Q54701

slightly OT but 6 months severance in December means you likely underwithheld for taxes throughout the year

jetlag airways

I would travel just about anywhere...

I lost my job at 32, also with severance pay. I planned 5 months of travel to Asia, Australia and New Zealand. I only had a holiday visa because obviously I was too old for Australian work n' travel. (My dad was just retiring at that time and I said in jest, "Oh yeah, me too.")

During those travels I was looking for jobs and actually had my successful job interview via Skype in in a hostel in Manly, Sydney with the surfboard in the background.

So I say: Go travel!!! But while you have the time of your life abroad, also think about the imminent future, meaning: look for a job.

Philatravelgirl

GO! I lost my job of 23 yrs recently and decided to travel for three months knowing it would take a while to get a new job at my level. I used a bank of points/miles which helped with cost. You will be working a long time ahead and probably won't have opportunity to take a block of time like this again however have a plan sorted and don't spend it all and you should be good. If you have a car, talk to insurance company to put insurance on hold if long term away and save premium payments.
You can apply for jobs from anywhere, Skype interviews if needed, etc. don't underestimate the time for a new job depending on your field.
Have fun and good luck!

Tchiowa

Having been there my suggestion is 60% stocks, 40% bonds and start looking for a job right after lunch. You have a golden opportunity to start building a future where, like some of us, you will have time and money to travel just about anywhere ...... year after year after year.

Hengilas

I love flyertalk.

Dude. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Like someone else said, you've got 40 years of work in front of you. Go travel now, find something (or someone) you love, and make memories to last a lifetime. I have never regretted a single trip I've taken, no matter how crazy it is, and I've taken a lot.

Someone said 'employers want an explanation for long breaks' and as an employer, if someone said 'yeah, I got six months' severance and went to travel' I would LOVE to see that on a potential resume. Of course, I wasn't born in a suit, and I've got a good deal of adventure in me to begin with.

If I had this opportunity I would travel on the cheap and leave some for savings. But don't sit around loafing looking for a job!

darthbimmer

Go for it! I wish I'd had such an opportunity when I was 23. Just be sensible about a few practical things:

1) Budget your money to save enough for a few months of living expenses in case you can't line up a new job to start right at the end of your travels.

1a) If you do get your new job quickly, put that extra sum of money aside as the start of your savings.

2) Keep your job skills up to date while you're out of work. This is less of an issue for a 3-6 month absence than one that lasts multiple years, but don't let yourself slip into the trap of falling behind. Read industry news, follow useful blogs, download and practice with sample software, whatever's appropriate in your field. As a hiring manager I've interviewed plenty of candidates with gaps in work history. The gap itself is never a problem for me. A candidate who lacks relevant modern skills-- THAT is the problem!

radnub

Go! Get out of here! Climb! Teach! Go around the world! You have this opportunity so take it and enjoy it. If you budget wisely for your trip and the first couple of months after you return home you should be in a comfortable position. There will always be job opportunities!

DaveBlaine

Or you could join the military. Travel to exotic, distant lands. Meet exciting, unusual people, and kill them.

Rebelyell

Since you have asked for advice, take half your money and put it in the bank for your "reintroduction to society." The the other half and travel for a couple of months. Or three; or four.

I'm thinking about spending about a week just biking by myself in Europe next year (I'm 54, fat, and out of shape, so I'll stick to rivers). It's a lot of fun. No reason you couldn't buy a used bike, get some panniers and just set out, maybe bike along the Loire a while, then visit Paris, then train over to Trier and bike down the Mosel and up the Rhine a ways, then hop a train again and bike along the Danube to Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. If you do a good bit of camping and eat most of your meals out of grocery stores there is no telling how long you could stretch your trip!

The reason I'm so keen on bikes is because you just see things when biking that you don't see any other way. But to each his own!

txflyer77

Take half your money and head to Southeast Asia. 3 months severance on a western salary will last a while there. Just book a flight to Bangkok and your first few nights, you'll figure things out from there. I spent my summer after college graduation backpacking around Southeast Asia and loved it.

Keep the other half to float yourself between returning home and finding work, assuming you're in an industry where you can easily find a new job within three months. When I left a failing startup earlier this year I had offers within (literally) the day, other professions aren't as lucky right now.

StartinSanDiego

The European kids usually take a long trip between HS and College. It's considered a social norm. I think you'll learn more in travel than any book, class or a couple months of any given job will ever teach you. It will be the experience of a lifetime.
So, go! Thailand is very inexpensive. So is Cambodia. Stick to the less expensive places, use public transportation, stay in hostels or couch surf, and travel more like a local than a tourist. In 10 or 20 years, these few months won't make a very big difference if you stay home and work, but, if you travel, they will be memorable times.

I think that a job or career shouldn't be the only thing that defines you. Or shapes you, for that matter. Mr San Diego and I have recently upped our fun level by buying a motorcycle that we permanently store in Europe. It's a BMW, Mr. Breakfast, but we love our Silver wing here at home, too. It's not a bicycle, Rebelyell, but, like you, we enjoy the sights, smells and sounds in a manner that you'd never duplicate in a car.

I had my doubts about the whole idea (we are close to retirement age, and I like horses, not motorcycles), but, man oh man, we can't wait till the next trip. It's like a whole new, delightful world. We've explored quaint, tiny villages and beautiful national parks. The Dolomites, for instance, or the Val Camonica. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Stunning! We don't see many tourists. The cost of rooms, when off the beaten path, is incredibly inexpensive. ($45 a night in the Italian Alps, for instance). If Europe can be a bargain, think of what you could find in Thailand! I'll bet you could do a backpack/hostel/off the beaten path type trip through South East Asia for $50 a day, tops. Get back home before either your time or your money runs out, and you'll be fine.

GO! And have a great time!

muishkin

Go for it man! You'll never be this young and this free again in your life.

I did a couple of long periods of traveling in my life (before grad. school and after grad. school) I didn't regret either.

dchristiva

This. At the risk of sounding like a parent (which I am), I would be very careful about how I view the six months of severance. If the OP has the means to make ends meet for an extended period without the severance, great. By all means, travel. But if employment prospects are uncertain or money is snug (or could be snug), I would not be so cavalier about spending all of the severance package.

Also, speaking as someone who also lost a job at one time, I would get back on the networking and interviewing horse ASAP. I think we're entering frothy economic times, so I would try to land a new job sooner rather than later. Travel can wait. Employment might not.

Jshutt64

I did a similar thing a few years back- had a chance to just leave and left. Was it financially responsible? Not really. But everything I have now, my home, my significant other, my entire life- I have because I took a chance and left.

Go for it! As others have mentioned, southeast Asia is very cheap and you can travel for a long time with relatively little money. My girlfriend and I went to Thailand in July for the whole month and spent (excluding flights) only about $750-$1000 a person. We travel on the cheap, but that didn't come at an expense to activities we did, as we scuba dived, went on 4 day trekking tour through the jungle, and traversed 100's of miles of countryside.

Another good option (which can further employment opportunities) is to take an intensive language course somewhere. An intensive course is usually categorized as something more than 20 hours a week...you'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 months.

An important note is that visa regulations differ by country and as a general rule you cannot stay the whole 6 months in one place. If Europe is your destination (assuming you are not an EU citizen) they are very strict with their 90 days/180 days Schengen Tourist Visa rule. That means you can spend any 90 days in a rolling 180 day period in the Schengen Zone- but not one day longer. This can be circumnavigating by getting a temporary resident permit for a language course, most/all European countries will offer this permit for the duration of your course.

Most of the SE Asian countries allow you to stay for one month, however if you leave the country and come back it resets your clock. There are many expats working in Thailand that do not have the official visa needed to do work and stay that simply make a border run to Cambodia/Myanmar/Malaysia to renew their visa. The authorities are much more lax than they are in Europe.

Good luck with everything!

pinniped

I'd travel for sure. I did *some* travel in my 19-25 age range because I lived in Europe for a portion of it, but I never took 6 months off. I wish I had taken more time...even if not 6 months.

That's not to say you can't continue to meet people, network in the various cities you choose to visit, do phone interviews back home, etc. I wouldn't go permanently dark just because I was traveling: if a great opportunity comes up, then you can decide if it's worth taking a break from the trip to return home to do in-person interviews.

A lot of the 3, 6, 9 month jobsearch advice applies to mid-career job seekers. People looking for manager or director level roles. Most people I know who are in their 20's, with some decent skills, can find a new job in a matter of days. The market is crazy-hot in a lot of sectors right now...kind of depends on your exact field and how picky you are about the next opportunity.