On sabbaticals: How to take a career break without breaking your career

Mar 10, 2020

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“Travel is kind of strength-training for your soul.” –Tara Quinn

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Tara talk about she got started coaching people pm setting up work sabbaticals, what her clients’ most common concerns are, and how Americans’ attitude toward work are different from the rest of the world (3:00); common tactics and techniques she employs as a sabbatical coach, and what kinds of clients she attracts (17:00); how to use travel as a pretext for professional development, self-education, and changing careers (28:00); the importance of imperfection and failure in learning useful lessons from travel (40:00); and ending a long-term sabbatical journey and transitioning back into professional life (48:00).

Tara Quinn (@threemonthvisa) is a certified life and career coach with a passion for working with clients who dream of taking time off to travel, live, work, study or volunteer abroad. Tara roster of clients includes people from companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Bank of America, UC Berkeley, and The United Nations. For more on Tara and her career, check out http://www.threemonthvisa.com/.

Notable Links:

Dude, Where’s My Car? (movie)
Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts (book)
Wanderlust, edited by Don George (book)
“Why We Travel,” by Pico Iyer (essay)
Pico Iyer on what Japan can teach us about life (Deviate episode)
Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman (book)
Gap year (yearlong break before or after university)
Wharton School (business school at UPenn)
Gap analysis (comparison of desired versus actual performance)
Explore Europe on Foot (Deviate episode)
Le Cordon Bleu (culinary school)
Digital nomadism (mobile work-travel movement)
Bodh Gaya (Buddhist pilgrimage site in India)
Culture shock (anxiety from being in an unfamiliar place)
CSI: Miami (police procedural TV drama series)

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode is also brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. If you’ve ever planned a trip with multiple stops, you know that finding the right flights can be difficult. Between balancing travel logistics and cost, it often becomes impossible to build an itinerary that matches your travel goals. AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.