Vocation Vacations

A recent article in Business Week ("Test Drive Your Dream Job", 26 April 2006, found on-line) profiles a company called "Vocation Vacations" that offers people the opportunity to "test drive" their dream jobs through temporary (usually 2-3 day), intense mentorship experiences between vacationers exploring a potential new career area and professionals from a variety of fields. The article gives the example of an international banker at HSBC for whom the charm of his two-decade long career was fading. After two and a half days working with a doggie day-care provider in Massachusetts followed by a 3-day stint with a dog trainer in Oregon, the banker decided to launch his own dog-training business - and has since done so.

The idea behind this business is that, for a fee of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars (not including transportation and lodging), you can experience life from a 360-degree perspective in one of a number of other - often "exotic" - careers, without the risk of quitting your current job or investing heavily in a new career before gaining a visceral knowledge of what you, the vacationer, might be getting yourself into (the good, the bad, and the ugly included).

Categories in which you can vocation vacation include Acting, Bootmaking, Choreography, Dude Rancher, Events, Fine Arts, Hospitality, Meteorology, Perfumery, Restauranteur, Sword Making, TV & Film, Wine, and Yoga - among many others. For a complete list, visit http://www.vocationvacations.com/search/listCategories.php?country=4.

Apparently the idea has some cachet - and a pretty solid track record behind it, judging by the testimonials on the company web site, the examples in the business week article, and the fact that the Travel Channel recently debuted a new series based on the company's "vocationers" called "This Job's a Trip," chronicling the vacationing adventures of Vocation Vacation clients.

Many - if not most - of the vacations, unfortunately, are not an option for the cash-strapped or people on tight budgets. A two-day stint as a golf instructor in Denver, CO, for example, costs $899 plus airfare, plus hotel, plus rental car, plus food. If, for example, you were coming from New York, total cost for the 2-day experience - including travel - could run somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,800 (based on research done today using Orbitz & Expedia.com). Of course, it helps a lot if you can commute to your vacation from home, have a free place to stay, use frequent flyer miles, etc.

Neverless, it's a great concept for the banker, lawyer, or lion tamer who has never dared to seriously consider a career he or she has often dreamed about but would love to try on for size.

For a view of the Business Week article referenced above, visit http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2006/sb20060412_289938.htm.