Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures » guest blog

Taking A Career Break Isn’t Easy

jeff — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:00:01 +0000

Today we have a great guest post from Craig and John, a couple of experienced career breakers currently traveling the world. Based on their personal experience, they’ve got some great tips for finding out if a career break is for you and how to get started. They have an eye to becoming nomadic and give you an insight into their lives and what they’re going through as they make that decision. It’s a post that balances their personal story with great advice for anyone thinking of taking a break. I’m really thrilled that Craig and John took the time to share it with all of you.

Inspired to Travel Long-Term

In 2008 we took a vacation to Bali. At this point in our lives, we had about three luxury holidays a year, many to exotic destinations in an attempt to satiate our yearnings to travel. However, this turned out to be our last of such trips.

On this holiday we met a couple who had spent many years travelling around the world. They had both left their jobs years ago and had lived in the UK, Germany, Turkey, India and travelled the world extensively. Dave & Debbie were about the same age as us, but they weren’t exhausted from working tirelessly earning money to secure what maybe a better future. They were fit and active, and most importantly very happy with their chosen lifestyle. We asked ourselves, whether this was something we could do.

After being inspired by our new friends, we started to follow many travel blogs, researching others who had made this giant leap from a career to become a long-term traveller. What we discovered is that there aren’t that many people dismissing the virtues of taking a career-break or saying that their lives have been irreparably damaged from taking a few years off work.

On the contrary, the empirical evidence suggests that the majority of people who pursue their travel dreams benefit in many ways from starting such a journey. Always a bit sceptical, we needed to explore in detail the personal impact of making such a life changing decision.

The Career-Break Quandary: To Travel or Not To Travel?

We asked ourselves all the questions that any person considering long term travel and leaving their job would. Questions such as, can we spend so much time together as a couple, what happens if a family member gets ill, what will we do after the trip, do we have enough savings etc? I won’t go into the hours, days and years we spent discussing these questions and many others, but there are answers and solutions to all these quandaries. Travel websites, like Career Break Secrets, provided us with the knowledge to know it was possible.

Our problem was as soon as we answered a question, another would arise; maybe we just didn’t want to travel on a long-term basis enough. No, that wasn’t it, the more we learned the stronger our desire to travel became. We knew if we didn’t take a career-break, we would only ever be able to see a small fraction of the world, at the mercy of our annual leave entitlement from work. Even if we finished work in our 60’s (more likely to be 70’s with the constant changes in the age of retirement legislation) assuming we would live that long, there just wouldn’t be enough time.

We certainly weren’t running away from our lives, heck, we enjoyed them. We realised that we were frightened of our dream becoming a nightmare, and would be embarrassed to return after just a couple of months on the road, having missed our home comforts. We needed to try this out and see if we could hack it.

Try Before You Buy

We’d never had the privilege of travelling on a long-term basis, prior to or immediately after graduating from university, as we are both from large working class families and our first priorities were to pay off our debts and progress with our chosen careers.

We had nearly always travelled independently, unless we were doing an all-inclusive holiday to somewhere like Mexico or Goa. So we were pretty good at making travel plans and visiting several destinations in one trip. One thing we hadn’t done, for decades, was travel on a budget. We appreciated that it wouldn’t be financially sustainable for us to travel the way we’d travelled in the past. Not that we’d been totally frivolous, but as we both worked very hard, our leisure time together was of great value and so we placed a premium in ensuring that our holidays went smoothly. So we both decided to take three weeks annual leave, and travel around Morocco to see if we could stick to a tight budget and hopefully our plans of travelling around the world wouldn’t be shattered.

Travelling in Morocco we stayed at hostels, and budget accommodation using public buses and trains to get around. We ate where the locals ate or in budget restaurants, the food was amazing. One thing we did quickly realise is that we wouldn’t be staying in ‘dorms’ as we valued our space and privacy too much, to compromise on sharing accommodation. We managed to keep to a tight budget and thoroughly enjoyed touring around Morocco. To our relief and surprise we didn’t miss the little luxuries of chocolates and rose petals on our pillow, or spending too much time in the hotel/resort sipping cocktails. In fact, we felt we’d experienced and learnt more than on many previous holidays combined. This trip was our ‘eureka’ moment and fixed our conviction to take a career break. After this we developed our ‘flashpacking’ travel philosophy, for our around the world trip.

Making your travel dreams a reality

The first decision was when to depart and how to break the news. Once our employers had agreed to our exit (which wasn’t that easy) and suitable dates set, it’s explaining your decision to family and friends. We didn’t want people to think we were having some sort of mid-life crisis, well I don’t think we were, so we explained to people we were going flashpacking.

What’s flashpacking? Unless you’re a fully paid up member of the travel community you probably haven’t come across this term. If you haven’t, you can find out a bit more about flashpacking and us, in our travel blog. The reason we chose this way of communicating our decision, was it allowed us to answer follow-up questions and explain in detail our reasons. Therefore, people were aware we weren’t running away to join a commune or on the hippie trail, not that there is anything wrong with either of these choices, just not something we’d choose to do. Once all the tears had been shed, everybody was really supportive.

We started to deconstruct our lives, well possessions really. This takes a very long time, from selling everything, cars, properties, and placing in storage what you want to keep. The amount of administration is onerous, from changing addresses and cancelling direct debits.

It’s all pretty straightforward but don’t underestimate the amount time this takes, so start work on this as soon as you set a travel date. The whole process is very cathartic, and you begin to appreciate how much junk you’ve accumulated, and after over 20 years of living together you’d be surprised at just how much two people can own. We certainly won’t be purchasing any tourist souvenirs whilst on this trip! The hardest thing for us, was emptying our vast bookshelves, this proved quite an emotive process. To make this a little easier, we got an e-version of those publications available. However, being old romantics our books held memories more than just the words printed on the pages.

Life on the Road

We started our around the world journey in Melbourne, Australia and are currently in India. It was a bit scary spending our first month in Australia, as the Australian dollar was at an all time high and we completely smashed our budget. Although, we easily managed to recover these costs in cheaper destinations such as Vietnam and Cambodia. We especially enjoyed our travels around Cambodia, Japan and New Zealand. We absolutely fell in love with South Korea and would highly recommend people place this country on their travel itinerary.

We plan to travel to every continent on this trip and are looking forward to touring the USA in 2013.

We’ve not really experienced any problems whilst on the road. We do find ourselves replacing travel gear and gadgets now and again, as they really do get a hammering being used almost daily.

The experience has been exhilarating and we both feel more relaxed and healthier than we did working long-hours at home.

What does the future hold?

We’re enjoying ourselves so much, that we can’t see this journey ending anytime soon. If we reach a point when we do become a little travel weary, we’ll look at teaching or voluntary work in a foreign country. We’ve been amazed by the stories we’ve heard, whilst on the road, at just how viable long-term travel is, whatever your budget or finances. An example of one story, told to us by a Spanish couple we met in their mid-thirties, which has allowed them to travel for the last 10 years.

They take temporary jobs, preferably working in different countries to fund a minimum of 6 months travel every year. We met them diving in Gili Air, Indonesia, just before they were departing for Denmark to plant Christmas Trees. They have no savings or property, and most importantly no worries. They are one of the happiest couples we’ve ever met and have no plans to stop travelling.

Finally, I mentioned earlier about our friends, Debbie & Dave, who inspired us to travel. Debbie contacted us by Skype, when we were in Thailand recently, and informed us that Dave had been rushed into a Turkish hospital and was in a critical condition after suffering massive heart failure. Dave hadn’t been to a doctor in over 20 years and was in excellent health. Dave is now in the UK awaiting major heart surgery, and will hopefully make a full recovery, and no doubts, they’ll be back on the road again soon. For us, after our initial shock, it reaffirmed our decision to follow in their footsteps pursuing our travel dreams as you just never know what the future holds.

What we do know is, we are completely smitten with our chosen travel lifestyle. We don’t have any regrets, but if we had to have one it would be that we didn’t start our career break sooner. When the money starts to run out, we’ll look at a career that can incorporate our desire to travel and experience new destinations around the world.

About the Authors

Flashpackers, Craig & John, embarked on their around the world trip in December 2011. The couple of forty-somethings, agonised for three years before eventually making the decision to travel on a long term basis. Here they describe why they found the idea of taking a career break difficult, and how life on the road is for them now. The travel bloggers write about their around world trip and the destinations they travel to at FlashpackAtForty.com/

Taking A Career Break Isn’t Easy is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

“What are you going to do when you get back?”

jeff — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:00:57 +0000

Today we have a great guest post from career breakers Dave and Vicky who are currently traveling the world. When planning our breaks, there’s a natural concern by others around us about what we are going to do post-career break. We career breakers aren’t immune from this concern, but we figure it out and come to peace with a bit of uncertainty that exists when thinking about the re-entry phase. Dave and Vicky share their experience and put that uncertainty about the future in perspective.

“What are you going to do when you get back?”

I get asked this question all the time. I usually want to say:

“Honestly, I’m way to busy planning this trip to even think about what I’ll be doing two years from now.”

But that might come off as a bit rude, so I usually tone it down a bit and unenthusiastically list off a few things that I could potentially do two years from now. Find a job or go to graduate school usually suffice.

But actually, that I’m too busy planning my trip isn’t 100% honest, because even though we ARE too busy planning this trip, I do think about what I’ll be doing two years from now. It’s a legitimate question, and I probably think about it daily, and usually with a bit of anxiety (OK, a lot of anxiety).

And today I had an epiphany.

I think I understand the source of the anxiety, and it’s not what everyone probably thinks it is. What most people think is that we’re going to come back broke. We will have been out of the workforce for two whole years. We’re not going to know what we want to do next. We will probably be living in someone’s basement (most likely chez parents). Above all, this will be 100% because of our decision to travel. If things don’t work out, travel will be to blame, and we’ll be back at square one. Worse, square zero.

Now it’s true we’ll probably come back broke.

It’s also true we’ll have been out of the workforce for two years.

We hopefully won’t be living in our parents basement, but you never know.

Is it crazy that none of this really concerns me?

What concerns me is simply not knowing what I’ll be doing two years from now – general uncertainty of what to be doing with your life and less and less time to figure it out.

And I realized that this doesn’t actually have a lot to do with travel. Actually, if you asked me today what I’d be doing two years from now (if we weren’t traveling), I wouldn’t know. And if I decided to continue working for two more years, and you asked me two years from now what I was going to do next, I probably STILL wouldn’t know.

In fact, I can’t remember the last time I knew what I was going to be doing two years from now and whenever I thought I knew, it never ended up turning out how I pictured it. When I went to school to become a physicist, did I imagine that I’d graduate and have my first employer be a major, financial services company (doing anything BUT physics)? Nope.

So either way, travel or not, I still have this general anxiety. Moreover, I actually feel a bit more comfortable knowing that we’re traveling. Frankly, after two years of work, I don’t feel any more prepared to answer the question regarding my future than I did two years ago. I also think, with two MORE years of work, I’d be marginally more prepared to answer that question, but basically in the same spot.

However, through traveling, connecting with other people, learning more about myself, and finding out what life is actually like “out there”, I feel like I might be setting myself up to answer this question after all. This is how it was back in college when I was preparing to become a physicist, but ended up as a business analyst. I was simply preparing myself to be marketable to a whole bunch of job fields and to naturally go where the tides took me after graduation. So right now travel is about as good an idea as any I’ve thought of, and in light of this, traveling actually calms my nerves about what I’ll do “when I get back.”

Sure, if I wasn’t traveling, I’d certainly end up with a lot more money two years from now, but what would I do with it? I certainly can’t buy myself a career or some sort of future, so forgive me if I don’t regard it very highly. Power isn’t in small amounts of money, but in large potential value that can be exchanged down the line.

So at the end of the day, while traveling certainly prompts a lot of questions about what you’re going to do afterwards, it really shouldn’t be the focal point of the conversation. In fact, I could probably ask most of the people who won’t be traveling what they’re going to be doing in two years, and I don’t think too many of them would know, but nobody is asking that question, are they?

Author Bio:

Having spent 2 years in the working world, Dave and Vicky are ready to exchange their briefcases for backpacks, dress shoes for sandals, and beds for sleeping bags. In September they set off on a 2 year journey across Asia and Europe. You can follow along at A Couple of Travelers.

“What are you going to do when you get back?” is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

WWOOFing It on Your Career Break

jeff — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:00:14 +0000

This is a guest post submitted by Tony from LandingStanding.com. You may remember that I recently featured him and his wife, Meg, in a Who’s Out There Now interview. This post has been delayed for a while and I’m glad I can finally publish it. One of the top activities for career breakers is volunteering and giving back. For the past few years, WWOOFing (Weekend Workers on Organic Farms) has become increasingly popular. Tony and Meg recently spent time on a farm in Italy and agreed to write about their experience and tell you how you can get involved. Thanks to Tony for writing this post. Happy farming!

A machete in my right hand, a thick glove on my left, and bloody scratches covering my arms. Thick foliage blocked most of the Italian sun, but I was still dripping in sweat. It was my my first day at the agriturismo site, Barbialla Nuova, and I was loving life.

Just one year before (back in the US), my days were spent either in meetings, on the phone, or pounding away at the keyboard writing up credit reviews so that my commercial banking customers could get financing. It is amazing how far I’ve come as I travel around the world… and I’m not just talking about miles.

When taking a career break, there is always that freaky blend of apprehension and excitement that preludes doing anything uncertain or unknown. There are many reasons why you might make the decision to travel, but for me, my reasons were finally clarified 6 months into our trip. As I whacked away at insanely sharp thorn vines on an Italian truffle hunting trail, I realized that I took my career break and traveled around the world so that I could:

Experience more.
Experience something different.
Experience life.

As tired as my shoulders felt, as bloody as my arms got, and as hot as I became, I had never appreciated work or life more. This was why I quit my job to travel.

The best part about working at this agriturismo site? I only had to work at various jobs around the farm for 4-6 hours per day and I had 2 days off per week. Oh, and even better? On some days, part of my 4-6 hours of work consisted of me helping host a giant lunch for people staying at the farm’s villas… where I got to eat and drink right alongside the guests.

Yes, it was as dynamite as it sounds.

So how did I end up working for 2 weeks on an agriturismo site in Tuscany?

WWOOFing

My wife and I spent almost 2 years planning our around the world career break. Much of that time was spent researching and dreaming about all of the different ways we could experience our travel.

We have rented apartments, slept in hostels, lined up house-sitting gigs, camped, stayed with friends, taken overnight buses, but had never tried WWOOFing. Luckily, a friend of my mine had secured herself and her boyfriend a great 5 month job as assistants on a lovely agriturismo in Tuscany. She let us know that the farm was looking for WWOOFers to come help for a couple of weeks and we knew we had finally found our WWOOFing opportunity.

WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and is an organization that links organics farms with volunteers. The farms list what type of work they need, the hours required per week, and what they will provide the volunteers. In return, volunteers typically get a free place to sleep and often get free food as well. At the agroturismo site, we received full payment for any groceries we bought in addition to a private bedroom and bathroom in a quiet tuscan villa. Not too shabby.

Who Should Try WWOOFing?

WWOOFing really is not for everyone.

You need to be open to performing physical labor, actually working during your travels, and getting dirty. But you are thinking about taking a career break, right? Why else would you be reading this? So scratch that. Let me amend my statement. WWOOFing is for everyone who wants to try something different and is looking to experience life while on their career break.

If you’re considering a career break, then you’re probably exactly the type of person who would enjoy WWOOFing. There are jobs posted for people of all abilities.

How To Sign Up

Anyone can access the list of available opportunities and it is a great way to see what you might like to try. But if you want to actually inquire about a job, you need to sign up for that country’s specific WWOOFing list.

It costs $25 to sign up and you have to sign up by country, so plan on where you want to apply before you start paying for a ton of lists. But the list does provide you with the contact info you need to contact the farms, so it’s a must.

There are a lot of amazing opportunities on these lists, so give them a try!

Would We WWOOF Again?

Definitely.

We see WWOOFing as a great way to save money while we travel (especially in more expensive places like Europe), but we also like having time to just work on our own projects, which WWOOFing does not always allow (we were always too tired at the end of each work day).

This means we would not do back-to-back WWOOFing gigs. We loved our experience on the farm and had an amazing time getting to know everyone who worked there, but it was actual work for us.

Bottom-line: WWOOFing is a great way to save money while you travel and get an incredibly rich life experience. We maintained truffle trails, picked wild cherries, played with truffle dogs, took care of chickens, and worked our butts off. If any of that sounds interesting to you, then you are perfect for WWOOFing.

Your Turn: Is anyone considering WWOOFing? Has anyone tried and had a different experience from ours? We’d love to hear so please share!

About the Author: About Tony – Tony Rulli is the co-founder of LandingStanding.com and has been traveling around the world with his lovely wife, Meg, for the past year. They are passionate about food, travel, and all things ridiculous. They are always eager to meet new people and you can say hi on Twitter or Facebook.

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WWOOFing It on Your Career Break is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

How Career Breakers Are Made

jeff — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:06:53 +0000

Photo courtesy of ShelleySeale.com

This year will be my first year not hosting Meet Plan Go in Austin. It was a tough decision to make because I really love this event. In the past two years, I got the chance to meet so many great people getting ready for their own trip. But, my schedule just didn’t allow for it to happen. Luckily, we found a great pair to take the reins and from what I’ve seen, it’s going to be a fantastic night. Shelley and Keith are globe trotters who have first-hand experience taking a career break. They have great stories so I asked them to provide us with a guest post so you could get to know them better. To Shelley and Keith I saw, Knock ’em Dead! I know you’ll do great as hosts. And, for anyone thinking about taking a break, please check out this year’s Meet Plan Go event.

How Career Breakers Are Made

It’s literally the ticket to the whole world…but only 30% of Americans have a passport. A passport is about so much more than travel; and travel is about so much more than sightseeing and vacationing. It’s about witnessing different ways of life than your own, experiencing different cultures and ways of thinking, meeting and interacting with people who have a completely different lifestyle than your own.

It’s about their traditions, beliefs, loves, foods, hardships, dances, songs, history, geography, and passions. It’s about life itself – and there is far, far more to life and the world than what any of us see in our own backyards, in the little corner of this planet that we are born into.

Neither of us came from families that traveled much while we were growing up; family road trips were the most of it. When we each finally started traveling as young adults — decades before we knew each other — worlds were opened up that we had previously only dreamed about.

Photo courtesy of ShelleySeale.com

Keith’s story: A serial career breaker

I never really had the opportunity to travel while growing up, but even as early as in my middle school years I knew that I wanted to eventually get out and see the world. Then, burnt out on school after finishing my sophomore year in college, I decided that I was going to do whatever it took to backpack around Europe with my best friend. That decision ended up being one of the most important and best decisions of my life.

To save the money I needed for the trip I worked a ridiculous number of hours of hard labor at a box factory of all places and took any other odd jobs that I could find that summer. When September came around my friend and I flew standby to Brussels with the vaguest of plans, our precious travelers checks (no ATM cards back then!), a copy of Let’s Go Europe, and a sense of excitement that I cannot possibly put into words. Before that time I had never been more than 400 miles away from where I was born, and here I was about to backpack around Europe!

That three and a half month trip changed my life forever. The sense of wonder and excitement that I got from exploring different countries and cultures on my own never left me, and I knew without a doubt that travel would always be a big part of my life. Likewise, learning how to adapt to the unexpected while on the road made me much more confident in myself and prepared me for taking other worthwhile risks in life. And last but not least, getting outside of my ‘normal’ life and comfort zone to mix with people with such different lives and belief systems has enabled me to see our complex world in a much more open and understanding way.

Upon returning home from that auspicious trip back in 1985 I eagerly finished school, and I have been a regular career breaker ever since. Sprinkled all throughout my various stints in Corporate America and even after practicing law for a short while I have taken multiple extended trips abroad. From backpacking throughout different regions of the world, including a two year hiatus in Southeast and South Asia, to studying Spanish in Guatemala, to teaching English in Japan, to doing bits of volunteer work, I have taken breaks from work to recharge my batteries and to regain perspective.

And after my last job in Corporate America three and half years ago I decided to intertwine my livelihood even more closely with my love of travel. I simplified my life to give me the time and space to explore different opportunities, and I ended up starting a travel consulting business that has spread into travel photography as well. With my partner Shelley Seale, I co-wrote the book How To Travel For Free (or pretty Damn Near It!), and I likewise became the Director of Overseas Projects for a non-profit organization. Doing these things hasn’t always been easy, but it has certainly been well worth it.

Because travel has changed my life for the better in so many ways, I a firm believer that everyone should take an extended trip at least once in their lives. I can honestly say that I’ve never heard anyone who has done it say that they regretted it later, and at the same time I have heard plenty of people say that they HAVE regretted not taking the time to do it. So if you have been thinking about hitting the road, you really just need to make up your mind and take the plunge!

Keith’s website is Travel Sherpa Keith and you can follow him as @SherpaKeith on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of ShelleySeale.com

Shelley’s story: A passport to a new lifestyle

I got my first passport in my senior year of high school, in 1984. Up til that time I had only been to places in Texas and a few surrounding states (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana) and to Mexico (you didn’t need a passport back then). My high school’s Spanish teacher, Doctora Rodriguez, was organizing a month-long European trip – and that is what I wanted for my high school graduation present. With all my heart and soul, desperately. Many other people would have perhaps thought that was $2,000 that could have bought a car, something longer lasting.

But the truth is that it is the car, or any other thing that could have been purchased with that money, which would have been gone long ago. Now, more than 25 years later, I still have fond memories of my first glimpses of London, the Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa (you could actually climb it then!). I remember looking down from my hotel window in Rome, after Italy had just won a huge soccer match, to see the complete gridlock party in the streets. That trip fueled a lifelong love of travel – and the curiosity and desire for learning that came with it.

Over the next 15 years I didn’t travel extensively, internationally. I started a career (my previous career in real estate), got married, had a child. I traveled here and there, but it wasn’t until I took my daughter to France when she was 10 years old that my next phase of life — that of a global wanderer — really began. Within the next few years I began to transition out of real estate, which was a career that sort of chose me and that I wasn’t passionate about, and into a full-time writing career.

I also began to transition my writing around travel writing. I still write about a lot of other topics in addition to travel, such as food, lifestyle, nonprofits, health and wellness — but part of my crafting of a new work life including crafting of a new whole life. See, I came to realize that we shouldn’t have to compartmentalize our lives. Work shouldn’t be some separate thing that you do for 1/3 of your life just to pay the bills. I wanted to create a life that reflected my passions, values, interests and beliefs — and that certainly included travel.

You don’t have to be a writer to do this. There are plenty of ways that people find to earn money on the road or to support a traveling lifestyle. I have several friends who come home and work and earn money (which they save) for months or years at a time, then hit the globe for months or years at a time on that money. Others work their way around the world doing bartending, odd jobs, child care, English language teaching, working on farms, etc. Still others start businesses that can be done online or become consultants who can work virtually from any location.

In today’s world, with the Internet and mobile phones as well as the new workplace norm of more freelancing, entrepreneurship and virtual offices, it’s much easier to make a living, and a life, while traveling. I encourage anyone to follow their dreams in this regard. Yes, it takes time and patience and a lot of hard (but mostly just consistent) work to make it happen. But if it’s really what you want, I promise you — if I can do it, so can just about anyone else!

Shelley’s website is ShelleySeale.com and you can follow her as @shelleyseale on Twitter.

Meet Plan Go is a nationwide movement focused on career breaks and long-term travel. The Austin event, one of 10 cities in North America hosting the events, will be held on October 16 at Abel’s on the Lake. Tickets are limited to 120 and selling fast. Get yours today.

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How Career Breakers Are Made is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

Six Steps Toward Freedom: A personal story

jeff — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:00:09 +0000

Today’s guest post comes from Matt of Intertia Interrupted. I’m always a little hesitant to take guest posts. I receive way more solicitations than I accept. And, I have a process in place to weed out pieces that I don’t feel are good enough for my audience. But, I immediately responded to Matthew’s piece and thought it was definitely worth publishing. You can find more details about Matthew’s journey with his wife, Luz, around the world at the end of the article.

Six Steps Toward Freedom: A personal story

In six (6) liberating personal steps, here’s how I conspired with the Universe to realize a personal dream:

Question life
Examine benefits
Overcome obstacles
Define purpose
Handle logistics
Hit the road

STEP 1: UNHAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT – STAMP YOUR FEET!

From the article “Happiness is Love — and $75K” we saw that after analyzing more than 450,000 GHWBI responses from 2008 and 2009, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Kahneman found that happiness is actually the result of the fulfillment of two abstract psychological states — emotional well-being and life evaluation.

When I started, from a Life Evaluation perspective, at work I had “accomplished the goals I had set, was financially secure, and emotionally fulfilled.” I was living a fast paced corporate life. I was getting results: an excellence award, a promotion, a bonus… I was a Hilton Diamond member, Hertz #1 Gold, Emerald Club, United Premier, and Southwest A-list. On the road more than 80% of the year, my stress levels were through the roof, I hadn’t seen a personal friend in months, and my marriage was strained to say the least. In all my success at work, I was lonely. I was unhappy.

And no wonder…”Emotional happiness is primarily social,” says Dr. Kahneman. “The very best thing that can happen to people is to spend time with other people they like. That is when they are happiest, and so, without question, this is a major story. We find loneliness is a terrible thing. So is extreme poverty. But loneliness, regardless of how rich you are, is a very bad thing.”

STEP 2: EXAMINE THE BENEFITS

For more than a decade I dreamed about traveling. While this conviction that we needed to travel was strong… I had no idea why. Sure, other people unequivocally stated that their career break was the right decision for them. And I knew first hand from my Study Abroad experience that travel was good for my soul… but my life partner wasn’t convinced, and without her I probably wouldn’t be here today.

Everything that I read on sabbaticals indicates that the benefits far outweigh any sacrifices made to realize these sacred times of fulfillment. For example, as this Career Break Secrets article explains, through measurement we know the effects of a sabbatical on a person’s health and well-being. Specifically, career breaker’s long term stress decreases, life satisfaction increases, and they tend to burn-out less when they return.

Businessweek reported in 2007, “Just as small breaks improve concentration, long breaks replenish job performance. Vacation deprivation increases mistakes and resentment at co-workers… The impact that taking a vacation has on one’s mental health is profound,” said Francine Lederer, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles told ABC News. “Most people have better life perspective and are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation, even if it is a 24-hour time-out.”

Still other inspiring figures present their stories in TED forums and on YouTube which gave me even more desire to hit the road:

In the end, research shows that a career break would inherently reduce stress, boost creativity, amplify life satisfaction, increase productivity, and properly prioritize well-being. So even before I crafted a convincing personal argument advocating a career break, I knew my premise was strong and the effort was worth it!

STEP 3: OVERCOME OBSTACLES

Early on it became clear that relatively few things were preventing our departure. Those can be summarized in terms of fear, lifestyle, and money — all related.

The money concern was the easiest to resolve. We had already established an aggressive debt elimination strategy that, over the course of several years, was about to transition our net-worth out of the red, and into the black.

Besides, with a quick search on the Internet, I’m sure that you can validate for yourself… you can travel long term as have many others. Money should not a primary constraint.

Obligations in terms of responsibilities, mortgages, cars, careers, etc. are really a result of conscious or un-conscious decisions. As Adam Baker states in his TEDxAsheville video, “Sell your crap. Pay your debt. Do what you love.”

In another blog post, ¨Pursuing a Dream¨, I wrote about scaling back “amenities,” but now I would call it simple LifeStyle (re)Design. It’s about foregoing that cafe latte at Starbucks everyday, knowing it will buy you and your Wife breakfast in Vietnam for a month.

STEP 4: DEFINE YOUR PURPOSE

When I told my Wife we needed to sell all our belongings, and leave our family (and our dog) to travel for a year… She had a few questions. She also had a few statements…

“You can’t just run away from your problems, Matt. If we are going to leave, we need to know why. Why are we going to change EVERYTHING?”

So I did some more reading, and discovered that without a strong sense of purpose, that is – without an End in Mind, a sabbatical might not bring about desired results – whatever they might be?

We worked on a Family Mission Statement, examined hypothetical deathbed regret scenarios to realize our deepest held values, and we researched a bit more.

As stated by Oliver Segovia in his article on the Harvard Business Review, “People working on the biggest problems are compensated in the biggest ways. I don’t mean this in a strict financial sense, but in a deeply human sense. For one, it shifts your attention from you to others and the wider world. You stop dwelling. You become less self-absorbed. Ironically, we become happier if we worry less about what makes us happy.”

Now, having a stronger understanding of what brings meaning to our lives and how a career break will directly benefit our mission, we designed a trip that should inspire a more fruitful existence by helping us establish our personal legacy, and facilitate growth in our marriage. (You can follow our adventure at www.InertiaInterrupted.com)

STEP 5: HANDLE LOGISTICS

This one is easy, as there are plenty of checklists out there to help you along. Here are a few:

STEP 6: HIT THE ROAD

When you do, we’ll be waiting with open arms! So what are you waiting for? Only you can make that dream come true. If I can be of any assistance to you along the way, feel free to contact me…

About Matt:

Matthew K. Sharp is the co-founder of Inertia Interrupted and recently began trekking, volunteering, and diving around the world with his wife, Luz. You can connect with him on Facebook.

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Six Steps Toward Freedom: A personal story is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 5: Roadtrip

jeff — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:00:29 +0000

In part 5 of our guest post series, ¨I Love Cape Town¨, from Craig of YTravelBlog, he takes us on a road trip outside of Cape Town to some of the great little towns and nooks just a quick drive away from downtown Cape Town!

Road Trip!

Take a one day road trip south of Cape Town for stunning coastal and mountain scenery. On the way, stop at Hout Bay for awesome fish and chips. Take the world-recognized Chapman’s Peak Drive where rocks threaten to cascade down from the stunning, imposing mountain peaks above. From there, you can drive down to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope for stunning views and where baboons run wild. Be sure to keep an eye on your lunch.

Hout Bay

Take the world recognized Chapman’s’ Peak Drive where rocks threaten to cascade down from the stunning imposing mountain peaks above.

Chapman's Peak Drive

Stunning beaches along the coast road

More amazing coastal scenery

From there you can drive down to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope for stunning ocean views and where baboons run wild. Be sure to keep an eye on your lunch.

Cape of Good Hope

About Craig – Craig Makepeace is the co-founder of yTravel Blog and has been traveling and living around the world since 2002, first with his wife Caz, and now with their daughter Kalyra. You can hangout with him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

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I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 5: Roadtrip is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 4: Apartheid Legacies

jeff — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:00:00 +0000

In part 4 of our guest post series, ¨I Love Cape Town¨, from Craig of YTravelBlog, he shows that while apartheid is gone, the remnants and symbols of the old regime are still around Cape Town showing people what it was like not too long ago. Take it away Craig!

Robben Island

Robben Island, the former prison home of Nelson mandela for over 20 years, was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1999. Taking a tour of Robben Island with an ex-political prisoner is a very moving experience. The ferry to Robben Island leaves from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, and the 30 minute ferry ride across Table Bay provides for amazing views back towards Cape Town and Table Mountain.

Robben Island in the distance

cell block

The courtyard

Bo Kaap Neighborhood

The Bo Kaap District is an area of Cape Town formerly known as the Malay Quarter. It is quintessentially a township, situated on the sloped of Signal Hill right above the city center and is an historical center of the Cape Malay culture in Cape Town. It is rich in history and known for its romantic cobblestoned streets and colorful houses. Take a walk around and get some creative photos.

Bo-Kaap

Colorful houses

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I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 4: Apartheid Legacies is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 3: Natural Wonders

jeff — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:00:45 +0000

In part 3 of our guest post series ¨I Love Cape Town¨ from Craig of YTravelBlog, he shows some of the natural sites in and around Cape Town. The good thing about this city is that you always feel connected to nature and the natural beauty of the city and the Cape. Enjoy!

Table Mountain

The impressive backdrop of Table Mountain is just one of the many striking features of Cape Town. This prominent landmark forms part of Table Mountain National Park and you can either hike to the top of the mountain or take the cable car.

Table Mountain

View from the ferry on Table Bay

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is recognized as one of the best botanic gardens of the world. Its position against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain makes for sheer grandeur, and you may even feel in the mood for a hike up one of the many trails to the top of Table Mountain.

Kirstenbosch was also the setting for my brother-in-law’s wedding ceremony which provided a magnificent backdrop.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

The wedding ceremony

Lion’s Head

Lions head is a part of the Table Mountain National Park and forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city. It reaches a peak of 669 meters and there’s an hour-long walk to the top which is known for spectacular views over the city and the beaches below.

Lions head from Clifton Beach

Looking back at Lions head from Robben Island

Lions head in the distance

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I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 3: Natural Wonders is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 2: Shopping and Dining

jeff — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:30:26 +0000

In part 2 of our guest post series from Craig of YTravelBlog, ¨I Love Cape Town¨, he shows off more of his photos of places where you can get out and relax with a little food and a little shopping in Cape Town. Enjoy!

Victoria and Alfred (V&A) Waterfront

The lively Victoria and Alfred Waterfront precinct is situated at the foot of Table Mountain in the heart of Cpe Town’s working harbour. It’s a great place to go for a meal or a drink and enjoy the fresh sea breeze and warm African sun. The V&A is home to waterfront walkways, historical buildings, museum, boat trips, markets, shops, hotels, bars and the Aquarium.

Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

There are a number of restaurants with superb views of the harbour.

Mama Africa Restaurant

Mama Africa’s restaurant and bar is a great African dining experience. Mama Africa is in a historic building on Long Street, the inner city place of nightlife vibrancy. Sounds of African drumming accompany African cuisine, like kudu or crocodila, and an eclectic décor of mostly handmade African goods help to create a warm African atmosphere. Mama desires that all people leave at the end of the night with a full belly and a happy heart. Dining at Mama Africa was the perfect evening to another Cape Twon experience never to be forgotten.

Mama Africa's

African singing accompanies your experience

Brass Bell Restaurant in Kalk Bay

One of the best fish restaurants at the Cape Peninsula is the Brass Bell Restaurant in Kalk Bay. You have a choice of different vibes which makes for a great dining option. From the top upper deck when you feel like being smart and classy, right down to the lower deck where you can enjoy a live band and enjoy a casual pub-like atmosphere.

The Brass Bell derives much of its character through its position within the heart of historical Kalk Bay. This little fishing village has a magical quality with its historica architecture, interesting variety of shops and cobbestone streets.

It’s just great fun to go there and its position on the rocks is quite spectacular.

Traditional South Africa Braai

If your accommodation offers grilling facilities, why not cook your own traditional South African Braai? The word ¨braai¨ is Afrikaans for ¨barbeque¨ or ¨grill¨ and is a favorite of mine, even over the famous Australian BBQ. Typically a braai is similar to the American or Australian version in that you grill or BBQ outside, and it’s a very casual and fun cooking experience. Meats are, of course, the star of the South African braai. They typically include boerewors, kudu steaks, ostrich fillets, and lamb and chicken kebabs.

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I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 2: Shopping and Dining is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 1: Beaches

jeff — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:00:15 +0000

City Hall - Cape Town

Today’s post comes from Craig of the popular travel blog, YTravelBlog. Among the many places around the world, they’ve been is Cape Town, South Africa. It’s also one of my favorite cities in the world. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be showcasing some of their photos from Cape Town to show off this great city that we both have a passion for. Here’s how I’ve organized the series:

So, let’s get it started with Craig and Caz’s introduction. Enjoy!

Cape Town Series Introduction

I love Cape Town. It’s without question one of my favorite cities around the world.

And I say that after traveling through 35 countries and living abroad since 2002.

It’s a vibrant and beautiful city with many sights to explore, and it made the list of our 11 Places We Could Live Around the World.

I have visited Cape Town three times now. It’s one of those places that really gets under your skin, and my most recent visit was to attend my brother in-laws wedding.

So what is it about Cape Town that has me so captivated? Why do I keep returning and longing for more?

Beaches of Cape Town

Clifton Beach

Clifton is an affluent suburb of Cape Town and is home to the beautiful people and the place to be seen. It has four interlocking white sand beaches divided by granite boulders named Clifton 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beach. The beaches are frequented by both locals and tourists, and the mystique of Table Mountain looms in the background.

The four beaches of Clifton are well protected from the notorious south-easterly winds, but the water is VERY chilly at (12?16 °C). Be warned In the evenings, head to a bar called La Med for sundowners. La Med, above Clifton Beach, has panoramic views of the ocean and mountains; undoubtedly the best sunset drinking views in Cape Town.

Clifton Beach looking towards Lion Head

Clifton on a beautiful summer's day

Llandudno Beach

Further along the coastline you will find the picture perfect Llandudno beach – by far one of the most beautiful beaches and also a favorite for sun downer’s. Llandudno is a local favorite among the surfers and nature lovers.

Its secluded location keeps the Cape Town winds away, and the lack of restaurants and cafes helps it to retain its natural charm. The sandy beach is flanked by rocks and boulders on either end. And, it was the setting for post-wedding ceremony drinks.

Post wedding ceremony drinks on Llandudno

Boulders Beach

You can play and swim with the penguins at Boulders Beach, located near Simon’s Town on False Bay. The beach is home to the African Penguin colony.

It’s great for swimming provided you don’t mind coming face-to-face with a penguin, but there are wooden walkways that have been constructed to view the penguins in their natural habitat. The beach itself is rather small and made up of a number of small coves surrounded by large boulders.

Boulders Beach

Picturesque Boulders

Muizenberg Beach

Muizenberg is a sleepy sea-side town. This sandy beach is extremely long and behind the beach you will find a number of cafes. One of the striking features of this beach are the colorful change rooms that take up residence.

The colorful changerooms at Muizenberg Beach

Coming Up…

Stay tuned for our next post in this series on Cape Town where we highlight the lively Victoria and Alfred Waterfront precinct which is one of our favorite places to go for a meal, a drink, or to enjoy the fresh sea breeze and African sun…

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I Love Cape Town Photo Series Part 1: Beaches is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures