Taking a career break

[chef]

I took one 2001/2002, it cost around £1k a month on average to live like a king and not worry about anything, although if you budget then you can easily live of far less than that, my ex did almost the same trip for £3.5k

I spent 16 months travelling overland wherever possible from Beijing through China, Hong Kong, N Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, S Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Chile.. missed out Easter Island as I was quickly running out of money and got pickpocketed at Sydney Airport

Have never had to explain why I took the time off other than "I took a break to go see some of the world" tell them where and get the usual "wow, i wish i could.."

Make sure you have funds for training and benchtime for when you get back, i was benched around 2-3 months after I got back and the nothingness along with post travel blues tests your insanity levels..

Go for it, you wont regret it

Chef

[DimPrawn]

Travel for 5-10 years and when you get back, a house here will cost you about £10K.

[DieScum]

Yeah, it is tempting.

I've got about 50k in savings. So I think I could put aside 20k for travelling. I'd plan on going for 12 months but that would provide plenty of backup to extend.

Then have 30k sitting in the bank to set me up when I'm back. Would probably move to a house share in London for a bit then pick up a contract.

The contract market in Oz looks not too bad though so you never know.

The thing is I'm permie at the moment (yeah I know), get paid a lot and work from home. But the job is so boring I want to self-harm every time I log on in the morning. A redundancy package would be nice but not sure how likely.

The thing is the longer you work, the more you save, it's hard to walk away from the big bucks.

[expat]

The thing is the longer you work, the more you save, it's hard to walk away from the big bucks.

It's also harder once you accumulate things like GF/wife/partner, house, and esp. offspring. Do the trip first, you can do the others later. It doesn't work the other way round.

PS I normally hesitate to advise people on what to do (with their life, I mean, as against just their presence) but I've never met anyone who thought about travelling, who did it and regretted it.

[rootsnall]

I've had 4 breaks of over 7 months, they got smaller each time as I got fed up with doing nothing slightly earlier. No real problems getting back into the contract game, while you are blagging on your CV you might as well go for it big time and go for the latest greatest skill while you are at it. You could even attempt to break into .Net

ps. I once heard a rumour that the brothels in Argentina were the best in the world

[SandyDown]

Yeah, it is tempting.

I've got about 50k in savings. So I think I could put aside 20k for travelling. I'd plan on going for 12 months but that would provide plenty of backup to extend.

Then have 30k sitting in the bank to set me up when I'm back. Would probably move to a house share in London for a bit then pick up a contract.

The contract market in Oz looks not too bad though so you never know.

The thing is I'm permie at the moment (yeah I know), get paid a lot and work from home. But the job is so boring I want to self-harm every time I log on in the morning. A redundancy package would be nice but not sure how likely.

The thing is the longer you work, the more you save, it's hard to walk away from the big bucks.

did you calculate the next company tax out of the 50K savings? or are do you keep tax money separate from your savings?

[shoes]

Should I take a career break?

The default should be 'break'. Should you sign up for another 6 months+ sat in an office, that's a harder question.

[JoJoGabor]

I ended my permie life of bordeom 5 years ago to do a snoboard season in Austria. Best thing I ever did. Came back Contracting earning twice as much money. Worked for 15 months. Then went off tranelling. 5 months in SE asia. Then got some amazing contract in Australia and got sponsored. Then did a snowbaord season in NZ, working 3 days a week.

Then did final 6 months travelling before coming back. Gone permie due to lack of contracts - back to life of boredom!!!

In sumamry, do it - its the best thing you'll ever do, even if jsut for being a lot happier in yourself and more confident but with great expereinces and a few foreign sh@gs under your belt (plus a few 5 knuckle shuffles in beach huts around the world ). From my expereince employers have only ever looked favourably on seeing travelling time on your CV. It show's you're not a typical IT nerd!!

[SallyAnne]

God if I didn't have my other half I'd be off like a shot.

I'd probably head to Canada, then tour America - work a few low paid jobs like bars or waitressing, just to get back in the real world, meet people, have sex with completely inappropriate people, get p*ssed with crazies...
that's where real life and fun lies.

This earning money, mortgage paying, gig to gig existance us lot lead is so ******* sad and stifling....but unfortunately once you're in it there's no going back.

Diescum - go for it lad. Grab it all by the b*lls and never look back.

[DieScum]

Och, it's all something to think about.

You just think about the money you are missing out on though... but what is money for?

I wouldn't like to go away for a year, come back at 31 skint and having to start all over again... but if I could come back with a bit left over and blag a decent contract... well that sounds pretty good.