Carving out the time for epic adventures was once the exclusive realm of academics, the idle rich and students looking to find themselves. But it is fast becoming a more realistic option for the rest of us. In part, changing demographics are responsible: Gen-X employees, who switch jobs and careers with far more frequency than their parents and elder siblings, are more comfortable with extended breaks between employments. But surprisingly, the attitude shift is also being fueled partly by the corporate world. With companies everywhere trying to find ways to trim expenses, an increasing number have turned to unpaid and partially paid time off as an alternative to layoffs. Last year Accenture, the financially battered global consulting firm, offered workers a voluntary FlexLeave program that allowed them to take six to 12 months off at 20 percent pay and full benefits. (They were also guaranteed their jobs when they returned.) As of mid-October, 3,300 employees had snapped up the deal–many to fulfill lifelong travel dreams such as attending cooking school in France, language lessons in China or safaris in Africa.
But before you drop everything and dive headlong into the jungles of Borneo for a year, NEWSWEEK has collected a few helpful suggestions from those who’ve gone before you.
Plan how you’re going to pay for it. So you’re reading this and thinking, sure, I’d love to take time off, but how can I afford it? Hope Dlugozima recommends several ways to finance your trip in her book “Six Months Off: How to Plan, Negotiate and Take the Break You Need Without Burning Bridges or Going Broke” (Henry Holt). In addition to applying for scholarships or grants for travel, there are also inexpensive volunteer programs such as Insight Nepal, a three-month teaching program that costs $800, including housing. Prepare far enough ahead and you could also save up the money with little effort. “It’s easy to save if you know that knocking out a $50 meal for two once a week equals $2,600 at the end of the year,” she says. “And that could pay for three months of living in Portugal.” Another possibility: cut down on living expenses by using one of the many house-swapping Web sites like HomeExchange.com.
Don’t be overly ambitious. It might be the longest vacation of your life, but experienced travelers know that you’ll still see only a fraction of your chosen destination, so take it easy. “Have a basic itinerary but don’t detail it too much,” says Anne-Marie Mullen, a Londoner who taught and traveled in South America for nearly a year. By giving yourself some flexibility and listening to people you meet along the way, you’ll discover places and experiences that can’t be found in the usual guidebooks.
Stay connected. Setting up a Hotmail or Yahoo e-mail account is a given for today’s roving travelers. But Mullen also suggests putting together a Web site that includes copies of your passport, tickets and other vital travel documents, in case they are stolen or lost along the way and you need some form of proof.
Don’t forget about your return. Depressing as it might sound, epic vacationers need to think about the journey home–even before they start. Not only will there be practical issues to take care of (housing, work and so on) but it’s important to leave time to reacclimate yourself with the world that went on in your absence. “You tend to come back a different person,” says Baldwin. “It’s a life-changing experience.” And that, after all, is the whole point.
