I first thought of taking time off from my career to travel back in 2006 – a full five years before I finally made it a reality. When I got serious about planning my current trip, I had never even heard the phrase “career break.” I didn’t know anyone personally who had done anything similar and trying to figure out how to actually make it happen felt overwhelming at times.
I wish I had read a book like Alexis Grant’s new e-book, How to Take a Career Break to Travel, back then.
Alexis left her job as a reporter in 2008 and backpacked through West Africa, Cameroon and Madagascar, freelancing for various publications along the way. Since returning, she has created a new career for herself as a journalist/author/blog & social media strategist/budding entrepreneur. She is a great example of how taking time out of your career can not only benefit your career in the long run, it can lead you down a new path as well!
As Alexis describes her new e-book,
Whether you dream of volunteering in Africa, backpacking through Europe or road-tripping in Australia, this step-by-step guide will help you make it happen. Part motivational, part practical, How to Take a Career Break to Travel offers the tools you need to overcome the financial and career-related obstacles that stand between you and your Big Trip, plus advice on logistics from successful long-haul travelers. This 90-page guide includes everything author Alexis Grant wishes she knew before leaving her job to backpack through Africa!
How to Take a Career Break to Travel tackles the “how” rather than just the “why.”
Right off the bat, I liked that Alexis generally assumes that you are reading because you have already decided on some level that you want to take a break to travel. As I prepared for my trip, I found plenty of articles online arguing why one should travel long-term but few that really went into the logistics of how to make it happen. How to Take a Career Break to Travel does just that. Alexis divides the book into five parts:
- Prioritizing your life
- Overcoming common obstacles
- General planning
- Detailed logistics
- Actually hitting the road.
If you have been dreaming of a career break but something like family, money, career or your home has been holding you back, Alexis provides some good arguments why each of these factors need not stand in your way and provides real-life examples of individuals who have overcome similar obstacles.
If you are one step further – you have moved beyond the idea that something big picture might stand in the way but you are caught up in the “where the heck do I begin actually planning this” stage – the third and fourth parts are exactly what you need. In these sections, Alexis discusses creating a goal or mission for your career break, developing an itinerary, and making a budget. She also touches on some of the nitty-gritty like visas, vaccinations, accommodations, insurance, working on the road and blogging.
The book concludes with some good advice about re-entry after your trip, as well as a helpful checklist that summarizes all of the main takeaways nicely – if you are a “to do” list type of person, you will definitely appreciate it! It also includes an appendix with the websites and Twitter handles of the career-breakers who are interviewed in the book (including me) and a few suggestions for travel memoirs to read for motivation (as if any is needed by this point!).
If you have ever thought of leaving your job to see the world, How to Take a Career Break to Travel is just what you need to get started making your dream a reality.
The e-book launched on Monday, October 17 and for the first week you can buy it for 25% off the regular price. And if you purchase by clicking the link below, you will also help support my current career break – as an affiliate, I will receive a percentage of all sales referred by this site.
Click here to purchase How to Take a Career Break to Travel.
