Are you sitting at a desk, staring at a computer monitor and dreaming of traveling? Thinking about seeing your screen savers in real life? You aren’t alone. Mini retirements and gap years for adults are becoming more and more popular.
Here are ten reasons to take a career break and travel. Now.
On my first career break – Phnom Bakheng Temple in Cambodia
- Life seldom gets easier. If you have an opportunity to travel now, take it.
- Why not? Do you have a real reason for not traveling, or are they all just excuses? Excuses are often just ways to justify your fear of doing what you really want to do.
- Redefine success. Is success your car, your house, the stuff you own or your career? Didn’t think so. Get out there. Find out what success really is.
- You’ll regret not going. Take the rocking chair test. When you’re 80 years old, and sitting in your rocking chair, will you regret not taking this step?
- Kids grow so fast. Don’t waste the chance to create irreplaceable memories with them.
- You’ll see and do things you can hardly imagine. Watch an endangered leatherback turtle lay her eggs by moonlight, explore Hong Kong’s emerald harbor, see some of the last orangutans in the wild, visit ancient temples, swing on a zip line, or just relax by a beautiful beach. Get out there. Explore.
- Break the routine. Does your life sometimes feel like groundhog day? The same alarm clock, the same conversations, the same people, the same food and the same sights? Change your perspective.
- You can make the world a little bit better. Use your travels to volunteer somewhere else in the world.
- Learn to dream again. Did you feel your heart lift a little when you read this list? Did you start to dream, and hope, just a little? Then go.
- Travel doesn’t need to be expensive. You can take a career break for less than most people spent on their last vacation.
- Bonus reason: Because you’re here now. You can go now. You aren’t promised anything more than this moment.
great advice!! just go!
Wandering Educators recently posted..Insider’s Guide to Bermuda: Tom Moore’s Jungle
All very valid points. Thankfully, I’m sitting at my computer screen waiting for a flight from Cartagena to Medellin and loving the career break so far!
Arianwen recently posted..El Totumo mud volcano: muddy hell or tourist heaven?
Sounds like a fabulous trip! I’m a little jealous
Sounds good to me!
Terry at Overnight New York recently posted..Aloft Harlem: Harlem Week 2012
Thanks for stopping by, Terry!
Great post. Are you guys also psychics?
Ahhh… Penny, it sounds like you’re planning a trip! Go for it!
Thanks for making me dream on a rainy Friday morning
…Cambodia huh, good idea!
Hi Nora, Cambodia was fantastic! The temples of Angkor Wat were just stunning, but what surprised me most was how delicious the food was. Very much like Thai food, but with a lot less spice.
Great list, especially the last one. It is so hard to keep focus of the fact that literally all we have is the very moment we are in. Glad I spent this one here:)
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..The Omni San Francisco – Classic Perfection
Thanks so much, D.J. That may just be the nicest comment I’ve gotten all week
Great list I would add that it rejuvenates me and for me at least fuels that desire to see and do things most people only dream of.
The Travel Fool recently posted..The 5 Types of Travel Sites and How Each Can Benefit You
Great addition! Travel always makes me see things differently, and seems to rejuvenate my desire for more adventure, too.
Number 1 all the way! I see people only a few years older than I am making up excuses at a higher rate. That’s what spurred me to go, go, go!
Susan recently posted..Getting Robbed in Yangon, Myanmar: The Complete Story
Hi Susan, Thanks for checking us out! Glad to hear that you’re off on your own adventure – have fun!
You just clear a little of my mind, I might consider take a break sometime later
LeX recently posted..10 Places Must-Visit in Busan, South Korea
Hi LeX, If you can get away, definitely go! Life really does have a way of getting in the way
This is such a great post!! Just shared it on facebook and twitter. I am of the state of mind where I not only don’t care about my career, but I don’t want one ever again! I love being freelance and a digital nomad,and ignoring society’s pressures into how we ‘should’ earn our income.
Elizabeth recently posted..Should you quit your job?
Hi Elizabeth, and thanks so much for sharing and for visiting us. Freelancing is a great way of life, but I think it’s hard for a lot of folks to take that leap into the unknown.
Excellent list Micki!
#4 and #8 are huge for us. I think people underestimate the level of regret they will experience for not answering the travel muse, and also underestimate the impact they can have by serving and being a volunteer.
Daniel Espinoza recently posted..Welcome to Life With a Mission!
I so agree, Daniel. We’re hoping to be able to do some volunteering on our next trip. It’s a little tricky to arrange with two little ones, but hopefully we’ll be able to sort it out.
All really great points! I definitely think we tend to regret the things we *didn’t* do, rather than the things we did, so point #4 really resonated with me. I always like to step back and ask myself how I’ll feel about a decision 5, 10 or even 50 years from now and usually the answer is very different from what I would choose based on my “current” view points. Travel is one of those things that a lot of people tell themselves to get to “one day” but they end up getting married, having kids, buying a house, getting a dog, whatever… and “one day” never comes. You just have to stop making excuses and go! You won’t regret it, I promise!
Reena @ Wanderplex recently posted..9 offbeat things to do in London
Hi Reena, thanks for such an inspiring response! You’re right, it’s so easy to get caught up in the every day, and time just slips away. It took me until my 30′s to start traveling and I try not to, but I really regret those missed opportunities.
My heart did indeed lift a little when I read this. I’m aiming to head back to Spain this fall to do the Language And Culture Assistant Program, somewhere in Madrid, and my biggest deterrent is my finances. If I can raise enough money, most likely I’ll be there, I hope I can make it happen.