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Iceland

How to Experience Iceland’s Golden Circle Route (Self-Drive + Map)

The Best First-Time Solo Female Travel Destinations

Where to Stay in Iceland: The Bubble Hotel Iceland

What to Do in Reykjavik: The Ultimate City Guide

3 of the World’s Most Unique, Remote Hotels You Should Stay In

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Hi, I’m Rachel. If you’re new to Team Off Duty, co Hi, I’m Rachel. If you’re new to Team Off Duty, consider this your onboarding 😉

And welcome to the team ❤️ If you’ve been here for a while, thank you.

I’ve grown and evolved so much since starting Rachel Off Duty nearly 10 years ago, but when I think of the pivotal moments that brought me here, it’s these. I was born in Hawai’i and grew up both endlessly curious and insatiable. I wanted to live in a big city, climb the corporate ladder, see the world, become famous, make all the money. But in my twenties, as my fascination with travel and personal development grew, and the higher I climbed on the corporate ladder, I found that I was constantly in a battle with my career. I started Rachel Off Duty as a simple travel blog, but it grew into a place that helped me, and eventually other women, navigate the fine line between work & play. I wanted to challenge the status quo, and make space for ambitious women with diverse interests to thrive, both in the workplace and beyond.

If you’ve found my page, it hopefully means that this resonates with you on some level.

As part of Team Off Duty, your ✨ benefits package ✨ includes: 

✈️ Travel stories with context and respect

💻 Different definitions of success, and tools to help you define your own

💪🏽 Empowerment & inspiration

🕚 A coworker bestie telling you to take the vacation

🤪 A safe place to not take ourselves too seriously

❤️ Occasional updates from an internet stranger reimaginging work & travel for herself, and showing you how you can, too 😊

Sound good? 

Comment ‘🌴’ if you’re aligned, and welcome onboard. I’m so glad you’re here! #RachelOffDuty #WorkAndTravel
Not enough people talk about the low points during Not enough people talk about the low points during a career break, or how to handle them when they come.

And let me tell you, they will come.

So far during my career break abroad, I’ve had some epic highs and some pretty ugly lows. After the initial thrill of finally taking the leap to quit my job and move abroad, there was a weekend, back in the early weeks that followed, where I cried day and night for four days straight. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and sob, wondering who the hell I was supposed to be now and whether I had made a mistake.

That wasn’t the only time I’ve felt crippling nerves or started spiraling about my decision, either.

But each time, as time passes, I’d be reminded once again that I am moving in the right direction. In fact, I’ve done things on this career break so far that have already exceeded my wildest dreams!

The emotions will come, the good and the bad, but if you move with intention and trust yourself to see it through, your career break will be exactly what you need it to be.

This is just one tactic I use to give myself perspective and help me navigate the emotional roller coaster of taking a career break. It’s become a simple but effective 5-minute journaling ritual I look forward to every week. 

if you have any other tips or tricks for navigating the emotions of doing things that scare you, share them below! 

👋🏽 New here? Hi! I’m rachel and I took a DIY sabbatical in my 30s to move from Los Angeles to Australia for a year. This is month 7 and I’m bringing you along with me every step of the way, so be sure to hit follow for more career break content!

#GoingForTheGap | Gap Year | Career Pivot | Career Break | Moving Abroad | Micro Retirement
Postcards from a week of diving in Coron, Philippi Postcards from a week of diving in Coron, Philippines.

7 days, 3+ hours of diving a day, workshops, lectures, meditation, yoga, and so much more. @deep.week, you were a surprise challenge, an emotional growth opportunity, and a blessing. Met so many amazing ocean lovers all over the world and expanded my dive community beyond my wildest expectations!

2 and a half years ago, I decided to give myself a month to try a new hobby as a way to counteract the work burnout I was feeling at the time. Freediving was that hobby I chose, completely on a whim with zero expectations.

And it’s harder than I imagined, but it stuck. I’m addicted. And I’m so grateful, because it’s led me here. 

📸 @domkoooo (slides 1, lower right slide 3)
@junchi.j (slide 6)
playing with @insta360 for the rest 

#freediving #comeseephilippines #girlswhofreedive #deepweekphilippines
And it only cost me my... 🙈 I’ve been living life And it only cost me my... 🙈

I’ve been living life outside of the 9-to-5 for over 6 months now. And in the process of letting go, I’ve actually ‘gained’ so much.

I’ve started exploring all my passions and interests with new eyes, and the time to actually pay attention to how they make me feel.

Not the squeezing in a yoga class on my lunch hour before anyone notices my slack bubble isn’t green. Not the waiting until burnout to finally book some time off. Not the letting months go by because I said I’d try that thing and then just didn’t because life got in the way.

In the past 6 months, I’ve fallen in love with the gym and started waking up wanting to move my body. I’ve dedicated hours, days, even weeks to going all in adding new depth to the hobbies I’ve loved my whole life, but never had time to fully take to the next level.

Like spending 200 hours becoming a certified yoga teacher in Bali! 🙏🏽

Or committing 10 days + countless late nights freediving and training to hold my breath 🤿

Or signing up for dance classes for the first time in years 💃

I’ve started called this my ‘chaos era,’ because it’s so opposite to what we’re told matters.

But how sad is it to think that we need to make such radical sacrifices in order to discover who else we are?

If you’ve ever felt pulled between career and personal fulfillment, if you’ve ever felt like you’re unsure about the way forward, you’re in the right place. Because I’m on a quest in my 30s to redefine work and life and play and all the messy AF in-betweens.

What’s one hobby or skill you’ve always wanted to commit more time to, if you could?
Companies not paying attention to these things are Companies not paying attention to these things are losing women... fast.

This is part three of a 3-part series on the current snapshot of women & work for Women’s History Month. What’s shifting in how women think about ambition, how we are taking matters into our own hands, and what companies need to do next in order for women to be empowered in the workplace from here on out.

In a time where major corporations are rolling back their flexibility and bringing people back to the office, women are still underpaid for equal work, and the programs that celebrate diversity in gender, background, and experience are being cut en masse, it’s more critical than ever we become aware of these trends and demand change. 

Because we didn’t come this far just to come this far, now did we?

Drop a ❤️ if you enjoyed this series, and feel free to tag your work bestie in the comments so we can redefine ambition together. Happy WHM!!!

#womenshistorymonth #womenshistory #iwd #womenempoweringwomen #racheloffduty
The only way I’ll be shopping from now on 👇🏽 [ad] The only way I’ll be shopping from now on 👇🏽 [ad]

Packing my life into suitcases to take a career break abroad required so much logistical planning, and it was honestly shocking just how much stuff I’d acquired over the years living in LA (even though we lived in a studio!). As I was paring down my wardrobe, I realized the things I was reaching for to bring with me were the more practical, timeless things that would work in any situation while I was on the road. My @unboundmerino staples are the foundation of so much of my traveling wardrobe for this reason.

Now that my life is in suitcases again, I’ve made it a personal quest to strike a better balance between high quality, timeless capsule pieces and the quirky finds I discover while traveling, and a roughly 2/3 to 1/3 ratio for that seems to work well for me mentally. There is a lot of emotional baggage attached to owning so much stuff, and it’s never more obvious than when you’re trying to drag it halfway across the globe 😅. My new goal is quality and feeling over quantity – and if it doesn’t meet these criteria when I’m shopping or packing, then it’s no longer making the cut.

This was a massive mental shift for me as a recovering wardrobe maximalist (AKA shopaholic). I’m a work in progress! 🙏🏽

Do you feel like your current closet is more quality, or quantity?

#unboundmerino #packingtips #travelwardrobe
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