Some people aspire to retire once in their lives. At age 42, says she's "mini-retired" 12 times and counting.

Johnsrud, an author and life coach based in Kalispell, Montana, defines a "mini-retirement" as a break of one month or longer where you step away from your daily responsibilities to focus on an activity you normally wouldn't have time for.

Her "mini-retirements" so far include road-trips, traveling abroad, remodeling her house, planting a garden and attending an outpatient intensive mental health therapy program. In November, she took a month off from her job advising clients and attending speaking engagements to learn how to tango, spending around $1,000 on lessons and attending a tango festival, she says.

"If you do this as a lifestyle, it's so rich and so rewarding," Johnsrud says. Unlike vacations, which can be too short or action-packed for proper relaxation, a "mini-retirement" helps you mentally and emotionally "disconnect and relax more deeply," she adds.

Johnsrud can mini-retire frequently because she's self employed. For most people with a 9-5 job, mini-retirements can occur in three ways, she says: request an extended vacation from your current employer, take some extra time before starting a new job or give yourself a mental break if you ever find yourself unexpectedly unemployed.

They don't need to be expensive or planned in detail, says Johnsrud — you just need some semblance of an idea or focus. To prepare, she recommends having a metaphorical go-bag: Stockpile a few ideas for a four-to-six week mini-retirement and enough money to afford the time away from work.

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There's nothing inherently wrong with dipping into your savings to spend on something fun, as long as it doesn't take away from emergency funds or derail any long-term financial goals like retirement and financial stability, says Jose Diego Gonzalez, a partner and certified financial planner at Miami-based investment advisory firm CameronDowning.

If you do give yourself a sabbatical, spend 10% to 15% of your non-retirement savings at most, and always keep three to six months' worth of expenses in your emergency fund, Gonzalez recommends. And if you're unemployed while doing so, set aside additional money to pay for health insurance and create a plan to re-enter the workforce when you return, he adds.

"I think about my 80-year-old self, like, 'What does she want to have in her life?'" says Johnsrud. "I can make those capital investments now that will pay dividends to her, whether that's going back to Germany to learn German, or taking a [tango] class so she can then dance tango when she's 80."

'I'm always so happy I did it'

Johnsrud says she got the idea for a mini retirement when she was 19 from reading the Old Testament, "like all the cool kids do," she says with a chuckle. The Old Testament describes a time of rest every seven years, known as a sabbatical year.

At the time, Johnsrud and her husband Adam — who was two years ahead of her at Northwest Nazarene University — were $55,000 in combined debt from credit cards, student loans and medical expenses, she says. They didn't think they'd be able to retire early, so she says the idea of taking extended breaks earlier in life — after paying down their debt — seemed like an attractive alternative to them.

By the time Johnsrud was 24, she and her husband . That year, struggling with grief after having a miscarriage, Johnsrud decided she needed to take a trip to clear her head, she says.

She hit the road with her best friend, embarking on a month-long cross country road trip from Washington D.C. to Seattle and back in her green Honda Civic. The trip, which she paid for in full, cost her about $2,500, she says.

"It was just an incredible experience," says Johnsrud. "We slept on people's couches. We camped. We almost got [trampled] by bison."

Now, her goal is to mini-retire at least once per year, she says. She advises people on how to do the same on her "Retire Often Podcast" and in her book, which has the same name and is slated to publish in Fall 2025.

Her only regret, she says: not taking enough mini-retirements earlier in her career.

"I was a little cautious at the beginning, because it's a little bit of a leap of faith before you have the evidence of, 'Oh, this is amazing.'" Johnsrud says. "It always works out, and I'm always so happy I did it."

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