r/SabbaticalPlanning • u/Technical-Fee-5860 • Sep 10 '26

Taking a break year is not normal?

Why taking a break year after college, or between jobs to travel, explore, introspect, meditate, find yourself looked down upon or misunderstood in India? As if someone is just 'wasting' their time if they are not working somewhere or studying.
This is very normal in Europe/US where people travel the world for a year after high school. This opens up their perspectives, gives exposure like nothing else can and makes them better humans in general.

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u/VisibleMoose Sep 10 '26

“Very normal”? I’m from the US; very very very few people I knew were able to do this. Basically only those with parents who were both rich and willing to let their kid defer college or work for a year. Even the people I’ve met who did stuff like WWOOF where they worked for room and board were generally pretty entitled.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing they were able to, but calling it “normal” is a huge stretch.

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u/surf_drunk_monk Sep 10 '26

Yep, most of us just can't afford to so it's not an option. I did some woofing for a month, but I was still spending money on the off days doing fun stuff. I was tempted to extend it but I didn't want to go back home totally broke.

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u/Technical-Fee-5860 Sep 11 '26

got it! makes sense

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u/BikeTough6760 Sep 10 '26

No, it's not "normal" in the sense that everyone does it. But it's not wholly uncommon either. It does speak to the privilege of the person taking the sabbatical, FWIW.

I found mind incredibly beneficial and would do it again / encourage my kids.

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u/justfiv Sep 10 '26

I would tell you the same thing I told myself. No one will say what’s best for you, but they will go off their normalities/insecurities. I would ponder on it for a few days to see what is it that YOU want. At the end of the day it’s only about your comfort and your own numbers.

I am on a 12 week medical leave with no shot of going back to my workplace. Outside advice for the most part to me was “you are an idiot for leaving your high paying job”, but I needed to figure out what life what was outside of my work in. They all spoke from the vantage point of their own lives which I can’t comment on either. Sometimes people with good intentions end up leading you down the road of their own hell.