Escape 101: The Four Secrets to Taking a Sabbatical or Career Break Without Losing Your Money or Your Mind

By Dan Clements and Tara Gignac

Book Overview

Whether the reader is an adventurer, poet, volunteer, or someone who just needs a break, "Escape 101" provides a step-by-step system to take as much time as needed from a job, career, or... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0973978228
• ISBN13: 9780973978223
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Brain Ranch
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This book can make you REALLY unhappy - or change your life.

First of all, this is NOT a book on where to go and what to do after you've made your break for freedom. If you want to know what to do with your free time, and where to go, this is not the book. You can also find hundreds of travel guides, websites, etc. to help you plan what you'll do with your freedom. This book is more important than that. Next to "The Four Hour Workweek", it's the ONLY book I know of that shows how you can actually grab your freedom this year. Not in 2 years, 10 years, or when you retire. You can start today. Now. Most of us work 30+ years during the prime of our lives, just so we can someday retire, and do what we want. That's a huge, huge waste of life. Don't wait. I got my hands on this book at a REALLY good time. I'm starting a new job after doing web development for 2 years. My girlfriend is a medical transcriptionist and hasn't had a vacation in over 5 years. (As the book says, she doesn't have a business, she owns a job. She needs to change this if she wants more freedom) The biggest thing stopping most people from taking a sabbatical or time off from work is mindset. The second thing stopping most people is logistics. How to arrange things (especially finances) so your life doesn't fall apart while you're away. If you're like most people, you're probably wrong. Wrong about how hard it is to take time off. Wrong about how much it costs. Wrong about whether you'll be able to get the time you need from work. Wrong about how much it will disrupt your life. Most of us have been in the rat race for so long, that it's hard to imagine another way. Even when we hear stories about someone else that did it, it's hard to imagine it for ourselves. This book will help you not only imagine it, but DO it. Escape 101 shows you the common misconceptions and helps you correct them. It tears down every excuse you have to go. My guess is #1 excuse is that "I don't have enough money." Not true. If you're like me, you'll be unhappy until you get your chance to go. That's why I said "This book can make you REALLY unhappy - or change your life." If you let it, this book can change your life. You'll never be the same. That being said, I would add a few things to the second edition: The author's blog/website is a GREAT resource and not mentioned anywhere in the book that I could find. My guess is it was created after the book was written. You can find many great ideas there of what to with your freedom at [...]. I loved the post on house-sitting - free room and board in exotic areas, usually in exchange for taking care of animals. Author Tara Gignac is apparently a naturopathic doctor ([...]). Dan Clements seems to be a writer ([...]). They both have done what's in this book, but the only real story from their life is how the book was inspired by a trip they were making to the Tikal Mayan temple in Mexico. A whole family arrived at the same place at sunrise and inspired the book. I think Tar

Great motivator.

Loved this easy read that got me off of my "but" (But, I can't run the company from far away. But, my husband can't be off for 6 months. But, we can't be gone for that long). Our son is stoked to write a book about the trip!

Making Career Breaks or Sabbaticals a Lifestyle

I found Escape 101 to be an excellent tool for encouraging me to take that leap of faith and fulfill my dreams of travel by taking a sabbatical. The author breaks it down into easy-to-manage and practical steps, and even suggests how to make your career break a win-win situation for your boss too! I can now even begin to wrap my head around making travel and sabbaticals a lifestyle and not just a one-time thing. Thanks!

destination: a new outlook on life

This was a great read. The book is as much about boldly creating personal change as it is about escaping our comfort zones. It's not another over-romanticized travel guide for 20-somethings. It is deeply grounded in reality, was written for everyone from business owners to parents, and provides a step-by-step plan for getting its readers on sabbatical.

A great read that reaffirms the important stuff

Escape 101 is a book that dismantles all the roadblocks to finally taking that sabbatical, with a special emphasis on the biggest one: changing the "there is no way I could pull it off" attitude. I managed to get my life and business partner to slow down long enough to read the section on how small business owners can escape, too (and with children). It definitely opened his mind to the possibility. With any luck, I'll get him to read the other chapters and maybe we can start planning!