How can I take a long break to travel without losing my job?
Taking extended time off to travel requires risking months of lost pay, mortgage and financial obligations, and potential job loss despite being rare. People feel stuck working standard schedules when they want to experience the world while young, leading to severe anxiety over whether they can afford even a few weeks away.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1taking shorter trips of 1 month or using two weeks of unpaid leave
- 2getting a doctor's note for mental health to use FMLA for job security
- 3Taking short weekend getaways or long weekend trips instead
- 4Limiting vacations to one or two weeks maximum
- 5Saving up paid time off or utilizing remote work flexibility
- 6Prioritizing travel in the budget by cutting back on other expenses like dining out
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“It's challenging to take 3 weeks straight off from my job.”source ↗
“I feel like I am wasting my time and want to do something more meaningful and fun for myself like travel when I’m still young in my 20s.”source ↗
“I’m planning to ask my manager if I can take unpaid time off during summer months since it’s slow during that time anyway and everyone is out of office.”source ↗
“losing out 2 months of pay (I am single and have a mortgage but I do have 1 year emergency fund), risk of job loss (very low risk)”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Is a week-long trip to Asia worth the jet lag?
- 5Is a wedding venue with a two-hour drive too far for guests?
- 3Can I afford to take unpaid maternity leave?
- 3How to survive the long school stretches without breaks
- 2How to pass the time on a long flight without sleeping pills
- 8How to plan a long road trip when you have no clue