This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nurya Doorenbos, a 30-year-old marketing professional in Brussels. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
Last spring, I quit my job as a senior social media strategist at an advertising agency.
When you’re at the beginning of your career, you’re excited. You grab every opportunity with both hands. But at the time, I was about to turn 30, and I wanted to take this long break to really step back and analyze my life, and specifically my career. Advertising is such a fast-paced industry that it can be hard to see what it is that you like and don’t like about it.
I told my superiors that I needed some time for myself and that traveling is something I’ve wanted to do with my boyfriend for a long time. It felt like the right moment, and it was a very positive discussion. They asked me if I wanted to take unpaid leave and come back, but I just really wanted a clean slate, to not have a job waiting for me. Otherwise, you’re counting down the days until you go back, so I said no.
I quit for three reasons. The first was to reflect on my next career move and to be more conscious about what it is that I want.
The second one is that I didn’t want to wait until I’m retired to enjoy life. Older generations say you need to make sure you have enough money when you retire to enjoy life. But I’m more into the idea of not waiting.
The third reason is that I don’t have that many responsibilities now. I think I’m coming to an age or entering an era where that might change.
Since my boyfriend and I have a dog, we decided to stay in Europe and explore our own continent. We went to Italy, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Greece. Overall, we traveled for about five and a half months with a car and a rooftop tent.
I don’t think there was a specific epiphany moment. I was waiting for it to happen, but at some point, I just realized my strengths lie in defining strategic, culturally relevant visions for brands and campaigns, cultivating strong relationships with clients, and building projects from the ground up.
I recently started a new marketing job at Ernst & Young’s new Studio+ unit. I got it by filling out an online application. Everything went way smoother than I thought it would, though having previously worked for both an ad agency, Ogilvy, and a social-media platform, TikTok, undoubtedly played a role.
I also pursued several thought-leadership side initiatives. For example, I served as a juror for international marketing award shows, delivered a keynote speech at a strategy conference, and gave a lecture on social media at my alma mater.
When I was doing interviews, hiring managers knew I was away and taking calls from a beach bar in Greece. But there was never any real question as to why I was traveling. I think it’s more normalized these days to take a career break.
I’ve had a few ex-colleagues reach out and ask about my experience. I told them that if you’re good at your job, people will want you. You need to listen to your body and intuition. Working on your personal growth is as important as working on your career. It will give you more clarity. You can easily get stuck in the day-to-day rat race, and taking a step back really helps.
It’s also a privilege to be able to quit a job and travel. Some people might not have the financial means to do this. My boyfriend and I basically did nothing for a year. We stopped going out for dinners. We were conscious about spending in general.
Getting to know the Mediterranean lifestyle — it’s so much slower than life up north — taught me the importance of taking life as it comes. I hope I can apply that to my daily life now. This slower outlook is what helped me put everything into perspective.
