Woman Gets Denied Year Off, Quits Job, Cheers at Playing Pandemic Career Roulette
KEY POINTS
- •When Toccara Best’s request for a year off was denied due to budget cuts, she quit her job and took off with her husband in June 2015.
- •They used $40,000 in savings and worked blog and housesitting gigs to extend their gap year into five years traveling globally and through the US.
- •After returning to the US for their son's birth and pandemic disruptions, Toccara struggled to find meaningful full-time work, transitioning to part-time nonprofit roles.
Toccara Best asked for a one-year leave to travel full-time, but her job ghosted her request thanks to 'pending budget cuts.' Undeterred and apparently allergic to regular work, Toccara and her author hubby Sam sold their car for $5,000, accrued $40,000 by June 2015, and jet-setted to Prague on one-way tickets, initiating what was billed as 'just a year.' Fast forward through Oktoberfest sausages, seal swims in Sweden, and a 500-mile Scottish campervan odyssey—and surprise!—their gap year rolled into a five-year world tour fueled by blog hustle and housesitting gigs. They then returned stateside to spawn a mini adventurer who hit 27 states by age three. The pandemic finally said 'hold up,' forcing a homecoming to Cali and a brutal segue back into the workforce. Now, amid competing in America’s unemployment Olympics, Toccara is part-time nonprofit superhero hoping full-time meaning applies outside of wanderlust.
Share the Story
Denied a year off? Just quit and wander Europe, Asia, and America for five, then have a kid mid-journey. Work's still confused.
When life closes doors, Toccara built a campervan, sold the car, loaded the blog, and ghosted her job for 5 years abroad.
Proof that 'budget cuts' is career-speak for 'please marry travel bloggers and disappear with your savings.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/8/2025 | Author: Toccara Best
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