Episode 443: Work Less & Live More: How To Retire Often & Take Breaks with Jillian Johnsrud

Journey To Launch

Jamila Souffrant

Finances, Business, Realestateinvesting, Entrepreneurship, Earlyretirement, Investing, Budgeting, Wealth

5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on the Journey to Launch podcast, I'm welcoming back Jillian Johnsrud, author of Retire Often, to share how you can intentionally step away from work every few years, giving yourself the space to recharge, explore new possibilities, and create meaningful memories.

Jillian has taken more than a dozen "mini retirements," allowing her to live abroad, travel to 27 countries, adopt and raise six kids, invest in real estate, and pursue personal passions all without waiting until traditional retirement age.

In this conversation, we dive into how you can design your own cycle of work and rest, why taking extended breaks doesn't derail your finances (and may even accelerate your career), and how to navigate the emotional and practical challenges of stepping away from work.

In this episode you'll learn:

What "retiring often" means and how mini retirements differ from vacations
How to financially plan and budget for sabbaticals—even with debt
Strategies for negotiating time off, re-entering the workforce, and handling family or personal expectations
Tools and frameworks to help both employees and entrepreneurs rest, recharge, and avoid burnout

Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Check out Retire Often, by Jillian Johnsrud
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here.
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Get your copy of my book: Your Journey To Financial Freedom
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB – Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link.
What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!

Connect with Jillian:

Connect with me:

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When people, they know they're burned out, they know they need to rest, and then they get into the mini-retirement and they feel super tired.
0:10.5	They don't feel motivated. They're not doing the stuff on their to-do list. And they start to internalize that this is somehow a reflection of their personality, of their morality, of their value.
0:22.2	But it's just as crazy as saying, I'm recovering from the flu and I'm tired and I want to be in bed.
0:27.7	Maybe I'm a lazy person.
0:29.4	Maybe I'm not disciplined.
0:30.8	Maybe I'm not organized.
0:32.0	No, you're just sick.
0:33.2	Like, you're just recovering.
0:35.4	And once you're not sick, you will be yourself again.
0:39.5	T minus 10 seconds.
0:41.7	Welcome to the Journey to Launch podcast with your host, Jamila Sufron.
0:46.3	As a money expert who walks her talk, she helps brave journeyers like you, get out of debt, save, invest, and and build real well join her on the journey to
0:57.5	launch to financial freedom in five four three two one the episode show notes for this episode go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode.
1:16.9	In the show notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned, and so much more.
1:24.7	Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free
1:29.9	jumpstart guide to help you on your financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes
1:35.2	to listen to stages to go through to reach financial freedom, resources, and so much more.
1:40.6	You can go to journey to launch.com slash jumpstart to get your guide right now.
1:46.0	Okay, let's hop into the episode.
1:49.7	Hey, hey, hey, journeyers.
1:51.2	Welcome to the Journey to Launch podcast.
1:53.6	Today I have on Jillian John's Rood, who is going to talk about her new book,
	...

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