9 unique bucket list ideas for career breakers

A career break is one of the most significant decisions you'll ever make. Whether you're stepping away from a desk, resetting after years of ambition, or simply answering a calling, this window is yours, and the big question is, what do you do with it?

Here are some of the most life-changing bucket list experiences for career breakers.

1. Run a World Major Marathon

The Abbott World Marathon Majors originally consisted of six iconic races, Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York, but have recently expanded to include Sydney. Finishing the original six earns you the Six Star Medal, marathon running's most recognisable multi-race prize. The races can be completed in any order, and there is no required finish time beyond each race's official time limit.

For most runners, completing even one major is a significant life event. For career breakers, the window to chase all six, or to finally, properly train for the one that's been on the bucket list for years, has never been more within reach.

2. Trek to Everest Base Camp

The trek to Everest Base Camp begins at Lukla in Nepal and covers approximately 130 kilometres round trip through the Khumbu Valley and up into one of the most visually staggering landscapes on the planet.

The highest point on most itineraries is Kala Patthar, at 5,545 metres (18,192 feet), where trekkers are rewarded with some of the most spectacular views of Everest available without technical mountaineering experience.

Most trekkers complete the classic route in 12 to 14 days, including acclimatisation stops at Namche Bazaar (3,440 metres) and Dingboche (4,410 metres).

3. Race Around the World

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a 40,000-nautical-mile circumnavigation of the globe aboard 70-foot ocean racing yachts, and you don't need any sailing experience to enter. The training programme takes you from novice to ocean racer through four levels of intensive preparation. 

This is the kind of experience a bucket list was made for. You can join for a single ocean-crossing leg, combine a few, or go the whole way and circumnavigate the globe. Each leg demands commitment and rewards it tenfold.

The Clipper Race is a story worth telling for the rest of your life, and a career break gives you the time to complete it.

Ready to find out more? Request your free information pack.

4. Trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

The trek to Machu Picchu is classic for a reason; this is a four-to-five-day guided trek along original Inca paving stones through cloud forest and high mountain passes, taking in the iconic Sun Gate view over Machu Picchu at the end. It takes time to do properly, the kind of time a career break offers.

5. Volunteer on a Wildlife Conservation Project

From protecting sea turtles on a Costa Rican beach to tracking leopards in the South African bush, conservation volunteering gives your career break a sense of purpose that solo travel can't always provide. 

Programmes typically run for two to twelve weeks, and many offer basic accommodation and meals. The work is hands-on, the environment is unforgettable and you'll leave knowing you made a tangible difference.

6. Cycle a Great Long-Distance Route

Whether it's cycling the length of Japan, the South American Andes, or even the full length of the Americas from Alaska to Patagonia, long-distance cycling gives a career break, a way of seeing the world at a slower pace. The communities you pass through, the hills you defeat and the descents make it all worthwhile.

7. See the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights have topped global bucket lists for a reason. A career break is a chance to see it properly, not a weekend city break to Reykjavik but a real Arctic adventure. Think snowmobile expeditions deep into Finnish or Norwegian Lapland, sleeping in a glass igloo, dog-sledding and spending a week or two chasing the aurora.

8. Walk the Camino de Santiago

The Camino is consistently reported as one of those experiences that people describe as life-changing. It covers hundreds of kilometres across northern Spain, on foot, with everything you need on your back. The community of fellow pilgrims that form along the route is unlike anything else in travel.

9. Row the World's Toughest Row

The World's Toughest Row is the premier event in ocean rowing, an annual race of more than 3,000 miles from San Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands to English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda. 

The race begins in early December, with between 20 and 40 teams coming from all over the world. Teams can be solo, pairs, trios, or groups of four or five, and they row every nautical mile unsupported and unassisted. Sleep deprivation and hunger are balanced by sightings of incredible marine life and sunrises.

If ocean rowing sounds compelling but you are not quite ready for the full commitment of a solo Atlantic crossing, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race offers a comparable experience of ocean endurance, the option to join for a single leg, and you don't need a single day's sailing experience to enter as full training is provided.

Interested in the Clipper Race? Request your free information pack, and take the first step towards the race of your life.

If you'd like to read about more epic challenges, we've got you covered too.