Take a "break" first: Unpaid leave makes it possible

By Laura TomassiniLex Kleren Switch to German for original article

More and more employees are applying for unpaid leave in the course of their professional career. The so-called "sabbatical", from the Hebrew word for rest, is taken for various reasons, starting with pursuing personal goals, continuing their education or spending more time with their family.

Travelling for ten months sounds like a dream to most people. For Caroline de Martines, it was a reality until the first of September last year, when the 30-year-old took a year off work. "Congé sans solde", also known as "sabbatical" or unpaid leave, is becoming increasingly popular in Luxembourg. Since the Covid pandemic at the latest, many working people are taking a closer look at their everyday lives and the satisfaction they bring with them and realising that a few months or years off could do them good.

Whether out of curiosity, a feeling of being stuck or simply to take time for themselves and their loved ones: If you press the pause button on your career, you can devote yourself to other things that otherwise tend to get lost in the "hustle and bustle" of everyday life. For de Martines, the trigger was a feeling of time pressure, "now or never", as the teacher explains: "I want to have children one day and have been working for over five years, so I thought it was the perfect time to really step on the gas again and discover the world."

Main challenge: the finances

The 30-year-old has travelled a lot in her life, but regular holidays of two or sometimes three weeks have not been enough for her to discover other countries and cultures as she would have liked. Unpaid leave was the perfect solution for her, says de Martines. After her application was approved by the regional director and then the Ministry of Education, she officially started in September 2023. The advantage of being a teacher: "Of course, I already had school holidays from 15 July, so I was still paid." Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, then Sri Lanka, Nepal and Southeast Asia – these are just some of the countries and regions that de Martines travelled to, first with a friend and then with her partner at the time.

The main challenge: financing the whole thing. "It was more complicated than we thought. We tried to travel mainly 'low budget', so no super hotels or expensive coaches, but travelling has become much more expensive overall in recent years, so our budget was blown, " says the 30-year-old. The couple had already saved a lot beforehand; she by selling her car and living with her then boyfriend for free, he by working months of overtime. "We expected to spend between 2,000 and 2,500 euros a month, and you definitely need that." The couple could not have afforded to spend the whole year travelling together.

You want more? Get access now.

  • One-year subscription

    €185.00
    /year
  • Monthly subscription

    €18.50
    /month
  • Zukunftsabo for subscribers under the age of 26

    €120.00
    /year

Already have an account?

Log in