The Surprising Benefits of a Career Break to Travel

Most people know that travel makes them feel better. What they don't know is why - or quite how significant the effect is.

If you're burnt out and considering a career break to travel, the latest research on how travel makes a compelling case. Here are three evidence-backed reasons why.

TRAVEL REDUCES YOUR STRESS

When you're burnt out, it doesn't feel like something a two-week holiday can fix. But a career break that allow you to travel for an extended period of time is a different proposition.

A 2013 study found that 89% of Americans noticed significant drops in stress after just a day or two of travelling. When you're navigating a new place, your brain doesn't have the bandwidth to run its usual anxiety loops. Your cortisol levels drop, you start to sleep better and you remember what it feels like to be present.

Getting away from work and your daily demands for 6 months or more gives your nervous system the time and space it needs to properly recover.

This is about giving your body and mind the conditions they need to reset - something that's hard to do when you're still in the same environment that burnt you out in the first place.

TRAVEL IMPROVES YOUR CREATIVITY

If you've lost your creative edge at work. travel can help you rediscover it.

A 2014 study found that employees who took an international trip of two to three weeks came back to work with more original ideas. Exposure to new environments, unfamiliar problems and different ways of doing things rewires how your brain approaches challenges.

Extended, slow travel improves this further. Research from Professor Adam Galinsky of Columbia Business School shows that people who engage deeply with foreign cultures - not just pass through them - show measurable increases in creative thinking and cognitive flexibility.

In practical terms, taking a career break to travel means you'll spend months problem-solving and navigating unexpected situations. This kind of lateral thinking works to your advantage with employers.

YOU'LL RETURN STRONGER AND MORE RESILIENT

Many people worry what a career break to travel will mean for their career. But the resilience you build during extended travel will help your professional life when you return.

Research shows that navigating unfamiliar environments builds what psychologists call adaptive confidence. This is the ability to make good decisions under pressure, tolerate ambiguity and recover quickly from setbacks.

These are the kind of capabilities that take years to develop in a conventional career setting.

THE CASE FOR GOING

If you're weighing up a career break, the evidence works in its favour in terms of your health and wellbeing. Not only does travel make you feel better, it makes you better at whatever you do next.

Your stress levels will drop

Your creativity will improve

You will build real resilience

Want to talk through whether a career break is right for you? Join the waitlist - a limited number of 1:1 sessions are opening with me soon.

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About Career Break Travel

Career break travel coaching and resources for mid-career professionals ready to live their most epic life.