Briefcase To Backpack: Encouraging Career Breaks

Posted by Dave on 11 November 2009. Tags: blog, career break, review

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Briefcase to Backpack

Whether you’re traveling through South America or Southeast Asia, you’re likely to meet far more Europeans and Australians than you do Americans. The concept of long term travel has yet to go mainstream in the United States, and thus career-related resources for those ready to pursue it are lacking.

Enter Briefcase to Backpack, which was launched 8 months ago to encourage career breaks in the form of world travel, and aims to support those willing to take the risk of leaving their cubicle behind. The new blog is the product of a partnership between Michaela Potter and husband Michael Bontempi in New York City, and Sherry Ott in Vietnam. All three have taken recent career breaks from corporate America to travel.

The site offers a wide range of content, from tips to consider when contemplating a career break to advice for managing reverse culture shock once back home. A variety of career breakers have already been featured in guest posts, offering first-hand experiences of what inspired them to leave their jobs and material possessions behind for the open road.

Two of the biggest challenges facing any professional considering long term travel are committing to the decision, and how to re-enter society and regain employment upon completion of his/her adventures. Briefcase to Backpack, a resource by travelers for travelers, has the potential to meaningfully encourage more of us to pursue our travel dreams.

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This post was written by:

Dave - who has written 992 posts on Go Backpacking.

Dave Lee (Editor-in-Chief) blogged his way around the world from 2007-2009, and then started Travel Blog Success to teach others how to do the same. When not writing, he can be found salsa dancing, and lamenting his untimely departure from Medellin. Follow him on Twitter @rtwdave

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briefcase

Your site is so cool, there is no competition for you at all.

angelwings1723

I recently took the plunge and resigned my corp job to take a career break. Thank you for your information and resources. So far, I have been traveling and lovin' it! I really want to figure out a way to "extend" my sabbatical so that I don't have to go back to a 8 to 5.

Thanks,
-A

Dave

Hi A,

Welcome to our wonderful club! Once you get started, it seems only natural to figure out how to extend the experience.

AirTreks Nico

Agreed, this is a great site! I've been working for a company that sells round the world plane tickets for quite a while so I get to see first hand just how many people are actually doing these kind of extended trips. I'm always surprised at the number. While the US does still lag behind Europe, the UK and Australia in doing career break-style travel, we're quickly realizing that it's possible if not beneficial to travel in this way. The US still does travel, a lot! Extended trips generally fall in the 2-6 month range for Americans.

With resources like B2B and all the blogs, travel hubs, etc online, the encouragement is definitely there.Hopefully more people will take the plunge!

GlobalButterfly

Awesome, gonna check out the site now!

Brian

Briefcase to Backpack definitely has information for people who are worried about traveling and then not being to get back the corporate life...if that is what they really want to do.

michaelapotter

Thank you so much for featuring us Dave! You are a great example of an American having taken a traveling career break and using what you learned to carve out a happier and healthier lifestyle for yourself. Many of our followers could learn a lot from you!