休个“离职长假”？

大学生利用空档年/间隔年(gap year) 休学创业已经不是啥新鲜事儿。而已经有工作的人也可以进行间隔旅行，或者利用这段时间去做别的事情。这被称为“离职长假”（career break）。

A career break is a period of time out from employment. Traditionally, this was for mothers to raise children, but it is now used for people taking time out of their career for personal development and/or professional development.
Career break意为“离职长假”，此前起源于妈妈们休“离职长假”来养育子女，如今人们常借此进行个人或职业发展。

A career break is usually between one month and two years long. Six months to 2 years is the most common period of time for a career break. It's also possible to take a mini career break of less than one month, which enables people to try out career break activities without committing to longer periods of time. Shorter career breaks are most popular with the over-45s.
“离职长假”常在一个月到两年之间，最常见的是半年到两年。也有人会休个不到一个月的小假期，能让人们可以用很短的时间开展一些活动。45岁以上的人更愿意休短假期。

It can take the form of a sabbatical, which can be paid or unpaid - unpaid sabbaticals are much more common. Sabbaticals were originally only offered to academics and clerics but are now being increasingly offered by companies.
“离职长假”可能会采用学术休假的形式，分带薪和不带薪，不带薪的学术休假更常见。学术休假最初只提供给学者和牧师，如今越来越多的公司也给员工提供类似假期。

（中国日报网英语点津 yaning）