In this series of interviews, we speak with people who have inspirational stories to tell about taking travel career breaks, and successful business leaders who have implemented sabbatical policies. Do you have a story too? Please get in touch and tell us about it.

Meet the entrepreneur on a globetrotting adventure with a family of six

Sara Banks, founder of SteamLine Luggage, talks about taking her family and business on a round-the-world trip.

06
Apr
Christine Guarino hiking on sabbatical
A maths teacher’s fulfilling sabbatical during the pandemic

Maths teacher Christine had to change her plans for a dream travel sabbatical after Covid struck.

28
Jan
Liz Galloway sabbatical sand dunes
How two sabbaticals opened amazing opportunities for a PR professional

Liz has supercharged her PR career by using two sabbaticals to travel and learn a multitude of new skills.

01
Oct
Laura Bannister on the Trans-Mongolian Railway
Quitting a PR career for a Trans-Mongolian Railway adventure

Laura left her busy PR career in London behind for a dream adventure on the Trans-Mongolian Railway.

10
Sep
JJ family Hollywood road trip sabbatical
A product marketer’s USA family road trip on a paid sabbatical

JJ took a paid sabbatical from his tech company job for a USA road trip with his family of six.

27
Aug
Nellie Khossousi bicycle lake
At a Danish folk high school in a pandemic: an adventurer’s story

Nellie Khossousi tells of her experience at a Danish folk high school as the world was struck by a pandemic.

13
Aug
Anh Le sports car Vietnam
How a Vietnam wedding became a six-month remote working adventure

When ​​Anh set off to Vietnam to marry, she wasn’t expecting two weeks in a quarantine camp and six months of remote working.

30
Jul
Miriam at Lake Garda Italy
How a lawyer found a new career path after a travel break

After eight years in the legal profession, Miriam left her job as a lawyer to travel. In this interview she tells her story.

16
Apr
Kemi Adewumi cafe
An advertising executive who quit to travel and built a new career

After ten years working in advertising, Kemi quit her job to travel for a year. The adventure led her to a new career path.

05
Feb
Anthony Bianco cancer survivor travel
A cancer survivor who left corporate life to travel the world

Anthony survived a rare cancer in his early 20s, before being sent on a work assignment that inspired a travel career break.

23
Dec
Mount Ijen Indonesia Geena Truman
The Los Angeles bartender who took a career break to travel across Asia

Geena took a break from her bartending career to travel across Asia. Forced back home by a pandemic, she built a campervan.

04
Dec
DJ DiDonna
DJ DiDonna: from fintech business leadership to the Sabbatical Project

DJ DiDonna took a four-month sabbatical from running his fintech company. The experience inspired a new research project.

20
Nov
Lauren and Steven Kauai Waimea Canyon copy
Meet the travelling couple who retired from full-time work before 30

Lauren and Steven Keys retired from full-time work while still in their 20s, and have built a lifestyle around travel.

13
Nov
Harjit at a train station in Bagan, Myanmar, during the travel career break
How a woman’s travel career break in her 40s inspired a fashion business

Harjit left her London banking job to take a one-year travel carer break in her 40s, an experience that led her to new beginnings.

30
Oct
Susie and Jan at the airport before leaving for their round-the-world career break
A management consultant’s travel sabbatical that inspired a new venture

When Susie took a one-year sabbatical from her management consultancy career to travel with her husband, it led to new horizons.

23
Oct
Brianne hiking the Pacaya volcano, Guatemala, while on a press trip after returning from her travel career break
A six-month travel transition from a PR career to self employment

Brianne took a six-month travel break during her transition between a PR career and going self-employed as a consultant.

16
Oct
Ilona at Valle de la Luna in the Atacama Desert, Chile
How a travel break led a doctor to a new career in clinical research

Ilona left her job as a doctor in Germany to travel for a year. After returning, she was inspired to make a big career change.

09
Oct
Pam Yang chalk cliffs Greece
The rewarding lifestyle of taking travel breaks between jobs

Pam has interspersed her 16-year marketing career with long travel breaks between each job to figure out her next steps.

02
Oct
Jayde left her corporate customer service career in Australia to try out life in Canada
Career gap in Canada: a break from climbing the corporate ladder

Jayde left her job in corporate customer services and administration to live and work in Canada on a travel career break.

25
Sep
Adrian and Matt at Wadi Rum, Jordan
A content strategist who travelled to 30 countries on a career break

Adrian travelled to 30 countries in 12 months while building her content strategy business, which she now runs full time.

18
Sep
Manisha Singh travel career break
Journey to fulfilment: an Indian woman’s life-changing travel career break

After reaching an extreme low, Manisha left her big four consulting firm job in India for a year of travel in South America.

11
Sep
Miami sunset silhouette
Pausing to reflect: a career break after 14 years in financial services

After 14 years as a financial services executive, Steven took a career break to study, travel and spend time with family.

28
Aug
Darah and Garrett in Bali Indonesia
How travel led a graphic designer to a career in digital marketing

Graphic designer Darah reveals how an 18-month travel adventure helped her to find a new career direction in digital marketing.

21
Aug
Paddling through the Mekong in Vietnam
How a sustainability business was born after a travel career break

Stephanie tells how she started her sustainability business Bright Beat after taking 18 months off to travel the world.

13
Aug
Alan and Karla Redwood sunset
From business analyst to poet: a journey through the USA’s national parks

Alan left his job as a business analyst and travelled through all of the USA’s national parks, inspiring a new poetry career.

24
Jul
A tale of four sabbaticals: a PR executive reflects on the power of time out

PR executive Tim utilised his former agency’s generous sabbatical policy to take four very different breaks from work.

10
Jul
Ken Macken at the Mile High Luggage factory in Noosa Australia
How travel inspired an entrepreneur to create a surf luggage company

After overworking led Ken to burnout and relationship burnout, a travel career break led him in an exciting new direction.

26
Jun
Emon Choudhury Race Across the World winner
Race Across the World winner Emon speaks to Career Gappers

Emon Choudhury and nephew Jamiul won BBC’s Race Across the World Season two. He discusses the impact of the race on his life.

19
Jun
Alex Petrov Europe to Australia
The man who quit his job at Google to motorbike across the world

After nine years working at Google, Alex left his job to embark on an epic solo motorbike journey from Europe to Australia.

05
Jun
Michael Alexis
The lawyer who retrained as a marketer after a travel break in China

Michael was a lawyer in Canada before taking a six-month break in China. After returning, he embraced a new career direction.

29
May
Beach football South America
How a Latin America career break helped a canal cruise company to grow

Guy took a six-month break from his tourism startup in the Netherlands to travel in Latin America, and returned full of ideas.

22
May
Erin and partner Iceland campervan rental
How a campervan adventure inspired a software engineering manager’s career change

Erin spent 13 years in software engineering before taking a travel break. The adventure has sparked a major career change.

15
May
Steve Rohan in Xingping, China 2018
Teaching in China and taking two months off to travel every year

Steve discusses how he balances a life of teaching in China with taking a two-month break to travel overland every year.

01
May
Simon Akers Cape Town view
Slowing down: a marketing consultant’s life experiment in South Africa

Simon headed to South Africa in pursuit of a remote-working dream; months later, he returned to London with a fresh perspective.

25
Apr
Michelle Matthews turtles
A marketing manager who took a career break to volunteer in Costa Rica

Michelle Matthews discusses the experience of a six-month break from her marketing career to volunteer in Costa Rica.

20
Apr
Janice spent a large proportion of her career break travelling through Europe
How a career break inspired a TV director to become a travel writer

Janice Hopper took a six-month travel break from her job in TV direction. After returning, she embraced a new career direction.

03
Apr
Eddie Zaldivar reunited with family
A Central America journey that reunited a family and propelled a career

Eddie Zaldivar set off to Honduras on a filming trip that helped him reconnect with his family and find purpose in his career.

20
Mar
Lara at the Thorong La pass, the highest point of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal
How a UK civil servant reshaped her life after a travel career break

Lara Hayes took a 14-month travel break from her job in the UK Civil Service. Since returning home, she has embraced a rural life.

13
Mar
Sarah Prinz and her husband on their travel career break
How a couple’s travel career break sparked a wedding planning business

Sarah Prinz and her husband left the jobs they loved to travel together. The experience took them in a completely new direction.

06
Mar
Ashly and Carlos desert
How a travel career break inspired a new clothing business

Ashly and Carlos quit their corporate jobs to travel. After returning, Ashly realised her dream by starting her own clothing line.

30
Jan
Hallam Agency awards ceremony
How an industry-leading company is making a success of sabbaticals

The CEO of one of Europe's top digital agencies explains how they have introduced a sabbatical policy for employees.

16
Dec
Cooper Dawson and Sarah Blinco
How a house-sitting travel sabbatical is helping a couple build a new life

Meet the couple who took a six-month break from their busy London lives to house-sit around Europe and start building a new life.

06
Dec
Nina Mack Worship Agency
A small business owner who granted a travel sabbatical to an employee

More businesses are offering career breaks to employees; this story shows how the arrangement can work well for everyone.

11
Oct
Scott and Michelle hope the trip will give Rufus and Riley an amazing childhood memory
The family who are selling everything to travel Europe in a motorhome

The story of a UK family who are selling their house and belongings to take a big family career break adventure.

30
Sep
Career break family travel with a truck and caravan in Australia
Lap of Australia: a 20-month career break for a family adventure

The story of a high-flying marketer who took a 20-month career break to travel around Australia with her young family.

23
Aug
Krista hiking at Trolltunga in Norway during her travel career break
How travel opened new doors for a corporate communications professional

The story of how a travel break helped Krista Canfield McNish to reshape her successful career on her own terms.

14
Jun
Tim cycling in Iran on the course of the journey
From cycling 13,000 miles around the world to a new career in accountancy

Tim Moss and his wife Laura cycled 13,000 miles around the world. Now, he balances a life of adventure with an accountancy career.

25
May
A ten-day cruise to Antarctica was the highlight of Hannah and Chris's travel career break
From Siberia to Antarctica: reflecting on a travel career gap ten years on

A couple reflects on their 19-month travel career break and how it has impacted their lives a decade later.

30
Apr
Alan Graves on a horse-riding trip in Bolivia
How travel inspired a boiler salesman to start a career in politics

Just after getting a promotion and big pay rise at work, Alan quit to go travelling – and it led to a new life path.

17
Mar
Ženja and Anders on the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu, Peru
22 countries in 6 months: a project manager’s travel career break

Anders talks about the experience of taking a six-month travel career break and readjusting to working life afterwards.

24
Feb
Alisa Howlett Machu Picchu
Overcoming burnout: the career break reflections of a higher education professional

When Alisa took a six-month travel break from her career in education, and it helped her to become a better professional.

10
Feb
After graduating in law, Sarah Gibbons didn't follow the usual path. She saved for a round-the-world trip, which led to her decision to move to Zambia. #travel #careerbreak #careerchange #moveabroad #liveoverseas
A legal researcher’s travel-inspired decision to move to Zambia

Meet the UK law graduate whose travel experiences led her to a new life and career in Zambia.

04
Feb
How travel inspired a preschool teacher to retrain as a culinary nutrition expert

After Michaela took a brave leap from her stressful job, a travel break allowed her to take charge of her career.

21
Dec
Mike with his new van before the renovation work begins
The NYC firefighter embracing van life after a travel career break

How a travel career break has led to a major lifestyle change for a New York firefighter after returning home.

07
Dec
Two Scots Abroad travel career break interview
How a travel career break inspired a teacher to start her own business

This interview is the first in a series exploring the inspirational stories of people who have taken travel career breaks.

07
Nov