When people spend their vacations trying out new jobs, it’s called a vocation vacation. Some of these are opportunities where people are responsible for paying their own expenses, and others are paid programs.

What type of person might benefit from a vocation vacation?

• You find yourself heading off to college in the fall and are unsure of your major.
• You are graduating from college this month and are still unemployed.
• You have been working at a job and always dreamed of changing your career path.
• You are unemployed and are looking for a career change.
• You are ready to retire and want to spend your retirement doing what you love.

These vacations give you the opportunity to experience jobs first hand and be mentored by experts in each particular career or industry.

Vocation Vacations

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to trade that cubicle for your own storefront? Have you always wanted to own and run a vineyard? Thanks to an Oregon based company, Vocation Vacactions, you can get an insider’s look into what it’s like to be an entrepreneur while on vacation from your current job.

Brian Kurth, founder of Vocation Vacations, launched his company after being laid off in 2003 with no job prospects on the horizon.

“I found lots of well-off people who were embarrassed about their careers,” he said in a CNN interview. “Scratch the surface, and you’d get the real story: ‘I’m a lawyer, but I’ve always wanted to be X’ — invariably, it was some passion left over from childhood. We’re not anti-corporate America,” he said. “We’re pro-taking your life back, and that means considering those intangible payoffs that are about lifestyle, not money. Work shouldn’t be a four-letter word.”

According to Kurth, about 1/3 of “vocationers” actually make a career switch after taking one of their vacations. The other 2/3 realize that their “dream” is not what they thought it would be and the vocation vacation helps them refocus their career goals.

The most popular vocation vacations are in the culinary fields, hospitality, sports, entertainment, working with animals, and design careers. The typical cost is around $1000, and provides direct mentorship, career coaching, and first-hand experience that can truly change your life and the lifestyle you want to lead.

Wilderness Volunteers

Have you always dreamed of having a job in the great outdoors? Does the thought of having an outdoor adventure and participating in the stewardship of America’s national parks give you goosebumps? Consider spending your vacation with the Wilderness Volunteers. These trips last one week and cost $299. You are responsible for your transportation and your camping gear. They provide the food.

One volunteer put it quite simply, “Wilderness Volunteers projects are like fantasy camps for those of us who dreamed of being a back country ranger but found ourselves sitting in a cubicle.” Another Wilderness Volunteer became more interested in the environment and took a job working outdoors, which eventually led to his current job as an analyst with the Department of Energy.

If you’ve wondered if this type of career path might be for you, spend a week in the wilderness, give something back and learn what it would be like to work in our nations parks or within the vast field of conservation.

Transitions Abroad

Have you ever wanted to travel abroad or even live and work overseas? Consider spending your vacation this summer working abroad. There are all types of short-term jobs available abroad, including internships, student work, tour guides, and jobs in the travel industry. If living and working abroad has always been your dream, summer is the perfect time to pursue this interest. Transitions Abroad can help you make this dream a reality by connecting you with available job postings and providing you with information regarding living and working abroad.

If you take one of these vocation vacations and discover you need some additional education, you can search the many online universities on our site.

Voluntarily changing careers, however, is one the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. It’s kind of like divorcing your spouse of 20 years just because you think you could have more fun with a younger, cuter version. But when you get right down to it, is it really your career that’s the problem, or just some aspect of your career that can easily be fixed?

To find out you’d have to ask yourself why you want to switch careers. Are you bored? Unfulfilled? Or are your reasons more visceral than that. If so, then you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. Here are five good reasons NOT to dump a perfectly good career in favor a newer, “more attractive” one.

1) You Hate Your Job

Don’t confuse hating your job with hating your career. For example, if you’re a teacher and the administration at your school is making life miserable, that doesn’t mean the entire education industry sucks. Maybe it just means you need to find a job at another school. Before you dump your entire career, make sure it’s not just this one job you need to get rid of.

2) You Want More Money

Who doesn’t? But switching careers isn’t necessarily going to bring you more cash. Remember if you change careers you’ll be starting at the bottom of the food chain, competing for jobs and salaries with people who have more experience and possibly more education in your new field than you do.

Before you move on to a new career, figure out why you’re not making enough money and see if you can change that. For example, ask for a raise or a promotion. Move to a more lucrative department (like sales) or even to a bigger, more profitable company. Start your own business. Granted you’ll be making VERY LITTLE in the beginning, but your potential for financial growth is huge.

3) Because Everybody Says So

Just because your parents, friends, spouse, or significant other says you should be doing something else, doesn’t mean they know what the heck they’re talking about. I’m sure your mother always wanted you to be a doctor or a lawyer, but if working as a bank teller pays your bills and makes you happy, then that’s all that matters. NEVER switch careers to please someone else.

4) Your Rich Neighbor Drives You Nuts

We’ve all known that braggart bozo who somehow bumbled his way into a ridiculously high-paying career that he’s too stupid to deserve. Yes, you’re right, it’s not fair. But switching careers to the one your rich, lame-o neighbor has, just because you know you could do it better, and because you deserve financial success more than he does, it not a good reason to jump ship. Be happy with what you have and convince yourself that kharma will someday kick in.

5) You Think You Should Follow the Pack

If you’re content where you are, but all your co-workers have moved on to new careers and you wonder if you should be doing the same, STOP right now and step away from the resume. Just like in high school, trying to be someone you’re not just to get tight with the “in” crowd seldom ends well. Don’t be afraid to admit you like what you do, especially if your career is in a secure field and you have no worries of an impending lay-off. Happiness beats status any day.

Switching careers for negative reasons hardly ever works out to your advantage, but switching careers to satisfy your creativity or newfound knowledge (because, for example, you just completed a college degree) can only lead to good things. Before you throw in the towel on a perfectly good career, make sure you’re not doing it for all the wrong reasons.