Taking a year out to travel

[iphammer]

Anyone on here taken a year out of work to do some travelling? How was the experience? 

[Farnsbarnes]

Yeah your other factors do indeed make it more difficult but I still dont think it would be something you will regret!

I don't know what you do for work however sponsorship here is still possible at 40 however it is only for specific roles/industry (The list of which has just been updated on the Australian Immigration website). With that you can piggyback onto being able to stay here - most of those jobs are manual labour (Plumbers, sparkies, chippies, lorry drivers etc)  but there are some differences. I am a travel agent and it has just been added onto the list for sponsorship for 2025.

I am a bit younger than you and under 35 you are able to obtain a working holiday visa which allows you to work for 6/9 months at a time. If its just travel you want then a standard tourism visa is fine but anything work wise you will be best off starting off looking at the tourist boards. Visit WA a few years ago were really pushing to get Brits and Irish over here (I remember seeing all the adverts on the tele) so might be a good place to start.

Money wise, again i was only coming for a short period of time to start with by myself at 27. I sold my car which funded with enough what I expected to see me through for a good few months which it would have in all honesty but didn't expect to want to start working so quickly.

There probably a lot of useless info there but might help a bit 

[iphammer]

Haven't taken a year out as such but in Feb I left the UK to travel Australia for what I thought would be 3/6 months. Nearly a year later and I am still here and currently going through the process for my Sponsorship now to remain. 

My advise, do it. The one thing you wont do is regret it. Any job will have you back and your career doesn't disappear just because you aren't in the UK for a year. When you get to the point you think you have enough money to do it, take a little bit more just in case and enjoy it.




 

I would love to do it and travel around southeast Asia and Australia but having 2 kids, a mortgage and a job that currently pays just enough to cover the bills is making it harder to save and leave the UK + me and my Mrs are nearly 40 so guessing it'll be hard to get sponsorship anywhere. I have thought about selling me property and using the profit from it ( around 30k) to travel and pick up some  jobs along the way to top up funds when needed. Alternatively, I have thought about renting out the property but doing the maths I won't be making any money taking into account estate agent fees, maintenance, service charge/ground rent etc.

Have you been working whilst travelling Australia or did you save enough money before you went there? 

[Farnsbarnes]

Haven't taken a year out as such but in Feb I left the UK to travel Australia for what I thought would be 3/6 months. Nearly a year later and I am still here and currently going through the process for my Sponsorship now to remain. 

My advise, do it. The one thing you wont do is regret it. Any job will have you back and your career doesn't disappear just because you aren't in the UK for a year. When you get to the point you think you have enough money to do it, take a little bit more just in case and enjoy it.



 

[zico]

An old mate of mine has been doing this for around three years now and he must be in his late 50's.  Seems to be in a different place on Facebook every month, god knows how he is affording it and it isn't trhe touristy areas he is doing it.  Fair play to him but looking at some of the rooms he is staying in it certainly wouldn't be my thing.  Think the closest I would get would be to do a World Cruise and wouldn't be able to afford that so just a pipedream.

[Bungo]

My kids and their friends/girlfriends all refer to this practice as taking a 'gap yaar' now.

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

A thread full of perverts and mid life crises. If you didn’t do this in your teens, you missed the boat. No good doing it now unless you’re paying for sex that would get you banged up here.

 you travelled the world in your teens?...
Interesting .
What was Japan like?...that's one country I've always wanted to visit.
Vietnam ?  another  country  I've always wanted to explore because of my deep interest in the Vietnam War.

Nope, travelling for the sake of travelling has never really interested me, although I did visit Japan in my teens by coincidence. It wasn’t as a tourist though.

 milk-tray man?

[wils]

Mid 90's I spent a few years travelling with a brief spell back home in the middle. Asia, Australia, Europe and a bit of the middle east. Wasn't taking time off work as such I just took off and became a nomad picking up casual work as I went and with no thoughts of coming back. When I did briefly come back I was full of myself that travelling all the time was a lifestyle and I wouldn't be putting roots down anywhere. Obviously I was very young. I remember being somewhere in southern Europe and spending my 23rd birthday in a tent by the side of the road with a few friends with whom I was travelling with. Made me realise that I needed to start thinking about heading home and building some sort of a life.

Although i like to travel still I am far more concerned with being part of something and wouldn't have any interest in going away for a significant period of time. Just part of growing up and maturing. But as others have said it depends on your circumstances, I can understand it might suit some to take off in later life. With hindsight, all I would say is that travelling shouldn't be an end in itself. You should be looking to edify yourself in some way. Learn a language or the cuisine of the country. It shouldn't be a just tick list of places you have visited. For it to be worthwhile you should come back a different person.

[joe royal]

Spent a night in Osaka in 2000, always wanted to go back to Japan but realistically never will. 

January 2025 was going to finally go to Ethiopia after promising myself that I’d go there ‘soon’

the bit I want to go to is on the red list . That’s why I’m in a hotel in Colchester (South Africa) that has meerkats in the electric fenced garden. 

[Gank]

A thread full of perverts and mid life crises. If you didn’t do this in your teens, you missed the boat. No good doing it now unless you’re paying for sex that would get you banged up here.

 you travelled the world in your teens?...
Interesting .
What was Japan like?...that's one country I've always wanted to visit.
Vietnam ?  another  country  I've always wanted to explore because of my deep interest in the Vietnam War.

Nope, travelling for the sake of travelling has never really interested me, although I did visit Japan in my teens by coincidence. It wasn’t as a tourist though.

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

A thread full of perverts and mid life crises. If you didn’t do this in your teens, you missed the boat. No good doing it now unless you’re paying for sex that would get you banged up here.

 you travelled the world in your teens?...
Interesting .
What was Japan like?...that's one country I've always wanted to visit.
Vietnam ?  another  country  I've always wanted to explore because of my deep interest in the Vietnam War.

[Gank]

A thread full of perverts and mid life crises. If you didn’t do this in your teens, you missed the boat. No good doing it now unless you’re paying for sex that would get you banged up here.

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

A laugh in your 20’s, not as great in your 50’s

my main holiday is in January as it’s the quiet time at work and also the cheapest time to go.

currently in South Africa for 3 weeks, got a hire car and a plan, I call it posh back packing.

Its a decent compromise. 

Yea but your on the wagons so  busman's holidays for you.
Your right though ,In your 20s you don't appreciate fuck all , 
In our 50/60/70/80 s you slow down and visit places you've always wanted to, if your fortunate enough to afford it.
I can't afford the big trips Id like to do like route 66 .. Vietnam and Japan.
Done most  of Europe than interests me though...off to Salzburg/Berchtesgaden again in April .

[fraser]

I would love to do that.. But wife and family stops me. 

Away at the moment in Thailand for 5 weeks with the Mrs.. I can stay longer if I want and travel, but doesn't feel right. Anyone who gets the chance and doesn't have commitments you should definitely go for it, one life and all that 

[Colchester Sid]

Did it in 2010/11 - went to some fantastic places (Bhutan, North Korea etc) 

The only down side was after four months of travelling I was starting to fill too much of my time with drinking. It's easily done as if you're always on the move then getting pissed every night is an easy option. I then met a girl, lived with her in Borneo for 8 months, cut out the booze, got married and still together after almost 14 years

[Far Cough UKunt]

I did it and got paid for doing it, on and off for 10 years.

Worked on a cruise ship, I was like a dog with two dicks.

[Chip Shop Charlie]

Me and the missus have been travelling on and off for the last 20 years and have absolutely loved it.
I'm 66 next year and even though I'm reasonably fit, I'm starting to feel that the travelling is getting to be hard work compared to 10 years ago.
Do it before you get too old. You won't regret it.

[Mex Martillo]

I can see that. I back packed in my 20s and had a great time, didn't want to stop. Now I would love to travel about sailing, but that'll be in my 60s. My concern is if my health will be up to it. I guess it ain't a case of nipping round to see your GP.

[joe royal]

A laugh in your 20’s, not as great in your 50’s

my main holiday is in January as it’s the quiet time at work and also the cheapest time to go.

currently in South Africa for 3 weeks, got a hire car and a plan, I call it posh back packing.

Its a decent compromise. 

[Mex Martillo]

Yep, loved it. Ended up doing 2 years around Southeast Asia and Australia. I'll do it again when I retire, but in a boat.

[stubbo-admin]

When I did mine I quit my job, sold my flat, bought a ticket and went. Was 27. Was pretty liberating, but had no long term partner, kids, etc so commitments were low on the ground.

Asked work for a year off sabbatical (had been there for 6 years)...they said no, so sacked them off.

Feels weird watching it now, but when I did it back then this was the video that inspired me to go:



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[BRANDED]

Since the Brexit vote I’ve visited every country in Europe. Some several times. I’ve never been anywhere I didnt like. You get mountains and sea, great old cities and lots of interesting people speaking a lot of different languages. 

 

[Mike Oxsaw]

When I first moved into consulting, the plan was to take a 3-month contract somewhere, then tour wherever the contract was for the following month before taking up another contract elsewhere.

The contracts happened, unfailingly, for 25 years, but the month sabbaticals never did, yet every new contract I signed, the intention was always the same - 3 months on, one month off. Never actually had a "proper" break in all that time.

On one of my last contracts I was chatting with the project director (late 40's/early 50's) and mentioned my plans, at which point he said that a couple of years before taking on the current contract, his company allowed him a year's sabbatical during which he hired a Harley and "did" Route 66 (or what is left of it).

His wife would travel out every 2/3 months and they'd hang around wherever he happened to be at that time; reckoned it was excellent.

[nychammer]

Travel really does broaden the mind and a year out is something I wish had done but could not do at the time just before or after Uni, like a lot of people do. I’ve done a lot since, however it’s a little less carefree with a full time job to juggle so you have to go when you can. Took a 3 month sabbatical last year and went all over the world seeing family and friends and it was pure escapism (although in my 50s now so it wasnt backpacker style). You get to realize what a beautiful and varied planet we live on, will become grateful feel humble that you have the ability and means to see it (unlike most), so if the opportunity comes your way grab it with both hands! 

[stubbo-admin]

I did it in 2006/7....very glad I did. Visited lots of friends around the world I'd made, went to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, HK, China, Jamaica, and the US (New York, Chicago, DC).

As long as your circumstances make it possible, would definitely recommend (although like 'life' in general in a span of a whole year there are good days and bad days....wasn't just like a year long non-stop holiday).

 

[iphammer]

No, but driving across the States in a convertible taking Route 66 is something I’m looking to do when I retire. Doubt I’d be able to pull it off before then.

Why not do it before you retire?