Ask HN: Thinking about a year off from work to travel. Am I making a mistake?

39 points by cheetos 9 years ago | 46 comments

I was recently laid off and am thinking about taking a year off to travel. Is this a bad idea in terms of my career? Will this be a red flag for employers when I apply for future work?

I am in my early thirties with no kids or mortgage. I have been working in tech for ten years and have decent savings. So in practical terms, I am OK.

However, I am having trouble feeling good about my decision. I rent a very affordable place that I really like in a very high COL city, so I will have to sell my stuff and shut down my home. I am worried that I will seem less attractive to future employers when I return. I am concerned about losing a year of salary. And part of me feels like I am pushing myself to travel not because I am truly excited about it, but because I fear I may not have such an opportunity again in the future (frankly, I am not really even sure where I would even go).

On the other hand, I am feeling a bit burned out and unmotivated, so the time off would do me good. I have lived abroad before and enjoyed it. I also have plenty of side projects I've been itching to work on. And I have a tendency to overthink things.

I realize this is a truly first world problem, but I am hoping the HN community can give me some good advice. What would you do?

aliston 9 years ago |

Sorry to be the wet blanket, but I actually don't think it is necessarily a no-brainer as others have said. If you do it, do it with purpose. Traveling will not fix your problems. It won't help you progress your career. It won't even necessarily expand your mind or help you learn new things.

It will, however, with near 100% certainty reduce your bank account balance, and will potentially put you in a jam down the line unless you have something to show for it at the end.

I spent a year traveling in South America in 2010. I was aimless. It was one of the best experiences of my life. However, if I'm really being honest with myself, it cost me a career trajectory that probably would have meant retirement type money by now.

I depleted my savings, my knowledge became obsolete surprisingly quickly, and it was a slog to get back into the groove when I got back. I can't say I regret it, but I definitely would have done it differently in retrospect.

NotSammyHagar 9 years ago | |

That's a really surprising experience, I would never have guessed that it would hurt. I learn new things constantly, but rely on a lot of deep ideas I have learned over time - how to craft code & design things (not just express it in c++ or something), how to work with people, how to express things tactfully, how to give negative comments without being personal. I use all this in my job. I wish I had taken time off years ago. Now I have a "career" and a family, its hard to take time off.

tomcam 9 years ago |

You gave us the answer already!

> 1. part of me feels like I am pushing myself to travel not because I am truly excited about it..

> 2. I also have plenty of side projects I've been itching to work on.

> 3. I rent a very affordable place that I really like in a very high COL city

You aren't crazy about travel. You're burned out on your job, but NOT on your side projects. You have a nice place in a nice city.

To me it's very clear. Quit. Stay home. Veg out until you feel ready to play at your side projects. Play with your side projects when you feel like it. You have all the makings of an awesome "staycation", if people are still using that word. Like you, I enjoy working on my own stuff and I've made a great living at it. Even if you don't, you're looking at some low bandwidth time off. Feel free to contact me to chat. I've been in your place.

msencenb 9 years ago |

I spent a year traveling from September 2013 to September 2014. It was the best year of my life. The trip itself was fun, but more importantly I gave myself permission to simply sit, think, and have idle time. Traveling gives you a sense of perspective you can't get from sitting at home.

If you are a decent software engineer I wouldn't worry about employment. Mid way through my year of travel I received a job offer, and negotiated that my start date would not be for another six months.

Also, this does not have to be an all or nothing decision. Why not sublease your place for two to three months, spend that time traveling, and then re evaluate at that point?

dennybritz 9 years ago |

This has been said before by another commenter, but I'll say it again because I think it really is true: Most likely you will never regret taking the year off, but in a few years you probably WILL regret never taking that year off.

> I am worried that I will seem less attractive to future employers when I return

That's not my experience at all. Me and many people I now have huge gaps in their work history, either from travel or startups, and it hasn't hurt anyone.

Also, it's not a black and white decision. Start taking time off and go travel. If you decide it's not for you after a few months just go back early.

partisan 9 years ago | |

There is so much truth in this. I would look at the situation as an opportunity. The freedom to live your life as you want, even for a short amount of time, can change your perspective forever.

And it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing situation. You might find that you are looking to get back to work a week after traveling. In fact, take a two week trip somewhere. Pretend you will be there for a while. Come back home and consider whether that is what you want from your life for the next N months. The rest will fall into place.

Safe and happy travels, and remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

aregsarkissian 9 years ago |

Work on your side projects on your downtime during travel. Learn docker and kubernetes, learn functional programing and perhaps elixir, learn vuejs or react and redux, learn asp.net core and spring boot or some machine learning and data science using python. When you get back you will pretty much be able to jump back into any type of enterprise job or startup

mchan 9 years ago |

I did this, at 33, similar situation.

While it took me about a year to find work after coming back, I still don't regret it. I was travelling for about 15 months in total. After returning, I did a bit of contract work, but took almost a year before I started full time work - but I am now living in a different country, and sorting out a visa took about two of those months of the year in limbo. To be honest, a part of why I took so long to return to work was my own resistance towards it, but now that I am working, I'm learning the stuff I want to learn.

Before you go, perhaps set yourself a limit. I had a budget in mind - about half of my savings - where I decided I would pull the plug if I reached that point and go home. I ended up returning before that point.

As many have said here, having a long sabbatical on your CV won't necessarily be a red flag. My current employer was very enthusiastic to bring me onboard.

saluki 9 years ago |

Make a list of places you would like to visit, things you would like to do in the US first.

Visit a college friend, family, see a live sporting event or concert in another area of the US.

Do you like hiking/camping/beaches/museums? Plan a trip to do something you'll enjoy.

Plan a short trip to one of those places. A 3 to 5 day get away.

Come back and reflect on where you want to go next/if this is something you want to do.

Experiment with a few trips like that before you sell your stuff shut down your home.

Next choose a destination in Europe and go for a couple weeks to test it out.

You'll get a feeling if it's something you want to do for 3 months, 6 months or a year.

I wouldn't worry too much about it being a red flag on your resume. Taking 6 months or a year off to travel is reasonable. Plus if you have the talent and experience and you're a good fit a company will hire you. And if taking time off is a red flag it might not be a company you want to work for.

Good luck, have fun. YOLO!

mateo411 9 years ago |

How about a compromise. Travel for one month. Instead of unplugging for one year, you go on a nice long vacation. After the month is up, you come back home. If you are ready to work again, then you go find another job. If you want to keep traveling, then you end the lease on your apartment, and hit the road again.

botswana99 9 years ago |

I did a 6 month round the world trip with my wife in my early thirties. It was great. We blew our house down payment. But eventually saved again and have two kids. Never hurt my career. In fact helped it when I went from writing code to managing teams of engineers.

Dude, life is a long. Work will always be there

lemonsqueeze 9 years ago | |

Glad you mentioned spending house payment.

Another way to do this is to buy the house first, and rent it out while you are away on travels.

mars4rp 9 years ago | | |

and spending what?

regret_min 9 years ago |

There is an idea known as the "Regret Minimization Principal". It seems particularly applicable here.

You have two options: travel or not travel.

Looking back, which choice might you regret least? Choose that one.

amerkhalid 9 years ago | |

Never heard of this before but it makes a lot of sense. I have been debating over something for a few days and using this principle, I think I know the answer now. :)

jcsnv 9 years ago | | |

Check out, solid overview on it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1717824

finchisko 9 years ago | |

perfect. thank you for this

NotSammyHagar 9 years ago |

If I was interviewing someone who took a year off, I'd want to know why they did that, and also I'd like to see that they have done something to get started again practicing so you are fairly ready to do some work. So it would be helpful to have some kind of good way to describe what you were looking for during your year, because peopel will want to ask you. I agree with others who say it would be an idiot company that would avoid people who take time off.

saberswag 9 years ago |

I'm currently 3 months into my year "off". I waited till my lease ended, sold everything I owned besides one large box of things I put in my parent's garage. I quit my job on good terms, they offered to have me work remotely but I refused because I wanted to have an open path. For me, travel was a priority to check off my list before I turned 30 in two years. I always made excuses or life gave me things I could not say no to so it was constantly pushed off.

Moved to Australia, not only because I've always wanted to visit, but also use it as a hub to Asia Pacific. I have one side project I am working on. Also by random came across a cool part time job for a start up in Melbourne. It wasn't part of my plan to be employed but again I have an open plan. The new gig is adding to my professional and personal growth. Also, have plenty of time to live, work on my side project, and also work on my personal goals. I'm not worried about my career. As others have said, if you have the skill set you'll be fine. but your new road may lead you to something better.

If your gut is telling you travel is something you need to do right now, don't have your mind talk you out of it. Do it and if it doesn't work out you can always go back home.

yladiz 9 years ago |

I think that, regardless of where you go, going somewhere new or somewhere where you don't know many people for a semi-long/long amount of time is extremely helpful. You learn a lot about yourself, your motivations, your priorities.

Some of your worries I wouldn't worry about so much -- if you want to keep some of your things, you can put them in storage or give them to a friend you trust, if you know someone with some spare room. Ditto for the place, if you want to keep it you could most likely sublease it to a friend or someone else for the amount of time you'll be gone and get it back when you return. I wouldn't worry about future career prospects; when you're interviewed, of course you'll be asked about it, but you can spin it in many positive ways. One year of salary loss is probably the only important issue in your third paragraph, so I would be careful and conservative with your calculations. And the feeling that you're doing it because you can rather than being truly excited about it is a real one, and is maybe partly due to the length of time you're considering, but it is something you really should consider if you are planning to have a family (especially with kids) in the future.

If you're worried about the length of time (although you didn't mention this directly in your post, it was one of the reservations I had and a feeling that crept into me as I started a 6 month journey traveling to a few different countries) you could most likely feasibly travel for 2-3 months to somewhere new, while keeping your apartment. Then if you want to travel for longer, you can figure out what to do from there.

On a more philosophical note: don't live to work, work to live. Your career is not in jeopardy for traveling for a period of time, the only thing that you're going to be missing out on is an income during that time. Your career will be there when you get back, and so will your friends, family -- plus you'll have a lot of interesting stories to tell.

ankurdhama 9 years ago |

If your year off is a red flag to an employer than this red flag is a red flag for you about the employer. If an employer tell you that they can't take you coz of your year off, ask them "Oh you must have some reason that was validated using some scientific study, would you mind sharing that study with me"?

Grustaf 9 years ago |

Definitely go for it. No matter what you feel now, you will probably greatly enjoy the experience, even if you're not that excited about it beforehand.

I would sublet the apartment if possible, but if you can afford not to, that's fine too.

I don't know about the US, but as a Scandinavian my adventures in the my mid 20s certainly didn't hurt my employability. On the contrary I suspect that I've often been shortlisted because my résumé stands out. So make sure to do really interesting things! The main reason for that is of course that it will make YOU more interesting too.

So just do it, don't hesitate. Go for two years if you can afford it, there's plenty of time for working later. You will not regret it, but you will of course regret not going while you could. Once you have a family it will be much more expensive and complicated.

psyc 9 years ago |

If you care about money, the potential for regret is quite high. I barely care about money beyond survival, but I still feel a bit of regret about all the time and money I've spent both on traveling and repeated attempts to start companies. I'm at an age where I'd have a million in the bank if I'd relentlessly prioritized career and compensation. No matter how much I value other pursuits, it can still be difficult not to think about that from time to time.

At present, I do wish I had spent more time on trying to make products. I do not really see what traveling got me, other than a way to impress certain people. To me, experiences are fleeting, and memories might just as well be daydreams. I can have those for free.

petervandijck 9 years ago |

That's easy: plan a 2-month trip (8 weeks), and then come back.

If you really, really want to extend your trip, you can do that, but 2 months in, say, Thailand or something is an amazing experience.

Don't leave your great apartment, just sublet for 2 months or just keep paying rent.

siquick 9 years ago |

Did the same thing in 2011 which culminated in moving to Australia from the UK (I'm now a permanent resident), and then did another 6 months of travelling last year after burning out at my previous job.

You will never regret this trip and you'll learn way more than you think you will that will help you in your career. If you're really worried about your career then spend some of the time working on new skills.

You'll also have ups and downs but learning to manage these times will help you so much in your life.

davidg11 9 years ago |

This should not penalize you at all for jobs, if anything the opposite.

I've been a hiring manager and I love people who do things like this. Shows independence and initiative.

cheetos 9 years ago |

I am floored by how thoughtful and helpful everyone's responses have been. Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives. I'm going to go for it.

mod 9 years ago | |

GL op!

Hope it's a blast.

mod 9 years ago |

Write down the worst-case scenario. Write down some other bad scenarios.

Write down the good scenarios.

Evaluate them, and keep in mind the worst-case.

It's probably not very bad. I hope you go.

bcbrown 9 years ago |

I took a year off to travel in my late 20s. Five years later, it hasn't been an impediment in my career. My timing was in part because I was about to move out anyway, and hadn't yet bought much furniture, because I had roomates.

It doesn't sound like you really want to travel for a year. I'd suggest taking a month off to reflect and decide what you want before you commit yourself.

stuaxo 9 years ago |

Definitely do it.

It's good to do something while you travel, as it gives a focus.

I spent time away learning graphics (ordinarily I do back-end). It was really good and at it meant when I came back I could put what I'd been up to on the gap in my CV.

TBH the my original plan wasnt nessacarily to come back, but it turned out to be a year.

(edit) of course you don't need to do something tech related when travelling anything will do

MortenK 9 years ago |

How about just travelling a month's time first, before deciding on a year? Go to south America, SE Asia or something, check it out and relax. It'll cost a month extra of rent, but it doesn't sound like the financials is a problem. And if you decide you want to travel more, you just return after the first month, get your affairs sorted and off you go again :-)

Mz 9 years ago |

This is not really a decision you need to make now. Take a week or two to rest, ponder where you might go and do some tentative planning. If you start to get jazzed about a particular destination, hey, start making it happen. If not, start job hunting.

This is not a situation where you need to make some big, final decision today.

cylinder 9 years ago |

I would recommend you sublease your place (or not) and take a month or two break. That's a long time to travel. You could go sit on a Greek island and contemplate a lot while the sun restores you. Then you can decide whether you really want to give up your place and keep traveling.

mattbgates 9 years ago |

Two types of regrets you will have in your life: things you did and things you didn't do.

Which regrets do you prefer?

krystiangw 9 years ago |

You might try life of digital nomad. You can work from everywhere in tech industry now. And staying in some new place for several weeks might the best way get to know country culture and people. This way you will feel more like a local, not a tourist.

th3o6a1d 9 years ago |

A year is a long time. Why not 6 months? Or 3? I know a couple who traveled for a year. There were diminishing returns after the first few months of going city to city. Maybe pick a place and try to set up a life there for a little while?

sytelus 9 years ago |

It's absolutely not a problem. In fact, I am willing to bet this will be positive thing in your resume. You have no kids and mortgage and have savings and you are below 30. Time like this doesn't last for long. Go for it!

akulbe 9 years ago |

No. JUST DO IT.

yladiz 9 years ago | |

Cue Shia LeBeouf.

lemonsqueeze 9 years ago |

I took a year "off".

Worked on some side projects, saw different places.

Picked up light weight contract work (think... like 15 hours/month of website/app maintenance for $1500/month)

bsvalley 9 years ago |

Are you a developer? If so, at your age and in today's market - it's called a career suicide :)

It's gonna be tough to pass the recruitment process in a year from now for so many reasons. The competition is stronger than ever and will increase over time. Everyone applies for dev jobs today. Add-up a lack of practice, being outdated and wanting to take a year off. All these are red flags for recruiters (not even interviewers). Personally, it will feel even worse when you'll start re-applying if you're burnt out today. Dev interviews are ridiculously annoying now and require a few months of practice.

If I were you I'd do that if you have a strong plan coming back and not simply applying to jobs. Or, if you're planning on building products while traveling, you won't carry that one year gap in your resume.