Does a gap in your CV mean problems? She tested it on herself
Life made me realize that I needed a break.
My husband and I moved in together just before the pandemic, and our two-room apartment also became our office. We were getting by, but I felt the walls starting to close in.
We both love traveling, so to dream a little, I said, “Let's make a list of all the places we want to go.” I'm a bit of a spreadsheet freak, so I took his list and mine, organized them, and combined them into one big spreadsheet. It was my little form of therapy.
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At the time, I was working in the operations department of a startup in LA, and my schedule became much busier. I opened my laptop at 7 a.m. and closed it at midnight. I loved this job, but I was burnt out. On more difficult days, I would look at this list and dream about an African safari or a trip to Antarctica.
One morning, while my husband was making me a cappuccino, I decided to give him an idea: “Hey honey, what if we quit our jobs and went on a year-long trip around the world? Or at least for three months?” And he said, “OK, sounds cool.” That's how he is – calm, laid back, no big reactions.
Preparations for travel and a gap in your CV
If we were going to risk leaving our job, we wanted it to make sense. We decided that the trip should last a year, and we needed time for preparations – saving and logistics. Two years later, we both resigned.
We set a budget of PLN 75,000. hole. (approx. PLN 270,000) – included everything: from a Netflix subscription to the warehouse we rented. My manager was excited, but our families had lots of questions: How would they connect with us? Is it safe? And diseases?
Before the trip, my biggest fears were snakes in Africa and tsunamis in Southeast Asia — which is funny because I live in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
However, my biggest fear was the gap in my CV. I was afraid it would look like a blemish. This turned out to be completely untrue.
After our lease in LA ended – and I convinced my mother-in-law to take care of our cats – we set out.
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365 days around the world
We started in Rome, where we signed up for a two-month Italian school. As we walked around the neighborhood that first evening—drinks on the tables, music in the air, a cat watching us from the balcony—I felt as if Rome was saying, “You made the right choice.”
The couple enjoyed the view of the Colosseum in Rome with almost no one around
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
The next morning we walked to school past the Colosseum and Pantheon before the tourists showed up.
One moment that really changed me was my 30th birthday, about halfway through the trip. We were on Gili Air, a tiny island off Bali.
Even in paradise, I caught myself thinking that maybe I wasn't as important a figure at work as I thought — away from birthday emails and office cakes that usually “give” the day its character. I told my husband, “I realized I'm not important at all.” He stopped and replied, “But you are everything to me.”
I always said he was my priority, but in practice, work always came first. In that moment, I realized how wrong I was – and how much I needed to start living according to what was truly valuable.
During the trip, Laposata realized that she needed to focus on priorities other than work
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
Back to LA
During the last six months of our journey, we decided to focus on job search and skill development. My husband was building the application, and I was renewing professional contacts so that the later response would not be a surprise.
When the plane landed and the pilot said, “Welcome to Los Angeles,” it struck me that I had never imagined this moment before. I imagined so many scenes from the journey – but never the return.
On our last day abroad, we both received job offers and I quickly returned to professional life. I was afraid I would fall back into my old habits – a workaholic version of myself who couldn't function any other way. But this time I really wanted a change.
I wanted my husband to be at the top of my priority list – because he was the reason I mattered. When I think about these moments, I am grateful that we took this journey. I'm a completely different person because of her.
What happened next?
When I was laid off in August, I didn't immediately start looking for a new job. Instead, I came back to an idea that appeared during our trip – how little support people who want to go away for a long time get. This is how Travelries was created – a company that helps adults plan gap years and sabbaticals.
Ultimately, taking a break from my resume turned out to be one of the best decisions I made — and a guaranteed talking point in any job interview.
The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider
The article was based on an interview with 32-year-old Maria Laposata, founder of a consulting company Travelries, specializing in tourism consulting. Her words have been edited for length and clarity.
