Career Breaks, Career Sabbatical

Latest News - Late availability: There is still a chance to join Inca Summer Venture to Peru, departing on 3rd July and Kilimanjaro Summer Venture to Tanzania departing on 10th July. Call now for more information.

Falling asleep at your desk? Spooked by where the rut-tracks are heading? Not quite a hundred percent in control? Or are you just about ready for a fresh perspective?

Time to think about stepping off the merry-go-round and exploring something new.

The individuals who join our Career Break programmes are a diverse bunch: they come from all over the world, have done all sorts of jobs and are of all different ages. Some have strong practical skills (we had a craftsman paint-sprayer who restores old cars) some are academic (for example the lady who worked hard for a First and moved straight into the City, working for a leading investment bank) some are practical types, some are academic and some are a bit of both. Some just want to take a Career Sabbatical and escape from the pressures of their working life. The thing they all share is a wish to stand back, draw a breath and slow down for a while. You’ve heard the stories, seen the excellent Attenborough films and the Palin travelogues, but now’s the time to see it for yourself, live a foreign culture, work with a remote community, give something back and explore away from the beaten track.

Everything VentureCo does is group orientated: all Venture groups consist of 16 individuals; project work is carried out in partnership with local community groups; and the mutual support and encouragement on treks and expeditions is a vital part of the shared group experience. There is no better example of this than the “Big Treks” such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp where (so far!) 100% of the people who start the trek, get to the top: a great example of helping other people along.

Taking a Career Sabbatical - Adventure Volunteering
The VentureCo Trust (charity number 1111268) supports 12 development projects worldwide. This is your chance to offer the most direct form of “aid” possible: to roll up your sleeves and do something directly for a local community! None of our projects will make headlines, but it’s often better to offer assistance at a personal level in the developing world: small is beautiful! You don’t need any specific skills, just an attitude and approach that motivates you to help a community less privileged than we are. The tasks aren’t glamorous, you’re not paid for doing it and the altitude, dust, rain or mud could test you further than you’ve been tested before. But the result achieved by your team will be sustainable, appreciated long after you’ve moved on and could be the start of a process of change for the better.

Our unique three-phase, combination Ventures consist of the following:

Cultural orientation:
Learn about your host culture, their language and their folk lore
Aid work: Volunteer on a development project
Expedition trekking: Travel off the beaten track

Three phases, combined in one massive travel experience, make one Venture: the experience of a lifetime. Our back-up (both in-country and in the office in England) allows you to visit remote areas, secure in the knowledge that if things don’t go according to plan, VentureCo have the experience and resources to put things back on track.

Some activities are all about you: such as learning a new language; you’ll gain first hand knowledge about communicating with fellow Venturers, in-country project managers, overseas transport operators, safari organisers, rafting guides, mountain leaders and a host of other unfamiliar folk. And there are a bunch of soft skills that you’ll experience, such as group decision making, assessing the potential risks on a project worksite, river crossings and in unfamiliar habitats (deserts, jungles and mountains). You’ll need initiative, problem-solving aptitude and the knack of thinking on your feet.

Other activities are more about the group: solving practical problems (how do you get a tonne of cement delivered to a project site in India that has no roads?); and helping to organise transport and adventure activities such as mountain biking and white-water rafting; have we got enough camels for a desert trek? Is the Development Project being project-managed to run on time and to budget?

Taking a career break or career sabatical as part of a group travel package isn’t for everyone: you have to be the kind of person who enjoys the company of others, who’s keen to share the experiences along the way and a desire to tackle projects that are much more ambitious than a solo traveller could contemplate.

Taking a Career Break could be the best career decision you ever make. As well as being a lot of fun, it can boost your career prospects and give your CV a dash of added zest.

The following Ventures are available:

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