Career breaks or “mini-retirements” are gaps in a persons work career which last between 6-12 weeks, multiple months in some cases, or even up to a year and beyond.

They differ from routine vacations or holidays for several reasons. The duration of most vacations usually last from 1 to 3 weeks and has the intention of “recharging your batteries” and escaping ones routine life for a short period of time.  Saving money and looking forward to a 1-3 week holiday each year just didn’t cut it for me.

I was not willing to forego the freedom of “retirement”-type experiences until I was 60 years old.  To me, the idea of deferring freedom and fun for 30-40 years of work was too limiting.

I have many passions I want to pursue and I know how much the world has to offer, and I wasn’t content with putting all these off until later. I made the decision to do what I could to incorporate my passions into my career years, and not too see work and freedom as a matter of either-or.

Since I embarked on my first career break of 5 weeks in Australia in 2005, I have been taking at least one “mini-retirement” per year (sometimes 3 in 2 years) to travel the world for several weeks.  Earlier this year I spent 7 weeks in Africa and I am about leave on my next adventure on what I call “mini-retirement # 8” for an 8 week hiatus in Central America.

I consider myself a self-made career-break specialist.  Becoming one did not happen over night.  It took me several years to learn and understand the intricacies about travel, planning, purpose, and how to get away from my career for extended periods.  The question I asked most often is “how do you manage to get the time off from your career?”  My answer is usually something like “I make it happen”. Click here to read more.. »