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

05.09.2024 - 01:34 / insider.com

Erin Hynes felt sick to her stomach.

It was December 2023, and she'd just resigned from her job at an advertising technology company in Ontario, Canada, where she'd worked for over two years.

"I thought I was making a huge mistake," Hynes, 34, told Business Insider. "I really did like the job."

Hynes was quitting because she and her husband, Lucas Amormino, who was working at a financial tech company, had made the decision to embark on a six-month career break — an adult gap year of sorts.

"We really liked our teams, we had a good work-life balance," she said.

Hynes and Amormino are DINKS — dual income, no kids. Hynes said theyfelt comfortable with their finances, with a combined salary of 196,000 Canadian dollars, oraround $143,800.

"We really care about stability and really cared about feeling like we have very defined careers," she said.

But in the final months of 2023, Hynes said she and Amormino began to feel severe burnout.

Hynes and Amormino, 33 — avid travelers who've always spent their PTO exploring new countries, cities, and experiences — tried to secure sabbaticals from their companies.

When those requests were denied, they took a leap.

In December 2023, they quit their jobs, sublet their apartment, and left their cat with Hynes' parents.

In January, they set out on a six-month adventure.

Hynes and Amormino planned their mini-retirement to last roughly six months, during which they visited seven different countries: Tanzania, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, Georgia, and Italy.

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They went on a safari, took cooking courses, hiked, and got to know locals through homestays and tours.

"The main goal was to step away from the sometimes monotonous routine of our day jobs," Hynes said.

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 obligatedto 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.

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,