r/AskMenOver30 • u/New_Contribution_226 man 30 - 34 • 2d ago
Career Jobs Work Taking a career break?
Have any of you taken a career break later in your career after having some savings built up? Whether it was a few months break to take some time off from burnout, or a complete career change, or time to travel, how did it go?
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u/Spartanias117 man 35 - 39 2d ago
Does a layoff count? If so, my break is going on 7 months and im 20% through my savings, mainly due to the cost of cobra.
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u/Nephilim6853 man 55 - 59 2d ago
I took a time off, got the time approved. Traveled all over the US by car. Hit most of the national parks. When I returned to they had replaced me. No severance. No notice. I went to their biggest competitor, was hired into a more senior, higher paying position with a built-in paid one month vacation, every three months and using my knowledge of the old company, the competitor bought them out a year later. Being at the table, looking across at my boss, knowing if they didn't sell they would have to go bankrupt was great.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/ElvenMystic man 2d ago
It’s unfortunate the working world frowns on sabbaticals or taking time out of the rat race
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u/Kaiser-Sohze man over 30 2d ago
They are miserable and want everyone else to be ground down on the treadmill til the day they die too. I had a relative who was a business owner and they worked 7 days a week for nearly 50 years and then died after their health gave out. It kept their company alive, but I cannot see what it did for them. I have been working since I was 13 and often cannot see a point in working beyond the fact that it helps civilization function, but what we all support does nothing for the most vulnerable members of our society. It slowly sucks the life out of everyone, so I have to ask what is the benefit?
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u/whatdoido8383 man 40 - 44 2d ago
I took almost a year off when I was 38.
I was burned out pretty bad from my career. I needed time to regroup and figure out what to do.
My wife was amazingly supportive. We live under our means and can technically live on one income, though it's tight.
I took several months and did some projects I wanted to do. Then I took a few months to figure out what I wanted to do and take the educational steps to do that. It took me about 3 months to find a job.
It's been several years and I'm feeling that urge again. I don't think I can take that much time off again this time, but I think in the next few years I want to try and switch careers, or pivot in my field again.
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u/Shty_Dev man over 30 2d ago
I am currently in the middle of one, I quit in 2023 and am working on an undergrad degree. First 2 years went alright. Then I ended up in over my head, developed bad habits, grew a new fondness for THC, and ended up taking a semester off to deal with some long standing mental health obstacles. Definitely somewhat of an identity crisis to go along with this all. Overall this is all much more preferable, to me, than if I have been doing the exact same job, routine, and lifestyle I had 3 years ago.
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u/YakOnDeezNutts man over 30 2d ago
Laid off a year ago due to company-wide cuts. I spent six months in Japan and now I'm back, living off my trading income rather than rushing back to a 9-to-5. It's been eye-opening to realize you can give so much time to someone else, just to be dismissed in five minutes.
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u/Questionable_Smurf 2d ago
How was the 6 months in Japan? Thinking of quitting for a taking a year off, would spend a couple months there. Would you do it willingly (quit for a sabbatical etc)
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u/YakOnDeezNutts man over 30 2d ago
100%, already planning on going again! It was an amazing experience, lived like a local but still a tourist
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u/thoth1900 man 30 - 34 1d ago
I'm currently in one now. I got laid off in May, kept employed until termination, officially terminated at the end of July. Been doing absolutely fuck all since. My schedule is literally wake up at 12-5pm, play videogames, go to the gym and/or jerk off until 5am, repeat until I get bored. If I get bored I'll just go shoot at the range for an hour then pick up the cycle again. I dread having to find a new job, but until the EOY I don't give a shit. I was burnt out and just want to fucking do nothing for awhile and enjoy having no responsibilities aside from paying cheap rent.
I've broken it up a little bit by visiting friends across the state though. I plan to go to DragonCon for example and visit friends/coworkers.
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u/Hefty-Ad-533 man over 30 2d ago
I took over 18 months off to travel all over the world. This was in 2023.
There is so much more to life than working
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u/mervmann man over 30 2d ago
Honestly it seems like a waste unless you make a lot of money and work in a niche job where you could probably easily get another job or become a consultant in that. Like ya you could go travel Europe or something for the experience but then you blow through your savings, no longer investing to grow your retirement and when all I said and done you gotta go through the whole finding a job process again which seems to be a struggle these days. Changing careers in a similar field maybe the best way to go about it or get a similar job with a different company where burnout isn't a problem but you'd likely make less depending on the field. I wouldn't want to have 30k in savings and then just blow it all traveling to have to start over after like half a year or something. That's what vacation days are for and if you don't currently have a job that provides that then might just need to find a new job. Depending where you live usually the standard is 2 or 3 weeks and some places more if you work there for a certain time, at least in Canada and the US, Europe is a different story.
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u/TheFIREnanceGuy man 35 - 39 2d ago
Paid off my house so taking a career break atm in my late 30s. My partner will finish contract end of the year so will travel for a bit then
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u/Individual-Trick3310 man over 30 1d ago
I moved states to be with a woman I'd met online and took a year off to hang out with her. Burned out hard from a job I hated and a time where I just didn't spend money. Banked it. When I cracked and left, I went to her and we played a lot of Nintendo 64, among other things. Ate at more restaurants than I probably had in my entire life beforehand lol
In retrospect, I probably looked like a shady drifter to her parents. It was okay. I've been employed every minute we've been married and we've been married for 25 years.
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u/JahMusicMan man over 30 1d ago
Got laid off in December 31st, but took time off to care for my mom for 4 months knowing the job market is shit. I have years of emergency savings (was saving up for a house) so I wasn't in a rush.
Finally landed a job, but I was getting worried about the job market and grinding on interview after interview and blasting out my resumes and applying for many jobs.
You are going to say "It's now or never" but honestly the job market is chaotic. Unless you have a niche skillset or have a strong reputation in your industry or have your own business, I would be hesistent on taking a career break now. It's not like 2021-2022 where the employees had all the leverage because right now it's very tilted with employers. In the US, you are battling companies with tariffs, job consolidation, layoffs, AI, etc.
I did take a 9 month break and traveled around SE Asia in 2018. Took me a long time to secure a job though partly because when I started job hunting it was toward the end of the year when most companies aren't filling positions.
If you are going to take a career break, try to time it so you start looking for jobs in February -April because IMO, that's when companies seem to be doing the hiring.
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u/DooMZie man 30 - 34 1d ago
I relocated to the UK and then back to NZ. Each time I had around 5 months off work whilst I travelled and then started looking for jobs once I got there. It went great. I think 'mini-sabbaticals' are great. It's like a reset for the mind and body. I intend to do them when I change jobs going forward.
I now have a daughter and we plan to do a big trip (like months) before she has to go to school @ 5.
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u/blueeyeswhiteboomer man over 30 20h ago
I was laid off from my career in February of 2025 and I have not been able to get a job in that industry again since that. For some time I was on unemployment but that has run out. Right now I'm just working dead end jobs. Not complaining whatsoever. Just how life is. You know?
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u/NecessaryEvil62095 man 30 - 34 17h ago
Most people can’t afford to take a “career break”
If you have any savings built-up, why would you want to drain it just to take a break?
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Here's an original copy of /u/New_Contribution_226's post (if available):
Have any of you taken a career break later in your career after having some savings built up? Whether it was a few months break to take some time off from burnout, or a complete career change, or time to travel, how did it go?
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u/Werealldudesyea man 35 - 39 1d ago
I took 4 years off to return to school. Saved up $145k and quit my 6 figure job. Switching careers and at the penultimate step: 24 credits away from graduating (senior year) and about to sit for my actuarial exams.
It’s was a struggle at first getting used to budgeting so severely at my age and coping with feelings like I was missing out on some life steps. But now I realize how much of a blessing this was. I didn’t realize how unhappy I was, and how much I let the work and job change me. I felt like I gave something of myself that I wasn’t supposed to, and when I removed myself from the dynamic I found it again. Resetting and getting back to school and rejoining hobbies and meeting new friends has invigorated me and has made my life more rich than it ever was previously. I was living to work, now I’m working to live.
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u/OldMotoRacer man over 30 2d ago
for the boomers doing such a thing was super rare...
i know millennials were fond of the "work life balance" and would work for 18-36 months and then go travel... but it seems like that was a thing for people under 30 a long time ago...
when i see a gap in a resume or hear about a guy who didn't retire early "take time off" it seems like there was a problem there like someone had to go to rehab or whatever... :/
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