But what happens then … ?

Something I’ve not given much thought to: I’m going for a year travelling, but what happens when I come back?

In the back of my mind throughout the whole of the planning for this trip is that I do get the impression that the majority of people who take these lengthy trips are young and/or have no real ties back home. I’m not talking emotional ties, but more material/personal ones. I don’t know what age the average backpacker is, but I’m guessing (from the people who write about it, and the people I’ve met while I’ve been travelling already) that it’s likely to be in the early 20s, either just after a University course, or very early on in their working career. When people are still young enough to enjoy it fully and not have it interrupt a career path – indeed it might even enhance their career in the future.

I’m not in this demographic. Whilst I still feel and act young, I’m very definitely not. To all intents and purposes, I’ve been working for the same firm for nearly 17 years, and in that time I’ve managed to find a series of roles I’ve enjoyed and which suited my skillset. To go travelling at this point in a career feels a bit weird, somehow; it sometimes feels like I’m kind of ‘sacrificing’ my future for some short-term gain.

My workplace (a large multinational enterprise in the utilities industry) have allowed me to take a ‘career break’; a year of unpaid leave which, in effect, ‘doesn’t exist’ as far as things like pension accrual, time of service, etc are concerned. I will still have a job when I return, and everything will go back to how it was as if I had never been away.

Except that it won’t. For career breaks less than about 6 months, the policy is to guarantee to keep my role open so that when I’d return, I’d have exactly the same job. However, for 12 month breaks, all they need do is guarantee me a role, at my grading. It could be anywhere we have an office, in any part of the business. In practical terms, they wouldn’t put me in charge of a customer services department or something, since they’d at least match some kind of skillset, but even so it’s still a lot more vague than simply returning to the same desk.

Mostly, this is a good thing; I like to move around, and I get bored doing the same things for any length of time (I’ve been doing this current role for what will have been exactly 5 years once I leave), so the opportunity to find another niche within the business will be fun. But the truth is that I haven’t actually thought about it much at all yet; I haven’t really considered what I’m going to be coming back to. Doing a year break at the age of 23 is much easier in a way, since whatever you go back to will be the start of a career, but for me it feels almost like I’d be starting again, whereas if I stayed, I’d be developing a career I’m already in.

But conversely, does it really matter? One of the reasons I’m taking the trip at all is because I can – in the sense that I’m still young-thinking, healthy, curious, and I still have many years ahead of me (hopefully!) to do more if I feel it’s the right thing to do. And I believe that what I’ll experience while I’m away is going to be much more beneficial, from a personal point of view, than spending yet another year in front of a spreadsheet, even if the latter will bring other rewards of its own, in terms of career and future benefits.

My only concern with all this travelling then is:
There is more to life than money now, but will I regret it when I retire and find I can’t do what I want, because I squandered the future benefits on furthering myself at the age of 38?

And by the time I find out if I’ve made the right choice or not, it’ll be nearly 30 years too late.

2014-28-04 additional: (Last Day Of Normality)

So, today is the last day I’ve got in my normal life, before I start my world trip. Over the last few days, I’ve felt weirdly ‘flat’, like I’ve been living in someone else’s dream, or like I’m dosed out on some kind of mood suppressant. It’s been really weird. I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s so close now; in my mind there’s so much I’ve got left to do – I could do with having another week to prepare. But then let’s be honest, regardless of everything else, I could always probably do with having another week to prepare … 🙂

Have I got everything? Who knows. I’m sure it’ll be all right in the end.

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5 thoughts on “But what happens then … ?

  1. Since you’ll have done a lot of what you want to do before you retire, you’ll still have plenty of time to save. A lot of people can’t afford what you’re going to pay for that trip at that age..

    1. We’ll see. I’ll still have 20-25 years left of work in me after I get back, so plenty of time to save up again, but it’s more the ‘interruption’ in my career that’s at the back of my mind.

  2. You cannot live in the hope that you will reach a ripe old age.
    Unfortunately I have noticed that too many people I know/know barely had time to enjoy life before it got too late.
    If you find yourself too old now to do this, how about later on? You’ll end up never doing it at all. For the sake of what?
    Enjoy your youth and your open spirit.
    The time is now.
    E

    1. I agree with Anne Laure & Laly. Being on the far side of retirement myself, I truly regret not doing what you are about to do when I was younger, healthier, and had the chance. Things will be different when you get back, but only because of new and exciting career opportunities. Plus, you will have accrued fabulous memories. I’m so glad for you.

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