Why I No Longer Take Holidays: Transformative Travel After a Layoff

Allison

2 days ago

4 min read

Woman in a royal blue dress smiling on a stone path beside a vine-covered wall, with green rice terraces and palm trees in Indonesia. — Transformative travel after a layoff: why I no longer take vacations

I no longer take holidays.

That might sound strange coming from someone whose life now revolves around travel.

I still travel. I still rest and sip coffee slowly.

But, somewhere along the way, I stopped traveling to escape my life and started traveling to transform it.

That's the difference between a vacation and a transformative trip.

A holiday helps you recharge and return the same person.

A transformative trip sends you home a different person and seeing your life a little differently.

Woman in a red floral top and black pants smiling as she leans on a railing in front of the pink sandstone Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, in Jaipur, India. — Standing outside the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, India. This trip asked more of me than any vacation ever did.

What Holidays Used to Mean

For a long time, a trip was a pause button.

It was a break from work, from responsibilities, from the everyday.

I'd go, relax, come back, and slip right into the same routines I had left behind.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Rest matters.

But I've learned that a break and a breakthrough, are not the same thing.

Woman in an orange patterned scarf and black pants standing in front of a white wall with the Louvre Abu Dhabi sign, under palm trees and a blue sky in the United Arab Emirates. — Outside the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Travel keeps adding to both my book knowledge and my street knowledge.

The Turning Point

Three years ago, I was laid off.

At that time, I was a single parent, and the ground shifted under me.

In the middle of that change, I made a decision: I would reach all seven continents within three years of my layoff.

Today things are different.

I was introduced to someone wonderful by who loves me for who I am and supports my hopes and dreams.

My perception of traveling has changed to view it as a life changing experience instead of a break.

Not to run away from what happened, but to prove to myself what I was still capable of.

I'll never forget when I was laid off.

Less than a year after getting laid off, for my birthday, I took my first international trip.

It truly changed my life.

Mother and son taking a smiling selfie on a sunny day, with the Sydney skyline and Sydney Harbour Bridge across the water in Australia. — A mother-and-son moment overlooking Sydney Harbour. Traveling together taught me to loosen my grip on the plan and let the journey lead.

Australia and New Zealand: A Mother and Son Journey

Traveling with my son to Australia and New Zealand was a different kind of transformation.

When you travel as a parent, you're not only navigating a new place.

You're also making decisions for two, adjusting when plans fall through, and finding joy in seeing the world through someone else's eyes.

That trip taught me to loosen my grip on the itinerary and stay open to what each day brought.

It also was transformative for him.

He learned about creating an itinerary, common phrases and was open to trying local food.

My son came back home transformed, wiser and more mature.

A boy in a navy hoodie, seen from behind, and an adult in a white jacket feeding a wallaby by hand at a wooden fence at a wildlife park in Australia. — Feeding a wallaby in Australia with my son. Some of the best travel lessons come from slowing down and being present together.

What Changed When I Came Home

The real test of a transformative trip isn't what happens while you're away.

It's what's different after you return.

For me, the changes have been concrete:

I eat and drink differently. My food and beverage choices at home are far more diverse now. Dishes and flavors I discovered abroad have become part of my everyday life.
I'm more flexible. Travel taught me to adapt when things don't go to plan. That flexibility is exactly what I need as I prepare for Antarctica, where weather and nature make the schedule, not me.
I'm a better problem solver. Missed connections, language barriers and unexpected closures have made me calmer and more creative when things go wrong, on the road and off it.
I've gained book knowledge and street knowledge. I've learned history, culture and geography from reading, and just as much from walking the streets, talking with locals and figuring things out in real time.

None of those changes came from lying by a pool.

They came from choosing trips that asked something of me.

Two women smiling and posing together on the massive limestone blocks at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, with visitors climbing the steps behind them. — At the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt with a new friend. Connections like this are what turn a trip into a transformation.

Holiday or Transformation? It's Up to You

The same destination can be either one.

What makes the difference is how you approach it:

Intention: Do you know what you want this trip to give you, beyond rest?
Openness: Are you willing to step a little outside your comfort zone?
Engagement: Will you take part in the place, or only look at it?
Reflection: Will you make time to process what you're experiencing?
Integration: What will you bring home and keep?

Woman in a red trench coat and purple dress smiling on the stone waterfront in Venice, Italy, with gondolas moored in the lagoon and San Giorgio Maggiore church in the distance. — On the waterfront in Venice, Italy, with San Giorgio Maggiore behind me. Before every trip now, I ask: what do I want to bring home?

Before Your Next Trip, Ask Yourself

What is happening in my life right now that this trip could help me understand?
What is one thing I'd like to feel or do differently when I get home?
Where can I say yes to the unfamiliar: a food, a neighborhood, a conversation?
How will I capture what I'm learning along the way?

Woman in a purple embroidered salwar kameez and maang tikka standing on a stone courtyard in front of the red sandstone Qutub Minar tower in Delhi, India. — At the Qutub Minar in Delhi, India, dressed in a local salwar kameez. Transformative travel means taking part in a place, not just looking at it.

Travel as Transformation

I'm about to leave for my final two continents, South America and Antarctica.

I'm not packing for a vacation.

I'm packing for what this next chapter teaches me.

I'm open to uncomfortable moments.

I'm open to things new to me.

I'm open to change.

If you're in a season of change, whether that's a layoff, a career transition, or simply a sense that there must be more, travel can be part of how you find your way forward.

If you'd like a place to start, the From Layoff to 7 Continents journal guides you through reflecting before, during and after your trips.

And if you want support planning a trip with real purpose, I'd love to work with you one-on-one through my Travel as Transformation Planning sessions.

Your next trip doesn't have to be a holiday.

It can be a turning point.

Souvenir photo of a smiling woman in a black coat and patterned dress standing inside a glass capsule on the London Eye in London, England, framed by a red 2023 London Eye border. — My London Eye souvenir photo from 2023, taken on my first international trip after my layoff, when I started to believe in myself again.