You might not even tell a best friend that you daydream about restoring cars for a living, or fantasize about running a dairy farm. After all, you work in a profession where suits, iPhones and Blackberries make the executive… and there’s no middle ground when it comes to making such a radical change in your life.
The good news is, you don’t have to quit your day job to explore your potential as, for instance, a pro wrestling ringside announcer! “VocationVacations” (www.vocationvacations.com) lets people test-drive their dream-job – as a vacation – without giving up the security of their current job. (For the record, the car restoration and dairy farm are two of the three Michigan-based Vocation Vacations.)
VocationVacations pairs the curious (that would be you) with a mentor in one of more than 50 occupations. Over the course of up to three days, the ‘vocationer” experiences the reality of working in the environment they’ve always imagined. “Vocations” can be had in a wide array of categories. There are conventional careers (pit crew member, dog trainer, photographer, wine sommelier), “dream big” careers (actor, baseball team general manager, film events producer, golf pro), and some that you might not have known were really careers (alpaca farmer, schooner captain).
The average cost of a vocation vacation is $700 for two days with a mentor (plus two phone calls from a career coach and a VocationVacations journal). While prices range from $349 for one day up to $1,999 for three days, founder and president Brian Kurth stresses that 95% of VocationVacations cost less than $999.
The experience can definitely serve as a reality check. “Vocationers” often walk away feeling their dream has been shattered. But Kurth says an impressive 20 – 25 % of the people who have taken a VocationVacation have changed careers!
— Stephanie E. Ponder, Costco Connection, 1/07