HELLOOOOO
Are you ready for Halloween and Day of the Dead? We are! Our MASSIVE plans are proceeding apace. We'll be making our big announcement soon. We promise we're not GHOSTING you. (There are a couple of clues in this newsletter - see if you can spot them).
As well as our usual sharing what we've been up to, we've got ways you can get involved, our latest feedback and as always, a mildly-amusing joke. So grab your candy corn, your favorite autumnal beverage, and bury yourself in our newsletter.
SPONSORED: THE PHOTO SHED ACADEMY
The Photo Shed Academy offers a unique opportunity to learn photography, videography and editing techniques to enhance your creative abilities while gaining hands-on experience. You'll be taught - and mentored - by accredited and award-winning pro photographers, ensuring that no matter what your skill level, you will leave with world class technical knowledge.
This training programme is in one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa - you'll be visiting wine farms, mountains, rivers, valleys and the breathtaking coast. You'll have the chance to explore diverse cultures, unique architecture styles and marine and wildlife in the area.
If you're looking for a career break with a difference, or you want to start a new career in photography, this could be for you! Click here to find out more about the Photo Shed Academy.
**Book your place for 2020 before 30 November 2019 and receive a 20% discount off the programme fee.**
GET INVOLVED
We're working on a survey of people whose career breaks didn't turn out as they expected. Did you start your break thinking you'd end up in this new career and finding a completely different one? Did you take your career break thinking it would be a six-month break and have it turn into a lifetime commitment? Tell us your story! Contact us at info@thecareerbreaksite.com and put "Survey" in the subject line. We'll be in touch.
VOLUNTEER IN TEACHING
On our site, we have one big section all about volunteering, and we've got sections dedicated to the different kinds of volunteering you can do, to make it easier to find the kind of placements you're interested in.
This month, we're focusing on volunteering in teaching and education. Whether you're currently a teacher or interesting in passing on skills and knowledge in your current field, you'll find plenty of options and find answers to your questions in our Volunteer teaching section.
ON THE BLOG
We published one of our most important blog posts this month. There has been a slew of criticism of "voluntourism," so we responded with facts and figures, which were quite noticeably missing from the critiques. Do you remember last month's packing post from a guest blogger? She's promised a follow-up post about packing carry-on bags, so keep an eye out for that next month.
BOOK NEWS
The book writing and editing has been on a bit of a hiatus because of all the other stuff we've been doing, but it's still in the works! We've actually started sending out chapters for review - if you want one of these, please let us know (and don't forget to tell us which chapter you'd like to review - they are the same basic categories as those on our website).
Also, we still have some space for case studies so if you'd like to be in our book, please drop us a line with a brief (and we mean brief) overview of your career break story. And we'll try our best to find a spot for you!
MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
Someone went old school this month and phoned us. We didn't ask his name, but he sounded like a James.
James wanted to know about his career break options in the UK. There are a number of full-time volunteering opportunities in the UK - you can find them in our volunteering in Europe section. Some are live- in (ie you live at the place you're volunteering) and for others, you can stay living at home. Although a UK career break is less common amongst Brits, it's still something that a lot of people are interested in.
We were curious about why James wanted to stay in the UK for his career break and he told us it's because he looks after his nan (awww!). But he still wanted to take some time out to learn new skills and have a different experience, which is really cool. We salute you James!
If you've got a question, feedback or just want to vent about how commercial Halloween is getting these days, get in touch! We never reveal your name (unless you want us to!)
TIP OF THE MONTH
"When I pack my suitcase, I put it up on my bed. That can be a problem because suitcases get pretty manky being dragged around and spinning on those airport baggage carousels. To keep your bedclothes clean, lay an old fitted sheet on the bed (bedside up) and then your suitcase on the fitted sheet, so the case sits on the side that's usually facing the mattress. That way, when you're done, you can tuck the fitted ends of the sheet into each other and you'll always know which side of the sheet is the clean side."
If you have a tip for us, email us or tweet us.
JOKE
Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin π
FINALLY
We send this stuff out every month but did you know we love to hear from you too? You can always send us an email (reply to this one, that's be a good start), or chat to us on Facebook or Twitter. We know some of you like to keep your career break plans under wraps until you're ready to leave, so be assured that if you do get in touch with us via email or messenger, we won't tell anyone else, and if we put your message in here, we'll take your name out of it.
Thanks for reading and we'll see you next month!
Love
xxx