cheetos

I was recently laid off and am thinking about taking a year off to travel. Is this a bad idea in terms of my career? Will this be a red flag for employers when I apply for future work?

I am in my early thirties with no kids or mortgage. I have been working in tech for ten years and have decent savings. So in practical terms, I am OK.

However, I am having trouble feeling good about my decision. I rent a very affordable place that I really like in a very high COL city, so I will have to sell my stuff and shut down my home. I am worried that I will seem less attractive to future employers when I return. I am concerned about losing a year of salary. And part of me feels like I am pushing myself to travel not because I am truly excited about it, but because I fear I may not have such an opportunity again in the future (frankly, I am not really even sure where I would even go).

On the other hand, I am feeling a bit burned out and unmotivated, so the time off would do me good. I have lived abroad before and enjoyed it. I also have plenty of side projects I've been itching to work on. And I have a tendency to overthink things.

I realize this is a truly first world problem, but I am hoping the HN community can give me some good advice. What would you do?