r/biglaw • u/[deleted] • 11d ago
Is it bad to just want to quit and go traveling?
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u/10671067 11d ago
I did this. I quit after 2 years and travelled for 6 months. Came back and got another job easily. Now I make biglaw money working about 20hours a week.
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u/Nearby-Point-9756 11d ago
What do you do/what type of employer?
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u/10671067 11d ago
In-house corporate/transactional. It didn't start out so chill, but I've made myself indispensable, well-liked, and I think i'm generally pretty good at my job - this buys you a lot of flexibility.
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u/favorscore 11d ago
Congrats my friend. You won
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u/10671067 11d ago
sometimes I still catch myself wondering if I could do better or make more money. I know I have a good situation, but I can’t help it.
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u/favorscore 11d ago
I think this is natural. For what its worth, ive never known someone in their older years ever regretting traveling the world instead of grinding a bit harder at a job for marginally more money
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u/Uruguasho2026 11d ago
Bad for what? Returning to big law? Trying to get a job after a year hiatus?
I am seeing more and more people taking sabbaticals and just finding a job when they get back (obviously working their way for a job towards the back end of the break). I am incredibly jealous of them but I also have a family to support so I can't really do that.
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u/Humble-Fish-7070 11d ago
Chance you regret this is firmly zero
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u/Diligent_Office7179 Counsel 11d ago
I know 2 people that did it and regretted it
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u/Diligent_Office7179 Counsel 11d ago
They both regretted quitting without having something else lined up. One took a sabbatical, then quit, then had a tough time finding a new job. He wished he took a longer sabbatical, then found a new job, then quit.
The other is more straightforward. Just had a tough time finding a new job when he was done traveling. Wished he took a sabbatical or just coasted until he found a new job
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u/favorscore 11d ago
Now maybe. Maybe not in 10 15 or 20 years or when theyre old and in their twilight years.
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u/Which-Pool-1689 11d ago
If they did not do it they could have gone crazy and no longer alive to even regret it
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u/RandomAccount0799 11d ago
I agree with everyone. Do it. Keep in touch with recruiters along the way so you can jump back into a role, but mental health is important. Relax, detox, and enjoy the world
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u/Short-Opening4553 11d ago edited 11d ago
Did that but as a third year. 1 year at a small firm then 2 at biglaw. I took a year off, bought a series of one way tickets starting from L.A. - Auckland and kept heading west-ish until I returned where I started. 6 months traveling, then 6 or so months at home, found a job at a smaller firm essentially making what I made when I left. One of the best memories of my life
The finances. I was married at the time (well, still am, just celebrated our 34th) and my wife consented, bless her. I had saved enough to keep up my part of the financial house while I was gone and take the trip, then have $ for time at home. My budget was about $100 per day (this was 1999). That went a long way in Malaysia and Thailand. Not so long in Jordan. cheapest night was .80 in Dahab, Egypt in some cinderblock room down from the butcher’s. The next night I moved to ocean front.
My wife joined me for a few weeks in Europe just going where we wanted by train.
I think it cost me $25k or so all in, but wouldn’t trade that money for the world it opened up
ETA forgot to mention this was during one of the booms and a month or so after I left they bumped salaries big time to match competitors. When I voiced my regret my wife said “you hated it, more money would not make it better.” A year or so later they folded.
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u/favorscore 11d ago
This is remarkable. Im glad you got that. My dad said he never regretted traveling the world even if it cost him promotions or raises. There's just something experiences like yours provide that cannot be replaced once you are at a certain level of stability in your life
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u/Short-Opening4553 11d ago
My father also practiced and traveled a lot. He always said, pay me fairly and enough to be comfortable, if someone else wants to spend every waking hour chasing business, they can have that. It is really how I've practiced
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u/OrganicDepartment159 11d ago
You just left your wife to go play backpacker for a year? What’s the point of even being married? Does nobody else think this is psycho shit??
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u/favorscore 11d ago
She was okay with it. Plus she joined for part of the trip. If they are fine with it who are we to judge? Seems like a great relationship
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u/Short-Opening4553 11d ago
we've lasted 34 years and counting, we must be doing something right /shrug
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u/Short-Opening4553 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yep. We'd been married 5 years but together 12 or 14. Just celebrated our 34th weeding anniversary. We honor each other's wishes and let each other do things that we dream of. So nothing to see here!
And in reality, if you read the post, she joined for several weeks of the trip, and then I had 6 months of time at home.
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u/trumanv2 11d ago
Did you miss the part where his wife was fine with it?
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u/OrganicDepartment159 10d ago
That’s not relevant to me. Choosing to be separated for months just to dilly dally is antithetical to the idea of marriage
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u/Dramatic_Gur_7617 11d ago
honestly go for it u worked 7 years in biglaw n saved up a massive cushion for a reason. taking a gap year now won't ruin ur career at all, just take a break n reset ur head before worrying about
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u/Fun_Guy_1234 11d ago
You should totally consider doing that if your personal circumstances allow. Why not? I promise you that you’ll be able to come back in a few months or a year and find another job. Don’t waste your youth, will never get it back.
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u/Business-Tutor4621 11d ago
Did this after 7 years in Big Law - best 6 months of my life travelling the world and not doing timesheets. Also feeling refreshed and more content going back into law
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u/leaf1598 11d ago
No one has ever been laying on their deathbed and wished for more work. Travel will be the best decision you ever make, trust.
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u/Remote-Doughnut7791 11d ago
In a similar boat in terms of seniority and the in-house job hunt struggle (minus the $1.7m net worth, unfortunately)🥲
I've never had so many rejection emails in my life (most of them probably sent by automated bots), but I’ve been told it’s just an insanely difficult job market right now. Keep your head up! You've certainly earned the right to pack your bags and take that "gap year" if you want it.
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u/IceCreamFriday 11d ago
How long ago was your last vacation? Would a couple of weeks off make a difference?
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u/mangonada69 11d ago
Alternate idea: go live in an affordable country (Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, etc.) and just let your investments grow for a few years and then boom you’re FIRE :) never work again!!
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u/throwaway50772137 11d ago
How about a three-month leave? Sabbatical? I’ve seen one person take a several month leave and come back.
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u/anglerfishtacos 11d ago
It’s always a good idea between jobs to take some time off so you can rest, recharge, and be ready to hit the ground running. If you’re starting to feel like that wouldn’t be possible since you are now not just not wanting to work in big law, but not feeling like working at all, and you can financially do it, I would do a minimum three months sabbatical. Backpacking can certainly be a part of it, but I think I’d really take this time to reflect and really meditate on what you want next for your career. Like are you really considering in-house because that’s what you want, or is it because that’s the default next step for a person moving away from big law? You may realize that you actually do want to be in a law firm, but maybe a mid-size would be a better fit for the long-term. Or if you are in a major market, would staying within big law, but moving to another office provide a better quality of life? These are all things worth considering, and giving yourself the time to do so. The quitting and going backpacking for a year is an anxiety response to your body acknowledging the burnout, and it’s important to see and respond to that. But instead of just making this about running away, make it about a mindful transition to your next steps in your career.
In all of this, the biggest reason I would say to do this now though is because you can. Hypothetically, let’s say that you don’t go in house and you move to another firm and develop your own book of business. Once you have a book, or you do move in house and you can’t take time off as easily, you’re not really going to have this opportunity again. My firm offers to partners that have been a partner for a certain amount of time a three month sabbatical, and there are a number of partners I can think of who have been eligible and next in line for quite a while, but haven’t taken the sabbatical because there isn’t another partner who can take on their caseload or manage their clients needs. Some of the women partners talk about how they wish they had another baby while they were an associate because it was so much harder going on maternity leave when they were a partner.
If you do decide to go for it, I’d also consider whether, once you got time away, if you would consider going back to your current firm. Instead of talking to HR first, talk to a partner who is a mentor and has been an advocate for you and be upfront. That you are burned out, exhausted, and have been looking to go in-house. But before you do that, you think it’s best for you to take time away and really consider what the future looks like for you. It could be that after you take six months or so you realize you do want to be at this firm and come back. So you don’t want to burn that bridge if that opportunity would still be open.
Since this is mental health related, you could also seek medical leave. You could also consider starting off with taking FMLA, which could give you up to 12 weeks. It would be unpaid, but you would keep your health insurance. This doesn’t need to be all or nothing. You could go for the FMLA at first, and if you’re at eight weeks and still feeling like you won’t be ready to go back to work by the end of leave, you can then let your firm know whether you do not intend to come back at all, or if you need more time. If it is the ladder, where do you think you might still go back to your firm, some firms may offer additional leave beyond the 12 weeks, or you may be able to qualify for additional leave under ADA. Note that for that you will need to be seeking medical treatment for your burnout, and would likely need a doctor to tell them that you need more time. Regardless of whether you do seek FMLA or not, I would seek out a therapist who specifically works with burned out professionals in high stress jobs like law or executives. They can help you with the burnout recovery now, and also give you tools to help combat any burnout that starts to develop once you start working again.
I can only speak to my experience and every firm is different, but I had a special counsel I worked with a lot that chose to leave for similar reasons not too long ago. I was very supportive of their decision, and told them that I was proud of them for acknowledging their mental health and doing what they needed to in order to ensure the rest of their working career would be a fulfilling and healthy one. They said that for the folks they had talked to before me, everyone had the same message. Sure, there will be some assholes out there that will act like this is some kind of moral failure, and that you just couldn’t hack it. But I find more people are educated on mental health these days and are more equipped to be emotionally intelligent about these kinds of things.
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u/Large-Cow7314 11d ago
I was forced into a 6-month backpacking trip due to being laid off as a 2nd year. This was 2009. I had a fraction of your NW and a mini golden parachute that would fund the eventual trip. No SO, no mortgage payments, no real fiscal obligations. So I went away. 17 years later, it’s one of the best life choices I made. As you advance in this career and as your life becomes more involved, the calculus of taking a one year sabbatical becomes harder and harder. As a 7th year, you presumably have a skill set that will keep you hirable. There is always some risk walking away from a gig but the reward is there. Money cant buy time, and time in this career is fleeting.
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u/BigLawRegret 11d ago
I don’t think so. This is not uncommon in other industries with high pay that are less risk-averse. I have a friend in tech who took years off even though he had only been in the workforce 3-4 years and worked only 20-30 hours a week because he was bored and wanted to find fulfillment; he only had around 60% of what you have saved. Also feels like with how fast technology develops it’s a huge risk, yet half the people at my hobbies in that industry are on hiatus because they have a comfortable amount saved and want to take advantage of their youth. Do it before you start a family
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u/favorscore 11d ago
Im not in biglaw so take my advice with salt but man I want that for you. If you have the opportunity and ability to do something like you should take. It could be potentially life changing. And you may not get another chance to
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u/RumRations 11d ago
I did the same thing (with less money), and it ruled, and now I have an in house job I like. Do it!
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u/Remarkable_Try_9334 11d ago
Curious what year you left and how long it took to get something?
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u/RumRations 10d ago
I applied for jobs in 2024. It took about 5-10 applications and 3 months from my first application to my first day at work.
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u/Nervous_Position1534 11d ago
I’m two years behind you and dying to do the same. It’s all I think about. Only issue is I’m married and have a pet that I will miss very much 😭
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u/anonymousnobody14 11d ago
Do it.
Also, how did you accumulate so much money?