Pursue your passion
Ever dream of ditching the desk and doing something that excites you for a living? Perhaps you're fed up of spending a large part of your day staring at the walls of your cubicle? Could it be that career ladder you climbed is leaning against the wrong wall? Or maybe you just need a break to get a fresh perspective and some balance in your life. Whatever your situation, when you can find a way to do the things you love on a regular basis – using your unique talents – it's a great recipe for personal fulfillment.
Many of us feel the urge to escape from... but it's all together more difficult to decide what to escape to. Check out the opportunities that exist for doing something different, on a short or longer term basis.
My passion is...
- The Arts
- The environment
- Food & wine
- Gardening & flowers
- Holistic pursuits
- Languages
- Sports
- Starting my own business
- Taking a break and/or finding a new career
- Travel & adventure
The Arts
- InteriorDesignSchools.org is a website directory of all design schools in the United States.
- Metropolitan Film School in London is a film school.
- The New York Film Academy is a film school.
- The Vocal Athlete is a London-based coaching specialist offering training in singing with a website supporting the singers.
The Environment
- Coral Cay Conservation provides expeditions to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through conservation of tropical forests and coral reefs.
- Earthwatch is an environment watchdog group that also provides environmental expeditions.
- Worldwide Experience does eco-friendly gap breaks, career breaks and volunteer programs.
- Experience Mexeco is a volunteer placement programs for ecologically sustainable and community projects in Mexico.
- Frontier - The Society for Environmental Exploration and Frontier is a non-profit conservation non-governmental organization that organizes volunteer projects and expeditions.
- Quest Overseas sets up expeditions concerning volunteering with people or environmental projects.
Food & Wine
- CulinarySchoolsOnline.com is a website with a directory of culinary schools.
- French Prestige Real Estate is a real estate website where you can buy a vineyard.
- Leiths School of Food and Wine in London has an international is a first class training school for chefs.
- Tante Marie Cooking School is an internationally acclaimed cooking school since 1954. Full time program as well as gap year and short term programs available.
Gardening & Flowers
- English Gardening School is a prize winning English Gardening School.
- Judith Blacklock Flower School in the Knightsbridge area of London offers flower arranging and design courses.
Holistic Pursuits
- Natural Healers provides information on schools, programs, certification, careers and licencing requirements for becoming interested in the natural healing arts. Covers USA and Canada.
Languages
- Caledonia Languages provides study holidays abroad teaching languages combined with salsa dancing etc.
- Cesa Languages provides language classes abroad where you are taught the language in the actual country.
- Italian Language School located in Tuscany, Viareggio, Italy, offers semester and summer study abroad programs. Take courses in language, arts, and humanities with transferable college credits.
Sports
- Base Camp Group offers ski and snow board instructors courses in Europe & North America ranging from 4 -11 weeks.
- Aviation School is a flight school offering training in all types of flying.
- Capital Sailing is a sailing club that provides courses and being a part of a free sailing club.
- Galloway Sailing Centre offers training courses for you to become a water-sports instructor in windsurfing, kayaking, power boating and kite-surfing. Courses vary in length.
- Gap Sports provides sports coaching abroad, ski and snow instructor courses and specialist academy training overseas.
- Itime teaches windsurfing, kite-surfing and every type of water sports.
- NonStop Adventures provides training to become a ski instructor, snowboard instructor and sail instructor in Canada and the Caribbean.
- PADI is an organization that teaches diving.
- Powder Trip is a ski and snowboard company that offers instructor courses, holidays and short courses and improvement holidays
- Ski-Exp-Air offer ski and snowboard instructors courses in Quebec, Canada ranging from 4 - 11 weeks.
- United Kingdom Sailing Academy is a school that teaches sailing.
Starting My Own Business
- Check out Entrepreneur.com for a really informative website giving a wide variety of advice for the entrepreneur.
- Need to hone your elevator pitch? Test it out with the general public at Your Elevator Pitch.
- Microsoft Small Business (Marketing & Advertising Tips section) offers a vast array of great tips on marketing.
- Need an example of some great business plans? Go to BPlans.com.
If you're based in the UK
- Startups.co.uk gives a wealth of useful information and links on starting up your own business
- This HM Revenue and Customs site offers advice for entrepreneurs wishing to start their own business - it's particularly geared around business registration.
- The UK Patent Office tells you how to protect your intellectual property.
If you're based in the USA
- The Small Business Administration provides government information on where to go for help and advice on starting your own business.
- SCORE, a non-profit, describes itself as "Counselors to America's Small Business" and America's premier source of free & confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs.
- Internal Revenue Service offers everything you need to lay your hands on the right forms. It's a one-stop shop website for entrepreneurs.
- United States Patent and Trademark Office presents information on how to trademark or register your patent.
If you're based in Canada
- SmallBusinessBC.com offers free seminars, advice and support resources to small businesses in British Columbia.
- Canada Business, part of the Canadian Government site, helps Canadian entrepreneurs with business start-up information.
- The Canadian Intellectual Property Office offers information on how to register your trademark or other intellectual property.
Taking a Break and/or Finding a New Career
- Any Work Anywhere is a free website for job seekers looking for work throughout the UK and the world
- Camps International offers gap programs for 25+.
- Gap Year for Grown Ups is the UK's leading career break & Volunteer Specialists providing links to for gap year or volunteer projects including short term and long term.
- Greenforce is a website where you can enter where you want to go and what you'd like to do and they will find it for you. It's great!
- Independent Living Alternatives is a charity that provides assistance to people living with disabilities and provides a program for people to volunteer as assistants and go on working holidays.
- Real Gap is the UK's leading career break & Volunteer Specialists providing links to for gap year or volunteer projects including short term and long term.
- Teaching and Projects Abroad is an organizer of voluntary work placement internationally for teaching, conservation, medical, care and journalism.
- Timebank.org.uk is a website listing volunteer jobs and jobs abroad.
- Work In Paradise is a job website based in the Caribbean.
- JobInTheSun.com is a website listing jobs overseas in the Caribbean and The Cayman Islands
Travel & Adventure
- Brave New Traveler provides travel news, tips and advice, along with a section on escaping the cubicle and pursuing a life of adventure and wonder.
- Homelink International is a home exchange program where you exchange homes with another person in a country you wish to visit.
- Season Workers is a working travel site for finding seasonal jobs or taking instructors courses for holiday resorts all over the world.
- VocationVacations.com is a site that allows you to test drive your dream job!
- World Expeditions is an adventure travel company.
