We are Eeva and Steve, a couple from Sydney, Australia on a career break, or as we like to call it, a grown-up gap year. We decided that since we missed out on our gap years in our younger years, we would do it now, maybe on a bigger budget and maybe for a longer period of time. We aren’t working travelers or digital nomads earning our living on the road. We are just a couple on a career break exploring the world, spending time with family overseas and working on long overdue personal projects and goals.
How it all began in a quick summary:
We started talking about going on an extended holiday and taking a career break sometime in 2012 after our destination wedding in Bali. What initially started as a bit of an entertaining idea gradually turned into something we really wanted to do. It took some time to save up and actually to fully commit to taking a career break. Even though we wanted to go on this trip, somehow it seemed it was never the right time. We quite enjoyed our lives in Sydney as well as our jobs. We were certainly very comfortable. But we had planted the seed, and finally realized waiting for the perfect time would probably mean postponing the trip forever. We finally took off in May 2014.
We were surprised to find out how many books and blogs and general articles in travel magazines are dedicated to this kind of adventure. Since we got serious about taking a career break and going on this trip, we discovered thousands of others around the world doing something similar. Whether it’s via backpacking, glamping, working abroad, volunteering or just traveling until the money runs out. It was reassuring to find out we are not alone.
Why would anyone do this?
There are a number of reasons for taking a career break. Here are a few simple and uncomplicated reasons for us:
- We wanted to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives and have a bit of a reboot
- We love to travel and didn’t want to wait until retirement
- We wanted to spend time with family as we are all getting older
How we made it happen:
One of the biggest questions we had along with anyone taking an extended holiday is how do you do it financially? Actually, hardly anyone asked us this question (at least not out loud) but we asked ourselves pretty often. Taking a career break doesn’t automatically mean traveling, but for many it does. There are many ways to travel and budget for your travel. Some budgets will be smaller, the same, or much larger than ours.
People all over the world seem to be able to make this type of trip. That means if you want to go, you probably can. We know it can be done. We have decided to put aside our very reasonable fears and worries about jobs, money, and other essentials and get on with it. And we’ve had the most amazing time of our lives.
The world is your oyster (or in our case, a coconut).
