Escape Your Re-Entry
You’re back from your career break a changed person. You’ve awakened parts of yourself you didn’t know you had. I’m not just talking about your new ability to speak in mime and pee anywhere – I’m talking about your creativity, cultural sensitivity, and values you’ve acquired! You’ve built relationships across the globe and changed the way you think about other cultures. You’ve even changed the way you think about your own country and culture and maybe you are questioning what you ‘should’ be doing now that you have returned.
You are back home, but does this mean you have to plug back into the rat race to survive once again? Not necessarily. You could take these new skills and mindset and channel them into something different. Does that sound too hard? Then you may want to enlist the help of Escape the City.
The moment I heard about Escape the City I knew our sites were kindred spirits. At Escape the City they are on a mission to help you find exciting alternatives to a corporate job. It’s a community of talented corporate professionals who want to do something different. The guys at Escape the City bring you the most intriguing job openings weekly that are far from corporate cubicle work.
Mikey Howe, one of the co-founders, explains, “We want to help every person that wants to break away from the corporate mainstream and do something different. Whether it be a career change, starting a business or going on a big adventure, our aim is to connect people with the information, people and opportunities that they should know about but don't.”
How can you utilize Escape the City to find ‘different’ work?
Escape the City NEWSLETTER
Sign up for their newsletter and get the top 10 opportunities sent to your inbox every Monday. I love to read them to simply dream. Here were some of my favorites from this week’s newsletter:
Terra Viva Project at the Tlalli Farm in Brazil seeks enterprising individual
Manager - Terra Viva Project - National Park of Itatiaia, Brazil
Promote reading and education to empower the poorest at-risk children
Librarian/Reading Promoter - Safe Passage - Guatemala City, Guatemala
7-month fellowship in New Zealand for American public policy leaders
Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy - Fulbright New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand
A fantastic new opportunity to join Gap Daemon as a Travelling Intern
Travelling Intern - Gap Daemon – Global
Catchafire is one of the hottest tech companies in NYC with a social mission!
Junior Service Officer - Catchafire - New York
Escape the City WEBSITE
You can also search for ‘different’ career opportunities on their website. You can control the search results by a cool slider that goes from “Play it Safe” to “Off the Radar”, and choose if you are looking for volunteer work, graduate work, or professional work.
When I asked Mikey what the coolest jobs they’ve ever posted was – he couldn’t list just one, “My favourite was the Paradise Hunter job. Travel to 12 different paradise locations over a year, get paid $60k, host the Paradise Hunter TV Series and once you've found your paradise destination, you are given a property worth up to $150k in that country! Otherwise i thought running the post office in Antarctica was a pretty cool one or maybe the beach lodge manager position in Mozambique. And can't forget mine clearing in Cambodia...”
Don’t lose your career break momentum when you return home. If upon your return you aren’t ready to go back to the status quo, then consider continuing on the path less traveled as you restart your career! Check out Escape the City!
For a little extra motivation – check out their great video.
Start Something You Love: Escape the City...1 year on from Escape the City on Vimeo.
Leah on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:12 am
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am thirty-two soon and have itchy feet that are ready to try out foreign soils.
It is a fear of leaving the security of the day to day grind of paying the bills and living a safe and non-challenging way of life that has put me on hold for some time.
I hope (as it has I) your post will inspire others to go and follow their bliss – Leah 🙂
Patricia GW on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:54 am
Travel and experiencing a new culture really has put it into perspective, and filled that void with purpose (and joy).
In three weeks I’ll be moving to Paris myself for one month. I have the same feeling – the incredible surreal realization that I’m going to be living there…. it’s thrilling!!
Abby on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 2:11 pm
Oh, Jenny! Escargot isn’t palatable — it’s delicious! I love your writing style; it’s so fun and energetic. Can you believe how far we’ve come? Everyone, Jenny and I were in the exact same industry and have known each other online and via work emails for years and years. But we’ve only met once, many, many years ago. And one of those jobs she was sleeping next to her BlackBerry for was one I’d just left. And now she’s 33 and living abroad, just like I was last year. Kindred spirits. Jenny, you’re a true inspiration — I can’t wait to see how your adventure unfolds!
Debbie Beardsley on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 3:22 pm
Your life in Paris sounds ideal. It is nice to read about people who follow their dreams instead of wishing they had! Enjoy the rest of your journey.
Terriaw on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 1:40 pm
Wow, fabulous and well said! I love your new outlook on like. After experiencing career burnout and feeling a little lost and purposeless lately, you have encouraged me. I look forward to seeing Paris someday!
Jenny on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 6:50 pm
merci for all the sweet comments! @abby we are soooo kindred spirits! well except when it comes to our differing feelings on escargot…;) and congrats patricia on the move! thrilling indeed!
shawna on Thu, 9th Jun 2011 1:32 am
you’ve reawakened my travel bug. must. return. to. france. (someday.) eat a croissant for me!
Weekly Travel Blog Links — LandingStanding on Mon, 13th Jun 2011 6:16 am
[…] how badly I want to go to Paris… If only we could afford living there for an extended period of time during our travels! Any […]
G. Michael Schneider on Sun, 19th Jun 2011 3:36 pm
I am a firm believer in living and working overseas, just as you described. However, many of us actually like our jobs and our homes and are simply looking to renew and refresh our lives, not change it. However, you can have the same type of cultural experience without having to reach into your own wallet and without having to quit your day job–by taking what I call a “working vacation.” My wife and I have done this 15 separate times, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Turket to Tibet, Mauritius to Mongolia. I describe how to do it in my blog otherguysdime.wordpress.com and via Twitter at @otherguysdime. Learn how to have fun without having to have burn any of your bridges behind you.