In 2015 I took 8 months off work to travel through Latin America and learn Spanish. The following year I returned to the workplace feeling rejuvenated, recharged and ready for a new challenge. What’s more, the time off gave me time to assess the direction I wanted to take my career and what work I enjoy.
Time off to travel was traditionally just the preserve of students, either pre or post university. Having not taken this opportunity myself, I was always envious of my friends’ amazing stories of an unforgettable summer working and back packing across Australia, Asia or South America. Admittedly, we saw a lot of travellers who fitted this remit, but there were also a large number of people like us, and much older than us, who wanted to experience something new, and do it before they were too old to do so.
Up to 90,000 people every year take some sort of career break (about 60% women). Typically, it’s people who are in their late twenties or early thirties, although an increasing number are in their forties and fifties (independent.co.uk).
So here are 7 tips for those looking to take a career break. They are designed to not only help you have the time of your life, but also to ensure you don’t damage your career prospects along the way.
1. Work out your budget.
When doing this, make sure you add plenty of wiggle room. We added on an amazing, totally unforgettable 6 day hike in Torres del Paine in Patagonia, which I’ll be telling my great grandchildren about. When you’re on the road you will hear about amazing things to do you’ve not heard of before, so make sure you have flexibility in your schedule and your budget. We booked our accommodation and school ahead of time, but needed to change this throughout as we learnt of activities we wanted to add in and we sort a more even balance between study and travel. The school were flexible but didn’t offer a refund and charged us for each change, meaning we were left with credit at the end. I’d therefore recommend not committing yourself to anything more than a month a time. Even if just staying near home to spend time with family or to get more involved in your hobbies, you’ll notice that life when you’re not commuting and have more time can be considerably less expensive, so your day-to-day costs will be much lower. This is particularly true in some countries, but do your research. We expected Argentina to be cheap but this is only the case if you can trade US dollar notes on the ‘blue market’. Prior to travel, do your research, and be prepared to cut back on the little things to focus on the experiences. Will I be telling my friends about that new iPhone in 2 years? Probably not. But I’ll definitely still be talking about where I’ve been and what I’ve seen.
2. Get your ducks in a row as to your finances before you go.
Make sure you have travel insurance paid up for the trip. If you’re renting your house out, make sure you have money set aside for ‘problems’. My boiler packed in the first month I no longer had a pay-cheque. Have a look at your government and personal pensions and make sure the time out isn’t going to effect your contributions. Can you pay more in advance, or what will you need to pay extra to catch up? Put some extra money aside for after you finish travelling to see you through until you start work again. If you want a bit more security then you can…
3. Ask your company for a sabbatical.
I didn’t do this as we were planning on changing country, but was surprised how many people we met who had. Some were still even being paid during their time off, whilst others had their jobs held open for them on their return. Many companies these days are supportive of employees taking time out, especially if there is flexibility as to timing to avoid a busy project or deadline.
4. Use the time usefully.
One of our biggest concerns was how the time off would be perceived by potential employers. We also didn’t want to feel we were just drifting in life, and wanted to give real purpose to what we are doing. I’ve always wanted to learn a second language and thus we chose to base our travels around Spanish schools in South America. There are many options, and students range from the old to the young. You can live independently or also have the opportunity to live with families and really get to know the people and the culture the way someone just travelling through never could. There are lots of options to volunteer or do a ‘work away’ program, where you swap work for food and board. You can volunteer in so many ways.
When looking for work, treat your career break as if it were a job on your CV and LinkedIn profile, with a clear title, dates and bullet points on what you achieved. For example, “Unpaid sabbatical to travel across South Africa and Mozambique — Sept 2013 to Sept 2014” with a description of how you project planned the trip, taught English and IT, and volunteered in the local community. Your CV will now have something unique which will help you stand out from the crowd. It’s also a great icebreaker during any interview.
5. Start looking for work before you get back.
If you’re like me and haven’t gone down the sabbatical route, then you don’t necessarily have to wait until you land back in your home country to start looking for work. The majority of job searching is done online these days, through the likes of Indeed.com, LinkedIn etc. Make sure you’ve uploaded your CV and got your profile correct. You can even carry out initial interviews through Skype, especially if you aren’t planning on working in your home country after the trip. Admittedly some employers will want to see you face-to-face, but probably not until after they’ve done at least one screening interview. I’d say that you can start looking up to 2 months before the end of your trip, but you can definitely network the entire time. It’s amazing how much decent wifi there is in the world and how easy it is to grab timeout at the end of a busy day doing something amazing, to get your head back into the business world.
6. Use the break to have a bit of soul searching.
Sometimes we get trapped in a job, for a whole load of reasons. Maybe the money is really good, or you’re scared of being out of work. You’ve fallen into a career and it’s kind of taken you along a path. Taking this time out can really help you increase the soft business skills, take time to work out what you really want to do, and look for a career that will make you happier. Sometimes you need to take a step backwards and have a look at the whole picture. We had originally planned to move back to the UK, but after spending time in Australia we strongly felt that it was a better match for us. We love being outdoors, in the sea or at the beach, being active and love the sunshine. We enjoy a healthy lifestyle and an environment where people are always exercising, where it’s safe to run or cycle. As such we will now be moving to Sydney in the next month to start work.
7. Make a record of your time.
Whether it’s a personal diary, a blog or just heaps of photos, make sure you capture this time. It’ll go quickly and if you’re like me you’re going to see and experience so much. It’s great to be able to share that with family and friends back home who will be very interested in where you are and what you are up to. Be prepared to be told ‘you’re an inspiration’, and as such live up to the responsibility. Many people wish they had the courage to do what you are doing, so show them what a great time you are having.
We had such an amazing time, saw so many places and experienced a whole different culture and lifestyle. We added a whole host of new skills and talents which will definitely enhance our careers. We completely changed the geographic direction we had planned our lives to go, based on what we know we like and what we want for our future. It also taught us that we need a lot less to be happy in life. The act of packing up your life and cleaning up before you travel is very therapeutic. It’s amazing how much clutter we gather through the years and a career break offers the chance of a fresh start. I’ve discovered I really only need a good bed, decent wifi, a safe & comfortable spot to relax, good company, great wine and strong coffee.
If anyone ever asked me whether they should take a break out, then my answer is a most definite ‘yes!’