A millennial DINK couple gave up a combined six-figure income to take an adult gap year. They loved it.

The last time Hynes embarked on a similar trip, she was 26. She had finished graduate school and decided to fly to Hong Kong, where Amormino was based for part of his MBA program.

After the program ended, the couple spent months traveling through Southeast Asia.

It ended somewhat abruptly when Hynes ran out of money. She owed $1,000 on her credit card and felt obligated to return to Canada and call up her dad for a loan.

“My first paycheck that I got, once I was employed, I immediately sent him $500,” she said. “I didn’t want them to have to pay for my irresponsibility.”

The incident didn’t deter Hynes or her husband from planning another big trip. She said they spoke for years about doing it again.

“I’m a repeat offender,” she joked.

The couple spent over 5 years planning for their career break

Hynes said she and Amormino went to great lengths to avoid falling into financial insecurity this time around.

“For the last five to seven years, we had actively been discussing that we were going to do a trip like this,” she said. “We had sort of left it at, ‘Let’s just aggressively save, and when the right moment comes, we will know that it is time.'”

When that time came, they had 40,000 Canadian dollars, around $29,360, saved up purely for travel, as well as 20,000 Canadian dollars, around $14,680, as a buffer in case they found it tricky to find new jobs when they came home.

Hynes said she also began to earn money from her blog, Pina Travels, through advertising and affiliate marketing and brand partnerships. They put the additional income toward their buffer fund.

“It was really important to us that we had a specific amount of money that we were going to spend that didn’t touch our retirement investments,” she said.

They kept costs down on the trip by doing homestays and booking guest houses for the majority of their accommodation as well as having a flexible itinerary.

“Traveling that way — without too much of a plan — makes it cheaper because we could tap into the flight deals going on,” she said.

Despite their meticulous planning and the fact that most of their family and friends were supportive, they felt some judgment.

“A lot of people around us, they’re at the stage where they’re having kids, they’re buying houses. And we’re doing not that,” she said, adding that they are almost 100% confident they won’t have children.

The couple relied on their networks to get jobs after traveling

When May rolled around, after about five months on the road, the couple started to feel uneasy.

“We saw the money running out, and we were like, ‘OK, now we have to adult again and think about our return home,'” Hynes said.

While they were worried about navigating a tough job market, it felt less nerve-racking than when Hynes had returned from her last big trip.

“Being further in your career, it actually makes it easier coming back,” she said. “We had a big network of people to tap.”

Within a month of applying while abroad, the couple secured jobs and were able to negotiate start dates for their return in July.

Being honest about her career break during the interview and hiring process worked in her favor, Hynes added.

“I told people, like, ‘Yes, we wanted to travel for six months. I feel extremely rejuvenated, and I’m very excited to work again,'” she said. “They were impressed.”

As seamless as their return to Canada was, adjusting to having a routine again hasn’t always been easy.

“Sometimes it just feels like the last six months of our lives were a fever dream,” Hynes said.

To make it easier, the couple booked a trip to Iceland in September.

“Now we have something to look forward to,” she said.