Time off???

[propilotdave]

Your offered the opportunity to travel the world for 4 months for dirt cheap. You are between IFR 135 mins and ATP. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity.... Do you
A: Go and worry about finding work when you get back.
B: Dont go because finding work will be near impossible after taking that much time off.
Main concern is the "flying in past 90 days question." To get back and rent planes for a few hours and simulate my eyes and read up is of course an option. What does the professional world think??

CAN IT BE DONE???

 

[pullmyfinger]

My Opinion

You only live once. I say enjoy it before you really dig in to this mess.

I took 3 years off from aviation and traveled from Africa to Southeast Asia with a non-aviation related job. You would not have to ask me twice to do it again.

The re-entry was painless.

 

[mar]

Good advice

This industry ain't gonna recover in 4 months. Now is the time to do something else.

If the airlines were hiring like gangbusters right now you would risk a serious loss of seniority in 4 months.

Right now you risk almost nothing.

Good luck.
Be safe.

 

[LearLove]

Just my 2 cents:

I'd say go. Its only 4 months.

But do you have to quit your current job? It looks to me like you flying freight now.

Anyway, if the jobs not a factor and you finances are in place then GO GO GO. Again 4 months is nothing, barely out of currancy.

Have fun.

 

[cargoflyr69]

Go, Go, Go and don't look back! The airlines will still be here when you return, and 4 months seniority ain't gonna mean squat in the grand scheme of things.

I love to travel and I was in a similar position about 2.5 years ago. I chose to keep flying boxes and get the ATP so I could get the sweet 121 airline job and jumpseat for free anywhere in the world. Well, 2.5 years later the sweet job is still a sweet job, but I never got to go on an extended trip like I had wanted, and now I doubt I ever will. The most time I'll get off is around 3-4 weeks once a year if I do creative bidding around my vacation time.

Here's a different spin if you do take your trip. If you are willing and open to the idea, take a few resumes with you and make excuses to visit foreign airports and see what flying would be like in another country. Who knows, you might not want to come back to the states. This is what happened to a buddy of mine from college.

Again, I say go do it, have fun, and don't look back. If you are worried about no flying in 90 days, well save up a little money now so that you can rent a cessna to get current when you return.

Happy Travels!

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

Go. As long as it's someplace awesome (sorry, in my book, Western Europe barely counts--unless you are climbing Eiger Norwand).

I have much longer gaps in my employment than four months, all due to travel/mountaineering and things. If anything, at least it makes me a relatively interesting dude.

In fact, I'd quit any job that wouldn't let me take time off to go travel (I turned down an excellent job this year due to a planned trip that they just couldn't let me take).

So from someone who's been there, and taken off to travel, repeatedly, I'll tell you that every single time have I come back and found a job. Only once was it not a flying job, but that job paid for me to take another vacation, that sort of ended up with me flying my butt off. (I'm still working on growing my butt back, but hasn't happened yet).

Without a doubt: Go. You just haven't lived until you've had to deal with Tuk-Tuk drivers, Yak trains, the winds of Patagonia, or the duty free shop in Dubai

Dan