What you'll miss out on if you DON'T take a career break
Traveling the world isn’t on most people’s minds now, but that makes it the perfect time to plan career break and the trip of a lifetime. If you spend the next 6-12 months planning, saving and paying off debt you’ll be ready to go on a sabbatical when long-term recreational travel is more accessible again.
No Work = No Stress
Most people respond to this by saying it's obvious or it’s impossible. Did you react in either way?
But it’s true. If you think about the things that create stress in your life right now, a good portion of them probably come from stress. And the ones that don't start with work, can usually be resolved by not having to go to work. Having more time for your family, for self-care, to take care of yourself, will definitely zero out your stress level.
Being in Control of Your Day to Day is not something you not something you get to experience often
One of the hardest parts about work can be the feeling like you spend most of your life following other people's directions with very little control over your own day. When there’s no one else to tell you what to do, every day is open to all of life's possibilities
You’ll learn you Don’t Need As Much As You Think
Now digital nomads are gonna be more aware of this than other people, but when you start living out of a few bags, it becomes easier and easier to want less. Things you own become things you carry and traveling long term on a career break can turn you into a minimalist
Your decision making and pivoting skills will get a serious upgrade
Career breaks create a sense of freedom that is super helpful when you’re traveling. Not just because you will need to adjust to the unexpected, that always happens when traveling, but you'll have to adjust to a new environment all the time. Little things like where you plan on doing your laundry are the kind of decisions you'll be making every few weeks instead of once every few years as you normally would.
You learn the real urgency of everything
What’s important in THIS very moment. You’ll have to decide that every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Hint: Nothing's Urgent
You'll learn more about yourself than you ever have
If you spend enough time with yourself, You’ll learn who you really are. And if you’re long-term traveling either you’ll traveling a lot of that solo or a lot of that with a partner (and if you’re traveling with a partner you’ll get to know them even better than you ever though)
You'll face your fears
Giving up safety and stability is gonna shake you up. But shaken up is a great place to build a new foundation. A foundation that you will design intentionally to support a life you love. Walking away from a stable job and a stable home is hard. It’s scary and you won’t want to do it. Those are just the beginning of the fears you will face. But if you can get past those fears you’ll be ready to conquer the world.
You’ll finally have time for that project you've been putting off for years
Yes, being a digital nomad is awesome. You get to travel and work around the globe in locations that make your heart sing. But a lot of people who travel long term never stop working. They never stop producing, they don’t take time for themselves. They sit. Prioritize their own projects. Taking time off from work allows you to prioritize your own projects and the things you’ve been putting off.
You’ll reevaluate what really matters to you
Nothing makes you question what really matters as much if stripping your life of all the “have tos”. When you don’t have to be anywhere, where do you decide to be. When you don’t have to do anything. What do you choose to be?
The value you place on your current life will change
Nothing helps you reflect on your current life more than giving it all up. Things that seem important now, will seem less so after you’ve been living by your own rules for a while. A career break is a time to reinvent yourself and your life.
For career break and sabbatical planning advice, grab my Sabbatical Planning Guide and get started planning the trip of a lifetime.