing for re-entry. If you’re looking to do extended travel or take a career break, this a great way to get your feet wet. Learn more at Meet, Plan, Go! 
This is a guest post by Michaela Potter from Meet, Plan, Go! As the ultimate resource for independent travelers, we at BootsnAll, love that Meet, Plan, Go! is encouraging career breaks by offering planning resources and events to get more of you out there traveling. If you have ever visited the BootsnAll travel forums, you know that discussions are separated out by category, such as destination and travel resources. The one that stands out for me, however, is the Corporate Wasteland and Business Travel. Here people have the opportunity to discuss traveling for business, but most people actually discuss escaping the cube for a life of travel. Why am I so interested in this thread? Because as co-founder of Briefcase to Backpack and Meet, Plan, Go!, I want to help people like these to actually fulfill their long-term travel dreams. The biggest obstacle for most is the reaction of others – because society is not as accepting of unconventional ideas such as career breaks. When my co-founder, Sherry Ott, was plotting her escape back in 2006, she found very limited resources on the Internet that discussed the mental hurdles one must face when planning a career break. In fact, she turned to BootsnAll for most of her travel planning. So when she and I both happened to return from our [...] 