My Year Off began in April 2016 with a 5 day drive from Cincinnati, Ohio to Lone Pine, California to climb the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. It ended on a plane home from Kenya in March 2017 after 3 months in Africa. I was 31 years old when I started my Year Off and 32 years old when I finished.
My last day of work before my Year Off was March 31st, 2016 and my first day back to work was March 27th, 2017.
I did not work or actively earn any money for 362 days.
It began with a fear that I would ruin my career and future financial well-being, but it ended with the confidence that many young professionals could do the same with little to no negative consequences on their career and long-term financial health.
My Year Off began with $45,000 saved up for the year and ended with most of that gone. It began with a nice 401k balance and an emergency fund of over $10,000. It ended with the same amount in both. I was not broke before my Year Off and did not go broke during it.
My Year Off began with few stories to tell and ended with a whole journal full of stories.
It began with a certain complacency in life and ended with wanting to achieve as much as possible. I now want to inspire people to choose the same path I chose and to create their own stories to tell.
My Year Off began with a dream to visit as many National Parks as possible, and it ended with 29 parks visited in 5 countries. It began with a childhood dream of climbing mountains, so I climbed 12 mountains over 14,000 feet high and hiked hundreds of miles through the mountains.
My Year Off began with little time spent abroad and ended with 17 foreign countries visited. It began with little knowledge of traveling in foreign countries and ended with the confidence to travel just about anywhere in the world.
My Year Off began with a desire to do some good for the world during my time away. It ended with over $4000 raised for a charity I support and a total of 8 weeks of volunteer work in Africa.
I wanted to try as many new experiences as possible, and now it’s hard to remember them all.
I went trad climbing in California and mountain biking in Utah. Whitewater rafting in both Colorado and Uganda and a river kayaking trip on the Green River. Camping on the beach on the Pacific coast in Washington and on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania.
A violin concert in Venice and bar crawls in London and Rome. Trekking through the jungles and riding a 4 wheeler through the countryside of Africa. The experiences are memorable and plentiful.
I began my Year Off with a girlfriend and ended my Year Off with a girlfriend I wanted to marry. It began with many wonderful friends and family at home in Cincinnati. It ended with the same friends and family at home and a new large group of friends all over the world.
My Year Off began in happiness and ended in happiness. I was not trying to “find myself”. I knew what I loved doing, so I just chased my dreams for a year.
My Year Off began in a state of self-doubt and nervousness about what would happen over the year. It ended in a state of total self-confidence.
It began with a fear that I was ruining my life but ended with thoughts about how I could not imagine my life without my Year Off.
It’s very hard to quantify the benefits of my Year Off, but it’s not hard to see how much I’ve benefited from it. Nearly every day, something reminds me of the time I had away. The memories I’ve made are something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.
I’m proud to say I have so far lived a life without regrets. I’m proud to say that I lived my dream for a whole year, and one of my new goals in life is to help others do the same!
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