Sometime at the end of 2024, I actively began thinking that I would be taking a year away from my engineering career to undertake my dream of volunteering in meaningful projects and exploring far away lands.

Making the decision to take a year away was certainly not an easy one. Lots of thoughts were going round my head, mostly around the return back and how I would feel about leaving.

I experienced fear of the unknown about the places I would go to and the challenges I would encounter, as well as making sure I maximised this time away from paid work. My other fear was being able to find a job comfortably when I came back (most of the anxiety coming up actually rotated around work and the pressures of a ‘conventional career’ and ‘maintaining a good CV’, for which I will talk about in another article).

If this is something you also really want to do but not quite sure where to start, I would suggest taking a moment to think of the following:

1. What do you really want to achieve from your year ‘away’? 

Is it exploring far away lands you’ve always wanted to visit and immersing yourself in new cultures?

Is it getting involved with really cool projects, or maybe taking the time to work on a personal project of your choice?

Whatever it is, be clear on your intention and document it somewhere so you can have it handy. For me, it was a combination of a note in my phone so I can access it easily, and multiple different written entries in my journal.

On the one hand, this can really help you with your planning, making sure you do the things you want to do and allocate enough time and effort for the things that are important to you.

Second, and probably most importantly, it can be your motivation for when you (maybe) forget what exactly you want to achieve, when you start experiencing doubts and wondering why you’re bothering to do all that. It can really help you refer back to something to remind yourself why this is important to you, and help you stay committed.

And finally, it will really help you build up the story of your journey, being able to show what value you added to yourself and humanity when/if you return back to the lifestyle you had previously (these trips might change your life and you never know what happens!).

2. Decide your time scale and stay as flexible as possible with it

For me, having a time scale was important to share my time between the different things I wanted to do during my self-development year.

It also helped give it some more structure, which was really important for me as it emulated a ‘conventional’ structured year and helped me give my project more meaning.

I really wanted to ensure that I maximised my time away – especially since I was taking time off work for it, and therefore also relying (mostly) on my savings for this year.

However, it’s important to be flexible with it and allow some leeway days or weeks in order to make sure you get sufficient rest and be able to incorporate spontaneity into your plan. Meeting new people or finding out about new things might cause you to want to modify your plan slightly, and it’s always good to be able to do that without worrying about changes having a knock-on effect on following plans.

Generally, I try to plan on 2-weeks basis minimum, with some spare days here and there for visiting new places or just choosing to stay in the same place for a little longer. This is also very helpful for cases where your travel might be cancelled or take longer than expected (such as buses in East Africa!).

3. Research your destinations and make a choice – try to resist the temptation to go overboard!

So many places, the choice is endless. What I would suggest though is sometimes quality is better than quantity, especially when it can be very tempting to ‘tick’ countries off the list. I would suggest starting with a continent and perhaps adding another one depending on how your time goes. Remember that flights can be expensive and it’s a bit more involved changing a continent altogether in terms of timing and planning, but of course achievable with effort. Picking on one continent can really allow you to immerse yourself in loads of different cultures ensuring slight proximity (though most countries are pretty big anyway!).

4. Have a backup plan regarding your volunteering/hosts. 

One thing I’ve learnt through travelling is that different cultures attribute different importance to communication. The way you are used to communicating and agreeing on plans might not be the way that others are used to, and verbal or written agreements bear different importance round the world, and of course, from individual to individual.

What this might mean for your plans is that not everything might go through as you expect it to. Your hosts plans’ might change, or things might be slightly different than you expect or imagine them to be. Don’t be disheartened by it, some change of plans can actually be really beneficial overall or lead you down paths which you might have not explored before.

Have some other ideas or backup plans (in your mind or written) in case things work out slightly different than expected, either in terms of destinations or other hosts. Platforms such as Workaway are very good in that they allow you to create multiple lists and also make personal notes for each host.

For instance you could have a ‘backup options’ list with some options which you could consider in case plans change, or you can make a little list on the side of each host. You could even initiate a communication with the host beforehand, in order to understand how they work, examine potential projects they might offer and see whether you could establish a link for the future. 

5. Think how you could enrich your ‘career’ afterwards (whatever your career might look like). 

Adding value to the activities I engage with fills me with a lot of happiness, and I appreciate experiencing moments of joy simply through doing things that fill me with pleasure and satisfaction.

One thing I am trying to do during my development year is enriching my future career by developing my skills and experiences. I am especially targeting open-mindedness, resiliency and patience – I am hoping to experience things that increase my openness to different situations, people and beliefs, resiliency towards the unpredictability of life and challenging emotions, and patience, an increased appreciation that progress takes time, and rushing through life doesn’t bring me closer to enlightenment.

I am also looking forward to loosening my grip on perfectionism – not striving for this perfect ‘balance’, perfect ‘equanimity’. I would like to accept the imperfection in myself and my reactions, and have faith that I am enough just how I am.

What qualities or values would you like to develop which could enrich your life afterwards as well as your career specifically?

6. Budget, and allow 20% extra.

Budgeting is important, especially for long term financial sustainability. Before setting off, I would ensure that I have enough money to sustain me for 6 months after coming back, calculating for the worst-case scenario of not being able to find work straight away or needing some extra money for any emergency. After this, I would start working backwards.

There are multiple different approaches to budgeting and, although not my focus here, I would like to share my approach. As an aspiring writer, I work better with having visual written information in front of me. Therefore, a spreadsheet budget template worked very well for me in writing down two lists – the ‘Expected Costs’ and ‘Actual Costs’. I broke the expenses down in a country-basis, for each of which I included:

• General – General costs such as food or other simple purchases
• Workaway – Costs for the workaways I would have to contribute for
• Transport – Any transport specific costs, such as buses between places or planes
• Special costs – such as anti-malarial medication or big outgoings such as big organised hiking expeditions or safaris – costs which I would not be able to significantly change once I decided to go ahead with them and simply bigger costs

7. Think of some personal projects or hobbies you’d like to practice during your year off.

Always wanted to pick up a language or an instrument (ideally something you can carry with you!), develop a specific skill or learn a new hobby? The development year might be a good opportunity to do exactly that, something you have longed to do for which you might not have had the mental capacity, headspace or simply the time to work on previously. Use this year to give yourself the permission, time and space to expand in whichever direction you might want to.

8. Plan how you’ll stay in touch with friends and family, and who you’d like to prioritise. 

Staying in touch with my family and friends has always been very important with me and not seeing my family for many months seemed like a big challenge. I was also afraid of losing touch with my friends and struggling to pick up the pieces from where I left them.

If you also experience similar feelings, talk to the people you really want to stay in touch with and express your concerns. Try and figure out a plan for talking to people and remember that your closest people will be here to support you in your decision. Your contact with them might change (like everything changes!), but you can find a way to stay in meaningful touch with the people you love. 

9. Accept that how you feel about it all might change down the line, and that’s okay.

During the months leading to my trip, I experienced a variety of emotions, ranging from pure excitement to doubt, guilt and almost fear.

I dreaded that I was leaving a ‘place’ (by which I mean a mental, emotional and practical situation) that was really good and wouldn’t come around again.

I also experienced deep doubt: am I really doing this, what do I really want to get out of it, is it necessary, is the timing right and is it really serving me.

Fulfilling a dream can be complicated, and it certainly comes with a lot of questions and uncertainty, especially if you are a deep thinker like me.

It was also the melancholy of leaving a place which I’ve really come to love, a deep sense that I am going to miss the place, the progress I have had while being here and even the lifestyle and the version of myself associated with this place.

A dear friend told me that there will never be a good time to leave. This was a big revelation for me, because I realised that to go to the next step I have to let go of the existing step. I will have to, momentarily, say goodbye to dear friends, a place I’ve come to love and a lifestyle I’ve been able to express myself in.

However, throughout all that, my enthusiasm and desire to explore remained strong, and ultimately supported me in making my dream come true. The experiences and emotions of the last few months have been worthwhile on their own, which taught me a lot about what is important for me and which environments can provide me with what I’m looking for.

In case you experience those troubling emotions, remember it is not as unusual as you might think. Any big decision or change will come with a lot of associated emotions, even if it is a self-directed choice. Sometimes, I think that big self-directed changes come with their own sense of struggling, as we can feel even more ‘responsible’ for making the decision ‘work out’.

Try to remember that, whatever happens, you can always come back to the place that you left (in most cases, assuming it was a place/country you enjoy being in). Yes, the place might be slightly different, you might live somewhere else, your work might be different and your friendships might have slightly changed – but so will you. 

Nothing is permanent, and choosing to expand your comfort zone can be incredibly rewarding and enriching in the long run. Yes, it will be different and you might find some aspects difficult when you come back, but you will have everything that you need to make it work out for you. Trust yourself and your ability to create the reality you want.

10. Give it a go and see what happens!

I am a big believer in giving things a reasonable go and seeing what happens. ‘Take a leap and a net will appear’. Any big change comes with many potential lessons learnt, if you allow your experience to teach you things. You might not enjoy every aspect of it, but I am confident your future self will appreciate you taking a leap of faith and daring to do something you’ve really wanted to. 

Enjoy taking a leap, whatever dream you are choosing to follow!