I left corporate America for a gap year in my 40s. The experience changed my spending and priorities.

The author took a career break in her 40s.

Courtesy of the author I took a gap year after 20 years of trying to have a balance as a working mom.

I used the time to be curious, try new things, reconnect with my kids, and give myself a break.

During my gap year, my priorities changed, and it helped prepare me for being an empty nester.

In 2023, I stepped back from a demanding, over-20-year career in corporate America .

At the time, I didn't think of it as a gap year; that was for college kids or people going on a retreat somewhere exotic.

A friend from the UK informed me that a gap year was exactly what we, two moms in our 40s, had done — take time off to explore, get to know ourselves, and figure out what's next, without pay or benefits.

I started my gap year stressed, lost, and tired I spent my 20s and 30s trying to have it all — the family, the career, the success.

Trying to have it all is exhausting .

Life had felt like sprinting a marathon for as long as I could remember.

I had no idea how tired I was until I stopped working.

I made a lot of to-do lists during my first few weeks off.

Courtesy of the author My initial reaction to taking time off was how to fill it.

What new activities would I try? What new places would I visit? I had created a list of 100 things to do and consulted it in my planner every day.