We are all about inspiring people to take a career break and travel, so we were excited when we came across three couples who will be venturing off soon on year-long traveling career breaks! We can’t wait to follow along on their adventures and hope you do the same as well.

Two Backpackers
[singlepic=1496,200,,,left]Jason and Aracely are a couple that understand there is more to life than a successful career. After college, Jason spent much of his time chasing his career and financial goals, which included jobs at Mercedes-Benz USA and Mercer. Likewise, Aracely was groomed into a young professional at Mercedes-Benz USA and as a Finance Manager at American Express. But both find greater joy in being outdoors, learning about the world, and lending a helping hand – activities that better shape and define them as individuals then any job title could.

[singlepic=1495,150,,,right]With no set itinerary other than using Guatemala as a starting point, Jason and Aracely hope this experience will validate their passions, step outside of their comfort zone, and grow as individuals. As Jason writes: “Part of this journey is learning to let go; live in a way that is completely different from the way we currently live our lives. Today, we spend a significant time planning and organizing because we only have a weeks’ worth of vacation from our jobs. Now, there is no need to crunch everything possible into a week, plan extensively or recuperate. You can do what you want, when you want, on your own terms for as long as you want. It’s exhilarating just to say those words.”

In addition to experiencing the history and people of new cultures, making new friends, and giving back to the world community, Jason and Aracely hope to inspire others to follow their true passions – something we can relate to at Briefcase to Backpack!

“If, rather [than travel], your passion is to pursue a different career or hobby, start a business, or do something adventurous, whatever your internal calling is, we challenge you to answer it. Better yet, live it! Equally important to us is our desire to increase cultural, social, and economic awareness, providing a more realistic global perspective. But don’t just follow our journey, instead become motivated to take risks, value your time, pursue culturally enriching experiences, lend a helping hand, and live the life that you truly desire to live.”

Ben and Alonna – Adventures and Trivialities
[singlepic=1494,250,,,left]Ben and Alonna were both engineers at HP but left the corporate world behind in June to travel for a year (Ben left his position at HP while Alonna is taking an unpaid Leave of Absence).

[singlepic=1491,175,,,right]The decision to do this came after they realized they were living their lives on a path that they hadn’t necessarily chosen for themselves. As Alonna writes: “Sometimes we all do things just because we think that’s how it’s supposed to be done. But if you step back and really analyze what you want to spend your time and money on, what you believe in, and what you want out of life, you just might find that you’re not following a path that you would have chosen.”

With that in mind, Ben and Alonna decided to define their own life-path, and part of that was spending more time traveling. “We realized that we didn’t have to wait to get laid off or for it to be the ‘right time’ to make a change like this. After all, there are always obstacles to every goal or dream. Instead, what really drove this decision was realizing that it was even a decision at all. Once we recognized that this was a real option, the decision was easy.”

Ben and Alonna’s plans have them going to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Asia and Africa.

Bert & Patty – Two people, two backpacks, one global adventure
[singlepic=1493,250,,,left]Bert and Patty (aka Christine and Paul), are a couple from Seattle, Washington. Christine is a veteran of travel, having spent time in the Peace Corps and then working as a teacher, where she spent her summers traveling the globe. And up until 2005, Paul didn’t even have a passport! After just three months of meeting, Christine broke Paul of his “safe US/Canada bubble” and introduced him to the wonders of travel - with a trip to Guatemala and Cuba.

Four years later and they are about to embark on a real adventure – starting with getting married in the Cook Islands!

[singlepic=1492,175,,,right]Their plans started out as a 3-4 month journey. “We thought it was a long time to take for a trip, but soon found that there was more we wanted to do and see. Originally, we were going to take a trip to the Cook Islands to get married, then go to both New Zealand and Australia. Then we started to say things like ‘you know, we might not come back to this part of the world for a very long time, while we’re here we should also see . . . ‘. That is how 3-4 months turned into 6-7 months. Then before you know it 6-7 months turned into the current schedule of 12 months.”

They are often asked why they are doing this, and like most who make the decision to take a career break and travel, it’s because they want something different out of their lives. As Paul writes: “We are at a crossroads of our lives and this gets to be one of our paths to choose. We can opt for a life of domesticity and normalcy with a mortgage and weekends spent cutting the lawn. Or before that happens, we can take this time and travel.”

We can’t wait to follow these three couples over the next year and hope that you too can find inspiration in their journeys!