Kirk Horsted
Aug 26, 2011 Job Reviews
All of our local kick-ass Meet, Plan, Go! hosts have inspiring stories of their own career break travels. In the time leading up to our National Event in October we will introduce them to you so you can see why they are part of our team.
I’m a lucky soul—because I’ve had four career breaks over the last 20 years. But I will say this: It gets harder every time. With the last one, I wasn’t certain it would happen until I was zipping up the luggage in those final moments before the airport cab arrived. Let me share with you the angst—and a-has—that led up to that point.
As for our elementary school, however, the principal was wildly supportive; her only complaint was that we were unable to bring her along! We did need to take on home schooling, though—which was fine, since I’d always wanted to try it. But frankly, that proved to be the biggest challenge of the trip.
And then we froze. Literally—because it was October in Minnesota. But even worse, we got stuck in cold, confused indecision about where we would spend the days in between. We knew it would be in the Caribbean/West Indies. But beyond that, we were clueless.
Web research devolved into dizzying drifting. Brainstorming sessions turned testy. And every possible location featured some unacceptable imperfection. Climate. Crime. Transportation. Language. Too crowded. Too expensive. Too fancy. Too too too… It was too much!
Ever had one of those moments when you just know, “This is it!”? Well, I did. I could practically smell “The Spice Island,” hear the calypso music, and feel the waves crashing like fresh ideas into my brain. Inspiration can arrive in the strangest of ways!
On makeyourbreakaway.com, the blurb about that career break sums it up like this: “2008-9: The Great Escape. 69 days in the West Indies & Caribbean. Mission: To show my children another way of learning and being, escape winter, chase destiny, and launch this website.”
Yes, Grenada was like Harry Belafonte’s Caribbean—beautiful, safe, proud, polite, and lost in time. And oh yes, my children swam in waterfalls, helped in an impoverished school, went fishing with brawny natives, and got an A for effort in home schooling—as evidenced by my son’s own travel blog, BreakAwayKid.
And when taking a career break, isn’t seeking a sweeter destiny what it’s really all about?
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