How to Quit Your Job and Travel

When Jodi Ettenberg left her job as a corporate attorney in 2008, she thought she’d eventually return to law. But one thing led to another, and seven years later, she now runs Legal Nomads, a food and travel website. “In many countries, it’s seen as strange if you don’t take a year to travel,” Ettenberg, 35, says. “When I visited New Zealand, they thought quitting was the best thing I could do.”

Most thriving companies don’t want employees running for the exit. So many—including Goldman Sachs, General Mills, the Container Store, and about 20 others listed as Fortune’s Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2015—have begun offering paid sabbaticals. You sign up, go away for a few weeks, then come back ready to work harder. There’s no comprehensive data on the number of U.S. workers participating in such programs, but “the fact that companies are even ranked on this perk is promising,” says Sherry Ott, co-founder of meetplango.com, which helps organize the trips. “Good companies realize the value of time off.”