School.  Graduation.  Job.  Work.  2 weeks of vacation a year.  Hopeful retirement.

To put it simplistically, that’s the path for most Americans.  Looks kinda boring, right?  Shouldn’t there be more to life?

Let’s try a different path.

School.  Graduation.  Time off to travel.  Job.  Work.  Career break/sabbatical/travel.  Work.  Career break/sabbatical/travel.  Work.  Hopeful retirement.

Now that looks a little more appealing, doesn’t it?

So many may dream of taking a career break, a sabbatical, or time off to travel before they retire and hit the cruise circuit.  But for most people, particularly Americans, the thought of being able to make that dream a reality seems impossible.

That’s where Meet, Plan, Go comes in.  There are plenty of people who have broken away from their cubes and traveled the world in the middle of their careers.  Believe it or not, there are more people out there than you would imagine who have made this happen, including yours truly.

On September 14, 2010, nearly 1000 people across the 13 cities in the United States and Canada attended the inaugural Meet, Plan, Go gathering.  They heard stories and received advice from people who have taken that leap of faith and broken away from The American Dream to discuss how it is possible for you, yes, YOU, to get out on the road for that trip of a lifetime.

Meet, Plan, Go 2011

And now the founders of Meet, Plan, Go and Briefcase to Backpack, combined with the popular travel site BootsnAll, are back at it again, planning an even bigger, better event across 18 North American cities on October 18, 2011.

I’m honored, excited, and ecstatic to announce that St. Louis is one of those cities chosen for this year’s Meet, Plan, Go get-together, along with Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington DC.

Not only has St. Louis been chosen as one of the cities, but I have been chosen as the host for St. Louis’ gathering.  There will be tons more information in the coming months, but until then, familiarize yourself with the Meet, Plan, Go site, along with Briefcase to Backpack, and BootsnAll, which are all fantastic resources for anyone contemplating a career break and will be heavily involved in this event.

Make sure to sign up for the newsletter and become a Facebook fan of Meet, Plan, Go to keep up to date on all the news that is sure to come out in the next few months as we move closer to October.