Career Break Basic Training
Career Break Basic Training is no longer offered.
If you are interested in planning a career break trip, sign up for Plan Your Career Break Trip in 30 Days - it's free!
Whether you are looking to change careers, need a rejuvenating break from your current job or want to reexamine your life goals, a cultural career break can help you find the answers you are looking for. Planning such a break can be quite overwhelming to someone not used to the concept.
From contemplation and preparation to life on the road and returning, Career Break Basic Training is here to inspire and guide you through the process.
Why Join?
SUPPORTIVE PEER COMMUNITY - Whether it’s a career break, running a marathon, or earning an advanced degree, we all need people to keep us accountable, energized, and focused on our goals. In Career Break Basic Training you will find just that – from our veterans who have “been there, done that” to those currently in the planning stages. Whether they’ve taken their career break years ago or are planning months & years in the future, they understand the ups & downs that one goes through when planning such a life changing adventure.
PRIVATE NETWORK – Most people contemplating a career break or sabbatical spend some time in the “career break closet”. You’re not ready to tell family, friends – and especially your job – about your plans. There are a lot of great online resources, but forums, discussion boards and blog comments can easily be found. Here your secret is safe with us until you are prepared to announce your news to the world.
EXPERT ADVICE – We cover a wide variety of topics that are important to any career breaker, including resources and tips for your home, career, and the trip itself. We’ve tapped into some of the best experts in their fields to help you as well.
• Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity offers advice on frequent flyer miles
• Barbara Pagano of yourSABBATICAL gives great tips on negotiating a sabbatical
• Francine Jay, aka Miss Minimalist, tells you how to downsize
• Erin Fish of EMF Insurance covers one of the most important, and confusing topics – global health and travel insurance
• Randy LeGrant of GeoVisions highlights the benefits of International Volunteering
• and many more
What Do You Get?
The course and community is made up of four comprehensive sections that cover every aspect that a career breaker faces. Each section and their lessons include video interviews, valuable tips & resources, and the ability to interact through discussion groups.
CONTEMPLATING
Contemplating a career break is scary. This section will allow you to lay a strong foundation to move from simply contemplating to preparing. It will help you understand your core intentions and passions, and to reaffirm you are not alone.
In this section we cover:
• Addressing Mental Hurdles: Show you how to address your own hurdles and fears. We'll break down some of the myths and look at them in a new way.
• What's Your Motivation: Examine what brought you here to this point and understand your own personal motivation.
• How To Stay Motivated: Provide you with tips on how to stay motivated.
PREPARATION
If you are a planner and task-oriented person, then you may very well love all of this preparation and planning. If not, you may struggle. But don’t worry - we have it all laid out for you in easy to follow steps to get you on that plane and On The Road!
In this section we cover:
• Financial Overview: Tips on how to track, save and set a budget
• Preparing Mentally: Training for extended travel
• Global Health & Travel Insurance: Understanding your insurance options specifically for career breakers
• RTW Tickets: Researching and buying airline tickets
• Packing Tips: Recommended gear to take with you and packing tips
• Downsizing: How to get rid of things before you leave
• Leaving Your Job: Sabbatical vs. Quitting
ON THE ROAD
There are lots of decisions to make in this stage of your career break, but the good news is that they are all good decisions – after all, you are traveling and seeing the world and there is no one ‘right’ way to do it.
In this section we cover:
• The Best-Laid Plans: How much should you plan in advance
• What to Do: Maximizing the most of your time
• Communication Plan: How to stay in touch while on the road
• Accommodation Options: How to choose the ones right for you
• Recording the Experience: How to best capture your travel experiences
• Culture Shock: How to deal with experiencing culture shock while traveling
RE-ENTRY
This is the part that no one wants to talk about…coming to the end of your career break or sabbatical. Granted, we know you have joined the course and most likely haven’t even left yet, so why are we talking about coming back already? Because before you leave, there are some things you’ll want to be aware of about returning.
In this section we cover:
• What to Expect When You Return
• Marketing Your Career Break: How to market your career break, prepare your resume and incorporate your career break into interviews
• Finding A Job When You Return
Leah on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:12 am
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am thirty-two soon and have itchy feet that are ready to try out foreign soils.
It is a fear of leaving the security of the day to day grind of paying the bills and living a safe and non-challenging way of life that has put me on hold for some time.
I hope (as it has I) your post will inspire others to go and follow their bliss – Leah 🙂
Patricia GW on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:54 am
Travel and experiencing a new culture really has put it into perspective, and filled that void with purpose (and joy).
In three weeks I’ll be moving to Paris myself for one month. I have the same feeling – the incredible surreal realization that I’m going to be living there…. it’s thrilling!!
Abby on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 2:11 pm
Oh, Jenny! Escargot isn’t palatable — it’s delicious! I love your writing style; it’s so fun and energetic. Can you believe how far we’ve come? Everyone, Jenny and I were in the exact same industry and have known each other online and via work emails for years and years. But we’ve only met once, many, many years ago. And one of those jobs she was sleeping next to her BlackBerry for was one I’d just left. And now she’s 33 and living abroad, just like I was last year. Kindred spirits. Jenny, you’re a true inspiration — I can’t wait to see how your adventure unfolds!
Debbie Beardsley on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 3:22 pm
Your life in Paris sounds ideal. It is nice to read about people who follow their dreams instead of wishing they had! Enjoy the rest of your journey.
Terriaw on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 1:40 pm
Wow, fabulous and well said! I love your new outlook on like. After experiencing career burnout and feeling a little lost and purposeless lately, you have encouraged me. I look forward to seeing Paris someday!
Jenny on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 6:50 pm
merci for all the sweet comments! @abby we are soooo kindred spirits! well except when it comes to our differing feelings on escargot…;) and congrats patricia on the move! thrilling indeed!
shawna on Thu, 9th Jun 2011 1:32 am
you’ve reawakened my travel bug. must. return. to. france. (someday.) eat a croissant for me!
Weekly Travel Blog Links — LandingStanding on Mon, 13th Jun 2011 6:16 am
[…] how badly I want to go to Paris… If only we could afford living there for an extended period of time during our travels! Any […]
G. Michael Schneider on Sun, 19th Jun 2011 3:36 pm
I am a firm believer in living and working overseas, just as you described. However, many of us actually like our jobs and our homes and are simply looking to renew and refresh our lives, not change it. However, you can have the same type of cultural experience without having to reach into your own wallet and without having to quit your day job–by taking what I call a “working vacation.” My wife and I have done this 15 separate times, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Turket to Tibet, Mauritius to Mongolia. I describe how to do it in my blog otherguysdime.wordpress.com and via Twitter at @otherguysdime. Learn how to have fun without having to have burn any of your bridges behind you.