It was never my intention to take the time off. I thought someday it could be nice, but I wanted to round out my financial situation first. I felt like I was making headway in my investing strategy and was caught in the mindset of “I’ll do it but only after I accumulate a little more.” Miss Defy broke this notion for me. She said, “Look, now is the time. We have established resumes, have saved enough, are in good health, and we don’t have kids or pets. This is the time to travel how we want and where we want.”
You never know until you ask
So, I put in the paperwork. My company has a policy of granting a one-year leave of absence with approval from the CEO and board of directors. It’s normally utilized for major illnesses or for an educational degree that will benefit the organization. I had to write a formal letter to our company’s leadership outlining what I was looking for and how the year would be used. I made clear in the letter that I didn’t want to use this time to find another job (as others have burned them with in the past) and that I really enjoyed my job and wanted to return. I was frank and honest- we have bigger goals we want to accomplish, we don’t have dependents now and we want to build on our young marriage.
Fortunately, I received the approval. I was informed that my health insurance would stop, that I was responsible for all certifications that might expire while I was gone, and that my job would be available (as long as there were no hiring freezes upon my return). So, the job was held but not guaranteed.
Miss Defy on the other hand worked in a small health organization that wouldn’t have the ability to reserve her place for a year. When she went in to tell the office manager of her plans, they were surprisingly supportive and thrilled at the idea of a year off. Despite this, they politely explained, “We’ve loved having you here, but if you leave, we’ll have to fill your position.” Hopefully with working in healthcare her job prospects will be strong upon our return.
To cover the costs of our year off we would have our investment properties for cash flow and a lump sum in savings that we’ve been working on for the past few years. To make sure there was enough money to last the entire trip, Miss Defy also sold her beloved (but financed) SUV. We are looking forward to using this year as a testing ground for how our finances would do as if this were financial independence. Would we need a lot more cash flow to live on? Or would we find that our original estimates were too high?
What are you going to do about it?
The next step was figuring out which things do we wanted to do. We had been dreaming of all kinds of trips and adventures over the years but hadn’t been writing them down, so we created a poster board to record our thoughts. Anytime we had an idea we wrote it down on the poster board, drew a picture to see it at a glance, and then estimated how much time it would take. Whether it took a few days or many months to accomplish, it was written down and nothing was off-limits.
We knew we wanted to spend time with family, travel both within and outside of the US, challenge ourselves physically and learn new skills. As the idea board filled up, we knew we would have no problem finding things to do. Here are a few that we may or may not end up doing-
- learning how to sail on someone else’s boat
- spending a week with family
- kayaking the Mississippi River
- taking a campervan from South Africa to Egypt.
- biking the Ruta de Los Parques (1,740 mile ride through Chile)
- mountain biking the CO Trail
- becoming better cooks
- doing a homestay in a Spanish-speaking region to improve our language skills
- learn to build an earthship (off the grid sustainable housing)
- meditation retreat
- traveling abroad with family
- start a blog to convey our experiences with our community
To accomplish all these things would take years and years if we were using vacation time (discarding entirely the endeavors that are longer than 2-3 weeks).
It comes down to priorities
As I wrap this article up and go back to dreaming about adventures, I wanted to share a few of the thoughts I’ve had getting to this point. My wife let’s me know when I’m getting too preachy, so I’ll do my best to be concise. Taking a year off is viewed as an aberration because to many it’s not worth the cost. The idea of having a year off to live life on your own terms sounds incredibly appealing to most people, but they never end up going. Why is that?
I certainly had all kinds of tethers holding me back too. Money was a big one- both not feeling like I had enough saved for a year off and getting comfortable with not making any money during one of my “prime earning years.” During these years you’re supposed to be earning as much as you can, expanding your network and building your brand (whatever that means). And if I left my career for a year, my peers would have another year of experience and growth over me.
And there are other tethers for people too-
- high debt obligations (credit cards, student loans, houses or cars)
- avoiding the hassle of traveling with kids
- taking care of aging family members
- lacking savings
- worrying about how this will impact your resume
- losing your job
For me it took sitting down and assessing my priorities to decide. Too often the priorities we think we hold most dear are not the priorities we invest in with our money and our time. Commonly listed priorities include spending time with family, being healthy (exercising, eating right), practicing your faith and saving money/building wealth. I say I want to make reading books a top priority but too often I find myself on my phone. I say I want to save money by making more meals at home but then I forget to make a lunch and just eat out. I say I want to do a morning routine but get caught in doing the tasks of the day.
So we tried to make a decision that would make us live our priorities- growing/nurturing our relationship, acquiring new skills and abilities, and seeing more of the world through adventures that were left on the backburner.
And they’re off!
We’ve left our jobs, have some ideas we’re inspired by and are excited to go on our first adventures!
-Mr Defy
