PREPARATION

We know that realizing a career break takes a lot of planning. We’ll provide the tools and resources to assist you in making your career break decisions - from Where to Go, to Letting Go, to actually Going! The Briefcase to Backpack community will cover destination ideas, how to leave your job and commitments behind and putting your ‘regular life’ on hold. During your preparation we’ll help educate you on travel safety, packing tips, language barriers, booking flights, choosing insurance, as well as helping you through the struggles and anxieties of taking the ‘big leap’.

Check out articles in the following categories:
Where to Go | What to Do | Let's Go | Letting Go

Recent Posts

Health Insurance for American Travelers

There are many fun steps in preparing for your career break travels, and planning for health insurance issues is not one of them. However, it is probably the most important issue you should pay attention to, especially for Americans.

Keith and Amy Sutter have successfully made the transition from briefcase to backpack. They are currently traveling the world while documenting efforts in environmental sustainability on their blog, Green Around The Globe. They share with us how Americans must navigate a complex process to get health insurance while traveling around the globe.

Second only to our salaries, health insurance was the most valuable component of our employer-provided compensation before we made the leap from briefcase to backpack. Walking away from the relative simplicity of employer-provided health benefits was fraught with forms, confusion and seemingly endless options. Tempting as it was, throwing our hands up and foregoing health coverage was not an option. Going without health insurance seemed riskier than riding a motorbike through downtown Hanoi at rush hour blindfolded, not something either of us want to do. By detailing our experiences throughout the process of obtaining health insurance coverage for our career break we hope to share what we learned and make the process a bit easier for you.

Private health insurance in the United States is a quagmire of benefit statements and long medical history applications. We quickly found this out when we began researching our options. As this was the first time we would not have employer or university-provided group health benefits, we had to start from scratch. We quickly discovered the world of travel insurance.

TRAVEL INSURANCE
There are many reputable travel insurance companies out there that offer great coverage while traveling abroad. As an American, however, you must keep in mind that most of these plans will not cover you within the United States and many of these plans are not recognized as “creditable.” “Creditable coverage” is defined quite broadly and includes nearly all U.S. group and individual health plans. But despite the broad definition nearly all travel insurance is NOT deemed creditable coverage. One notable exception is HTH Worldwide’s Global Citizen, which is underwritten by A-rated insurance companies licensed by each State’s department of insurance as admitted carriers. The trick here is that depending on what state you live in you may need to go through underwriting in order to obtain coverage.

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Let’s Go With No Debt World Travel

If you’ve decided to take a career break or sabbatical, you’ve already faced a big hurdle. And if you are new to long-term and round-the-world travel, trip planning can seem incredibly daunting, especially if you have other things to take care of like leaving your job, leasing your place, packing up your life, and even preparing for your return. (I know – you haven’t even left yet.)

There is a plethora of information on the web for RTW travel, but Brian Peters has made it easier by putting many great resources in one place with “No Debt World Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the World”.

Brian is a fellow Briefcase to Backpacker and transitioned from working a white-collar 9-5 job to traveling the world. As he says in his e-book “Admittedly I was not such a big travel fan, even up to a few years ago. I was busy living life, mainly working and playing my part in Corporate America. Travel was for people who had money, or had the free time. I had none of these…or so I thought.”

Brian finally set off on his travels after he was laid off from his job, and a lot of what he learned in preparing and during his six months of travel he shares in this e-book.

Some of the areas he covers includes:

• Deciding Where to Go
• Cash and Credit Cards
• Method of Transportation
• Travel Insurance
• Passports and Visas
• Your Health
• Your Safety
• Hostels
• Food
• Travel Tech
• Language

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What to Do: Learn a Language

If you’ve ever dreamed of learning a new language, there’s no better time than on your career break!

August Flanagan, co-founder of Lenguajero.com, a startup that helps people practice conversational Spanish, has 5 tips on how to make it happen.

1. Go to a/the country where the language you want to learn is spoken.
If you are like me and want to learn Spanish, it is pretty easy to get to the Spanish speaking country of your choice from anywhere in the U.S. Frequently, flights into tourist hotspots like Cancun or Buenos Aires cost only a couple hundred dollars one way. Once you are there, you can catch either a domestic flight or a bus to just about anywhere for a whole lot cheaper than an international flight.

2. Settle down somewhere and spend time in a new community.
If you take a few months (or longer) and stay in just one place during this time you will learn a lot more of the language than if you just travel from place to place during that time.

Forming a routine means that you’ll see the same people day in and day out. You’ll stop to chat with the same store owner or vegetable vendor, get to know your neighbors, and, of course, you’ll make new friends. Which, in my opinion, is really the best way to learn a language.

When you first get to your new home try using CouchSurfing to organize a few nights out. Aside from being a website that helps you find a place to crash, CouchSurfing is a great place to meet new people in cities all over the world.

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Let’s Go: Chris Dyer’s Prep Steps

The decision to take a career break and travel is different for everyone, just as the places you go and the activities you experience will be unique as well. But you can learn a lot from how others made the choices they made.

Here Chris Dyer shares with us how he ended up in Changwon, South Korea teaching English after leaving his position as a Brand Manager for a major toy company and selling his house. “I recently decided to give up all of those things to travel the world and experience different cultures. One might call it a “quarter-life crisis”, but I consider my life just beginning. I only have one life and I want to really live it!

Budgeting Money
(Chris originally planned to do a RTW trip for a year)

After researching websites/blogs of people who have completed a round the world trip already, I came to the conclusion that I needed to have $20,000 before I left. I did not live a lavish lifestyle whatsoever, but I still kept a detailed spreadsheet with my debits and credits.

Based off my calculations, I could save approximately $1,000 a month as long as no problems arose. Saving a grand a month equated to $15,000 so I decided to get a second job serving/tending bar at a local pub. This would bring in a few extra hundred dollars a month. A few other money saving opportunities were: less clubbing/drinking (huge savings potential), making my own food at home (my average grocery bill was only $50 a month), cancel my 401k and company stock options, and end frivolous spending in general.

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Where to Go: Itinerary Round-Up

We’ve already offered some tips on where to go based on timing, your interests, and comfort level. And we’ve shared how to decide on what to do based on our experiences. So we thought it would be fun to share what others are saying about planning an itinerary!

Unique Ways To Pick Your Next Destination
From Enduring Wanderlust

This article offers up some unique methods of selecting your next destination, including throwing a dart at a world map, which is what editor Gennaro Salamone did in 1998. Where did he end up? Doing a summer of study in the Czech Republic.

Where Would You NOT Travel To?
From NoDebtWorldTravel

Brian Peters addresses concerns you may take into consideration when deciding on where to not travel, including political beliefs, human rights concerns, and safety. And you may be surprised to find that the United States shows up on some peoples lists for these same reasons.

Secret of Round-the-World-Travel
From Hole in the Donut

Barbara Weibel shares the secrets she learned when planning her six-month career break and how she took advantage of the Star Alliance program to book her RTW ticket. And be inspired by the destinations she chose to visit as she circumnavigated the globe.

How to Travel Around the World Without Flying
From Matador Traveler

This feature piece on Matador’s Travelers Notebook follows a couple who planned their round-the-world trip by boat, train, and automobile – just about every form of transportation but flying! Who knew you could be a passenger on cargo ships? Very useful when crossing oceans!

Travel Budgets
From How to Travel the World

Budget is a big factor in deciding on an itinerary. Have a lot of time but little money and want to stretch your dollar? Think about Southeast Asia where you can survive on $20 compared to the 60-70 Euros you would need in Europe. This article will give you a great idea of average living costs across the globe.

How to Use Social Media for Travel Research
From Mashable – The Social Media Guide

How often do you seek out a friends advice for a restaurant or hotel? Well, why not use virtual friends to help plan your travel itinerary as well! With the advances in social media, there are many great outlets for seeking out recommendations – even while on the road!

What unique ways have you chosen your travel itinerary?

Brian Peters: Transitioning from Briefcase to Backpack

How does one go from working a white collar 9-to-5 job to traveling around the world, sleeping in hostels from Thailand to South Africa? Brian Peters from No Debt World Travel shares how he did it.

I worked for years in corporate America in Information Technology, moving up the ladder, changing jobs, taking severance packages and being a good soldier in the corporate wars. Professionally I was accomplished and liked my work but felt something was missing.

I’m not sure where the idea came from, but I thought about traveling to see all the places I’ve always seen on TV. In 2006 I woke up one morning and decided to sell my house. I did not know where I was going to go with that, but I felt that I didn’t want the house to weigh me down if I wanted to make a move. Selling it gave me options.

Thankfully the house easily sold before the real estate market meltdown. A year went by and the thoughts about travel stayed with me. Then in February 2008, the job told me I was being laid off. Most people would react with disappointment or even anger. I was quietly excited. Before this I didn’t know how I was going to leave my job. This was my opportunity.

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Letting Go: Project Plan – Packing

CHOOSE A SUITCASE/BACKPACK
The first step is to decide what you are going to carry – suitcase or backpack.

Look at your itinerary and think about the types of places you’ll be staying, the types of transportation you’ll be using, and how often you are going to be moving from place to place. If you are staying in hostels, camping, and traveling in less developed countries by bus or car, then I personally think that a backpack is the way to go. However, if you are staying in nicer hotels, traveling by air, and focusing on developed countries, you can simply take the weight off your back and use a traditional suitcase with wheels. Look for something durable, yet lightweight.

I actually compromised and purchased an Eagle Creek Switchback (a suitcase with wheels that turned into a backpack), a great solution for me since I was planning on doing both types of travel. My Eagle Creek Switchback was made of heavy-duty nylon which was lightweight and ‘moldable’ – good for stuffing a lot of items into it!

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How to Choose an International Volunteer Program

You’ve decided to incorporate some aspect of volunteering into your travels – now how do you choose the right international volunteer program for you? One of the biggest benefits of volunteering abroad is the opportunity to learn and experience another culture. So much of the travel experience is take-take-take and for many that rarely even involves a genuine cultural exchange.

But by including volunteering as part of your travels, you’re able to immerse yourself into a culture and give a little something back as a way of saying thanks. When I decided to take a career break in the summer of 2006, I knew that I wanted to include volunteering into my experience. And there were many factors that I considered that helped me decide what program was best for me. Read more

What to Do: Overview

If you are like me, you work hard – very hard. However, all of a sudden I was looking forward to a year of free time to do whatever I wanted – no work and all play! Yes, a dream come true but overwhelming at the same time. So many decisions to make.

My first instinct was to escape to a beach and relax, but I knew that I couldn’t simply ‘vacation’ for a year. And I knew it wouldn’t take long to get the ‘vacation bug’ out of my system. So after that, then what?

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Peru: Cusco

In 2006 I took a career break and volunteered in Peru for the summer.  This was the first time I really spent an extended amount of time in one place, and the experience was amazing.  The culture and people of Peru touched me in a way I never expected and this led me to my next job at Cross-Cultural Solutions.

For many years, Peru has called me – whether it was the spirit of the Incas, the mystery of Machu Picchu, or the magic of the Quechuan smile, I needed to answer the call.  In the summer of 2006, I did just that. But unlike other travels, where I tried to see and do as much as possible – never staying in one place for more than a few days – this time I wanted to have some roots.  I really wanted to immerse myself in the culture; experience life as the locals; and maybe pick up a bit of the language.

Cusco was the perfect place.  Chosen as the capital of the Incan Empire for a reason, Cusco has a spiritual essence that can’t be explained – it can only be felt.  But if I was going to take so much from this beautiful culture, I also wanted to give something back.  And that’s when I found Peru’s Challenge.

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