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I am a big fan of a career break. I’ve done it and I think everyone should give it a go. But the truth is that only a few people ever will. For a reason I can’t fully comprehend people prefer to be stuck with jobs they don’t enjoy and concentrate on accumulating stuff, debt and heart attacks. Those who make the brave decision to go against the trend of dedicating their lives to so called career seldom regret.

I know quite a few career breakers who quit their jobs and went traveling for a few months or a few years. None of them regrets. Quite the opposite. They all think it was the best thing they had done in their lives. It’s simply because career break trip offers what a ‘regular’ life can’t give you.

So what are the top reasons to take a career break and travel?

You actually don’t have to work

That’s probably my favorite part. You wake up at whatever time you want and you do whatever you like. Of course there will be some things you will have to do, like checking out Machu Picchu when in Peru or going to see muay thai when in Thailand. Very hard life. I know. Which brings us to the second point.

You get to see some amazing places

This one is really cool. You no longer have to watch Discovery and National Geographic channels to see the world. You no longer have to flick through your favorite travel magazine staring at the photos of Taj Mahal and the Amazon. You can actually see those places, touch them and feel them. And you probably never forget them.

You learn new cultures and become more tolerant

Ask anyone if they think they are tolerant and they will probably say ‘yes’. But try to put them in the middle of a typical Indian town or a crowded market in Bolivia, and I guarantee they will struggle to be truly tolerant. Because whether you like it or not, the fact is that we don’t really know how to tolerate different culture, behavior, custom and way of life if we first don’t learn something about it and understand it. Traveling gives you this opportunity.

You get to try some amazing food

I don’t know about you, but for me the food alone is a reason to travel. I just love to eat and I am not going to pretend otherwise. And let me tell you – if you think you tried all the exotic food, because you’ve been to a Thai/Indian/Czech/Peruvian/etc restaurant in your home town, you are wrong. Pad thai tastes so much better when you eat it at a market full of locals. Masala dosa is a new experience when you eat it with your hand at a small Delhi restaurant with locals staring at you. And the coolest thing is that when you travel you can get to try some really weird stuff you could never buy at home.

You start to see options for living your life the way you want it to be

This one is very important for me. One of the reasons I quit my job and traveled was to find the answer to a question I’ve been asking myself for years – what do I want to do in life? The scary think was that my trip was coming to the end and I still didn’t have the answer! But you know what? I finally found it. It took time but it happened.  And I’m sure that if I didn’t travel I would never realize that what I wanted could actually be achieved.

And what about you? What are your top reasons to take a career break or simply to travel?