[amacneil]

- "Try to take 3 months off maximum"

- "structure your time off"

- "Have goals and schedules"

- "Arrange ahead of time for a role to return to"

You are getting a very American perspective in this thread so far (possibly due to the time of day). I will counterbalance it.

Advice: You're overthinking it already. If you feel like a long break in between roles, take one. Book a one way ticket to a place you've always wanted to visit, and figure out your next steps once you get there. Many/most places in the world (including within the US) are very cheap to live if you don't need to live close to work.

Maybe you end up getting bored and returning to work in a few months, maybe you run out of money, maybe you love it and travel for a year or more, working hospitality jobs to get by. All of these are great outcomes, and you will learn something about yourself that would have been impossible to discover while heads down working full time employment.

COVID is a bit of hassle right now, but places are already opening up, and come summer you should have many more options.

[gary_bernhardt]

I second this advice, having done it. I flew one-way from Seattle to Dublin in 2010 with no plan beyond the first week. 25ish cities and 4.5 months later, I flew back. You'll figure it out as you go.

But, a warning from experience: when you fly one-way to another country where you'll go through immigration, always pre-book travel OUT of that country as well, and have printed (on paper!) proof to show border control. Fortunately this doesn't apply between most European countries due to the Shengen area. Immigration is not the part of the trip where you want to wing it. Always make sure you understand the visa and border crossing rules in advance.

[splonk]

I don't recommend that people do this without a high risk tolerance, but I've talked to dozens of immigration officers without proof of onward travel (I managed to fill all the regular stamp pages on my last passport). Probably half of them didn't even ask, and most of the rest of them immediately accepted that I was going to buy some ticket out in a week or two. Maybe I got lucky, but I think "American software developer" just doesn't look like a real high risk to them, and I probably don't present myself as a backpacker who might run out of money while I'm there. I have brought printouts of savings and retirement account balances and such, but I've never had to show them. I would have been willing to buy a ticket out on the spot if necessary as well.

Weirdly, it's the land crossing to Canada that has always been most difficult for me. Once, after getting pulled aside to chat with an officer for 15 minutes or so, he eventually said, "so what you're telling me is that you're rich enough that you're not coming here to work in the oil field?" "Yes, exactly."

[gary_bernhardt]

Yeah, you can get lucky. But if you actually get denied entry and put on the next flight back, you'll wish you'd printed that flight receipt. All it takes is one officer having a bad day. (Or one who doesn't like [insert part of your identity here].)

[amacneil]

You’re right. In my experience, proof of onward travel is usually required by the airline for you to even board the flight, not by immigration officers. I don’t think I have ever had an actual immigration officer ask to see proof of onward travel.

[amacneil]

Agreed on the one way flight and immigration. Just book a separate fully refundable flight out of the country, within the required time frame (most countries it's 90 days). You pay extra for fully refundable, but you're not going to use it so it doesn't matter.

Luckily, the most skeptical country to enter as a "traveller with no plans" is the US, so if you're starting here you don't have anything to worry about. Many countries you can go through immigration without even talking to an officer these days (assuming you have proof of onward travel).

[ncpa-cpl]

Requires a passport from a developed country though :(

I've tried the kiosks in the U.S. and Mexico and always get sent to an officer.

[cm2012]

If he's American he should take into account that we have no safety net, so he has to be careful how he does this.

[amacneil]

It depends what you mean by safety net. Certainly most folks on HN have the safety net of being able to return to work fairly easily whenever they might choose to, including finding remote work.

If you mean "individual healthcare in the US is expensive", I absolutely agree. Assuming you are otherwise healthy, catastrophic health insurance might be worth looking into (I have never tried it myself). Another option would be to travel internationally, because travel insurance (or even the cost of private care) in most other countries is going to be much cheaper than a domestic health plan.

[curiousgal]

On the other hand he can actually take off and go wherever he wants thanks to his American passport.

[underyx]

Ah yes, the world's 45th most powerful passport.

[0]: https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php

[anm89]

This is a pretty dishonest way to present this IMO.

I've been traveling for the last 10 years and my American Passport never got in my way, and in exceptionally few cases would anything have been any easier with the passport from the #1 country on the list. Yes a few times I had to fill out some extra paperwork.

America has a VERY STRONG passport. This is a bimodal distribution where most of the passports in each of the groups are equivalent to each other and the US is in group A.

[cm2012]

LOL at United Arab Emirates passport being preferable to the USA.

[dillondoyle]

It seems like this is hugely effected by covid ban right now. A large % of countries that are just enter - italy as an example - are counted as Red given the covid ban.

[underyx]

Yes, OP is thinking about leaving now.

[throwaway292893]

Ah yes the standard vacationed too long safety net.

There's unemployment and welfare for those who need it, not SWEs that don't want to work.

Don't work safety nets into your plans, they are for people in need, you are taking away finite resources from people who need them if you use social programs when you are able to work.

[fastasucan]

This right here. Seriously. Take the time off you need. If you need less its easy to go back to work. If you need more, its great that you took time off.

And remember, time off means time off. Dare to do unproductive stuff. Everything don't have to further your career, or even your life.

[fillskills]

Mostly agree with this.

The one think you didn't mention was why you want to or need to take a break. If you are coming from a stressful environment, then your solution might be different. I went through some ecotherapy to destress and recover. If you just have enough money saved up to travel and want to have a fun adventurous time, that is totally different break :)

Whatever you do, have fun at it

[cle]

Yeah...this advice isn't really helpful for people who can't just take off for months (parents, people taking care of sick family members, etc.).

I think it's less about getting away physically, and more about getting away psychologically. Traveling is one way to do that, but there are also many ways to do that without skipping town.

[amacneil]

> this advice isn't really helpful for people who can't just take off for months (parents, people taking care of sick family members)

Parents can absolutely do this. Slightly more preparation is required, but much less than most people think.

> I think it's less about getting away physically, and more about getting away psychologically

Was not specified by OP. Getting away physically is by far the most effective way to get away psychologically. If it's not an option (taking care of sick family members etc), then sure - work within your constraints.

[alexcnwy]

No, getting away physically definitely has an impact that can’t be achieved without physically leaving.

[cle]

Of course it does, you're physically leaving. My point is that not everyone can do that. Fundamentally "time off" is a psychological thing. Traveling is one way to detach psychologically, but it's definitely not the best way for a lot of people.

[drstewart]

What specifically makes this an "American perspective" and not a Canadian one or a Japanese one or a Fijian one?

[hungryforcodes]

Those other countries know how to relax in their time off?