I’ve done a few reviews of books on travelling but all of them were published traditionally (meaning you can buy them from bookstores.)
Today’s book is a little different. It’s an e-book by Alexis Grant called “How to take a career break to travel“.
If you are not following Alexis yet, you must. She givesgreat, free tips about how to create the life you want.
Let’s get back to the review, Alexis wrote the e-book “How to take a career break to travel” after her solo backpacking trip to Africa. I’ve been meaning to get it since I first saw it but waited until a rare 50% sale to buy it.
After reading it, I immediately bought the rest of her e-books which were also on sale.
Before I bought the book, I’ve already bought tickets for my round the world trip so I didn’t buy it to convince myself to travel.
I wanted to find out what tips she had based on her experience.
I wasn’t disappointed.
PS This is an affiliate link. I get some portions of the sale if you buy it.
How the book was helpful
Most of the travel blogs (or even books) on travelling seem to focus on long-term travel or making travel a permanent part of your life. Alexis’s book is more practical for those who want to get back into the workforce after a long trip.
For those who need to be convinced that they can and should take a career break to travel, the book has a whole section on the Four Big Buts. It tells you what to do about money, housing, family and job.
There are also tips for those still in the planning mode
- whether to keep a travel blog
- how to decide where to go
- being committed
- getting support
Besides that, you can find out what sort of logistics planning you need to make. The last part is about how to get back to normal life after travelling.
Have a mission
The biggest lesson I got from the book is to have a mission when travelling.
I’ve seen too many backpackers or RTWers whose sole mission is to enjoy themselves (a very good goal but not very helpful for long-term career plans).
Alexis’s mission when she was travelling was to write an article each month. For me, I want to continue maintaining my blog while I travel. Maybe I can branch out to something even bigger than just a blog. [I’m failing a bit now that I’m about a month into the trip.]
The only problem I had with the book is that it’s only in PDF. I converted it into mobi for my Kindle but the formatting is a bit wacky. In the end, I printed it out in paper.
If you are thinking about getting a copy of her book, check out the page for How to Take a Career Break to Travel. [This is an affiliate link. I get some portions of the sale if you buy the book.]
PS If you are as frugal as me, I suggest you wait till Alexis has a big sale before buying it. I’ll update on my Facebook page when she does.
YQtravelling 