I’ve been in my job for seven years and I’ve always wanted to take a few months off to travel around South Africa with my wife but it never seems to be a stable time to do it. Should I just go for it? And how do I convince my employer it’s a good idea?

Taking a sabbatical in a career that may well last over 45 years is still surprisingly rare. Most people find that there is never a good time to organise the trip of a lifetime. That may be because of kids or mortgages, but particularly in finance there is also the fear we will not have a job to return to.