Burned-Out Startup Worker Quits to Spreadsheet a Year of Avoiding Reality
KEY POINTS
- •Maria Laposata and her husband combined their travel dreams into a giant spreadsheet to cope with startup burnout in Los Angeles.
- •They quit their jobs two years later, saving $75,000 to fund a year-long trip starting in Rome with Italian classes and Aperol spritz ambiance.
- •On a tiny island near Bali, Maria faced an existential crisis about her self-worth, realizing her husband was her actual priority, not work.
- •Back in LA, both received job offers just as they returned, and Maria founded Travelries to help others plan similar travel breaks.
Maria Laposata, 32, fueled by a startup burnout that had her LA laptop sprinting from 7 a.m. to midnight, concocted a spreadsheet so dense it could have launched a NASA mission. She and husband, with caffeine provided by a morning cappuccino and zero dramatic flair, decided three months of globetrotting wasn’t enough, opting for a FULL year to maximize their Netflix-covered $75,000 escape budget. From sheltering from imaginary African snakes to awkward birthday epiphanies on tiny Indonesian islands, Maria managed to make a career-gap that looked like a résumé crime into the ultimate hiring flex. LA’s back, but this time she’s got Travelries to help anyone else childish enough to quit for a sabbatical.
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(1 of 3)When your burnout is so intense that a spreadsheet and a $75k budget become your escape hatch, but the real exotic species you fight? Workaholic habits disguised as responsibility.
Congrats to Maria for turning 'quiet quitting' into 'loud wandering.' Who knew a checklist of vacation dreams was a career move?
Only in 2025 does a year off to dodge tsunamis and snakes become a résumé power play. Time to update your LinkedIn: 'Professional world wanderer.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/1/2025 | Author: Alexandra Karplus
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