Have you done it?
Would you do it?
What would you do? Where would you go? Would you pick up some casual work doing something that isn’t [inane office drudgery]? Could you sustain yourself on a diet of potatoes and rice for a year?
Would volunteering or WOOFing be fun?
Would you return to your job refreshed and reinvigorated, or bitter and resentful?
Help me, DiS. I don’t want to waste my short time on this planet (any more than I have done already, obvs)
Never known someone to come back from a career break and stay for more than a couple of months
Think about it a lot, but i just don’t enjoy being away or being out of my comfort zone. I could literally just get on a plane tomorrow and be on the other side of the world without any real financial worries, but i’ll just continue to potter about here because it’s easier.
Wouldn’t mind doing it. Would probably do a few Coursera things in stuff that’s completely unrelated to my work and academic background.
Or sit on my arse playing computer games, eating Jaffa cakes and wanking myself into a coma. One of the two.
Yeah I did it.
I was 33 years old when i decided.
Me and my then girlfriend went travelling around the world for one year. Went to south Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Singapore, Australia (bought a second hand campervan and saw loads of the country, and heard more racism than I had ever encountered)New Zealand, cook islands and America and Canada for three months.
Came home reinvigorated but found it difficult to get any enthusiasm to work again and I have hated pretty much every job I’ve had since.
It was brilliant fun though. Thoroughly recommend, although I would say that there was a few low moments and I even got homesick a few times, mostly when things didn’t go to plan
Took mine 9yrs ago and went interrailing for 4 months. Don’t get another one at the place I’m at.
Going to be taking a month off for pat leave soon (this obviously doesn’t count).
Had six months off (not out of choice) when I got made redundant. Absolutely awful, but I did get to watch the whole of Gilmore Girls. About to take another six month break but this time it’s my choice. Hopefully the break won’t count against me when I go to look for another job.
My mate did WWOOF when we graduated. Ended up on an olive farm (plantation?) in Itay. It was backbreaking, he was stuck in the middle of nowhere and he finished every day too tired to do anything except go to bed. So I wouldn’t do that, no.