I get this. I have a friend close to 60 who took a year off in his 20s, before going to MBA school. He also took another many months off later in life to do something he and his wife really wanted to do.
They didnât have any kids, which made the second trip easier.
I initially was very frustrated when one of my kids decided to take some time and go on an extended trip to Asia before looking for a âreal job,â but the plan grew on me, and I figured it was actually the perfect time for then to do something like that.
I have a cousin who did this and it was life changing for them - ended up buying a home in a little village in France and living there for several years. One of my regrets is that we never did anything like that along the way ⊠will try to make up for it in retirement.
I know a couple of people whoâve done this recently but they had very high paying high powered jobs and had plenty of money saved up. They were also burnt out from their high paying jobs, high stress jobs.
I donât know many other people whoâve done this, mostly because they donât have jobs that are that high-paying to cover taking extended time off. Also, most of the younger kids I know arenât burned out anyways, because they donât have super high stress jobs (at least jobs that arenât more stressful than normal).
I do know some people that have taken a month or 2 off before starting a job to travelâŠthat seems to be more common.
Then again, I know a lot of people who love to travel and they fit it in with their careers.
Thatâs the thing, most people wouldnât be able to save enough to take a year off, especially when theyâre in their 20s and 30s. Awesome opportunity if you can take it though!
Yes, so true! Plus I know a lot of 20 and 30 somethings who are saving for kids and houses and weddings.
But, if you have the means, why not?
My friends who did this were NOT wealthy, but they were pretty frugal. They did work doing something like crewing on a dive boat several months while they were off traveling for a year, but not for a lot of money.
A colleague took a year off and traveled the world with her husband and 2 kids. They were 12 and 14 at the time. They saved and planned for 5 years to make it happen. She left our company with an offer to return, but would need to find a new permanent role. Her husband had to quit his job. It was quite the adventure! I admired it a great deal, even though I knew it wouldnât have been the right choice for our family.
There was a kid who attended the school I worked at whose family did that. His parents hired a tutor to teach him while they traveled. The family was very wealthy (inherited money I think), so the parents didnât need to work. The kid was nice, but kind of socially awkward and a little spoiled. Nice for them that they could do that.
Personally I love to travel but Iâm not up for something like this
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