Should You Take Time Off From Your Career to Travel?

If you love to travel, you've probably imagined what it would be like to do it for an extended period. A trip where you spend months going from place to place, seeing the sights while also living like a local. Instead of a brief vacation, you have the kind of adventure that you remember for the rest of your life.

It's an exciting idea, but it can also be hard to pull off when you have a full-time job. Many employers won't be okay with you taking months, a year, or more in time off all at once.

Your other option is to take a career break so you can travel. This is definitely a huge decision, and it's something many people wouldn't even consider doing. If you're trying to figure out if it's a good idea, here are some things to think about that can help you make the right choice.

First, see if remote work is an option

Before you decide between travel and your current job, make sure you actually need to choose one or the other. If you have a job that could be done remotely, talk to your manager and ask if that's an option.

I'm biased because this is what I do, but I think that working remotely is one of the best ways to be able to travel often. Sure, you don't have as much free time, since you're still working. You'll need to find a balance between that and enjoying your travels. But you're also able to travel without worrying about running out of money, and then needing to go home and find a job again.

Not everyone is able to work remotely, though. If you can't, it could make your decision more difficult, but there's usually still a clear choice.

If you know you want to spend time traveling, then that's what you should do

It's cliche, but the older you get, the more you realize that time flies. Hopefully, you'll have the opportunity to travel as much as you want in the future, but that's not guaranteed. Just ask anyone who had big travel plans that got interrupted by COVID.

There's also the possibility that you start a family and aren't able to travel as much. Or, you may decide that you want to spend more time close to your parents as they get older. These are just a few examples. The point is that life circumstances can change, and those travel plans that you put on hold could become something you're never able to do.

If you know that long-term travel is absolutely something you want to do, find a way to make it happen. Take a break from your career, if necessary. You never know how many chances you'll get to do this.

Remember also that if you built a career for yourself once, odds are that you can do it again when you get back. You probably didn't fall into a good job by sheer luck. You earned it because of what you have to offer to a company.

Spend plenty of time preparing financially before you make the leap

I'm all for making a big move if it feels right, but that doesn't mean I'm recommending you quit your job tomorrow. Before you do anything, it's important to have the personal finance side of your life in order. Running out of money halfway around the world may make for a good story later, but I imagine it's pretty stressful in the moment.

The first thing to do is save as much money as you can. Set up a savings account as your travel fund, and start transferring money to it every month. You can certainly travel on a tight budget -- just read how one writer traveled for 20 months on $8,000 for the perfect example. But having more money saved makes life easier and allows you to travel longer.

This is also when you should estimate how much money you're going to need. Do plenty of research to see what living costs are like in the places you want to visit. Once you've done that, you can use those costs, as well as how long you want to travel, to figure out a budget.

Taking a break from your career to travel can be scary, but it could also be one of the best decisions you ever make. Just remember to plan ahead financially and make sure you have enough money saved first. You'll have a much better time traveling and when you get back if you're able to pay for everything using your savings, without going into debt.