Wait...let me get this straight:
1. They're going to pay for you to go to Rice in Houston for a year?
2. Do you have to work during this period?
If you have money saved, and are going to be around University aged girls all day at Rice you're going to hate yourself for missing that.
1. You're screwing your career you worked 9yrs for...I literally just met a female/male that "took a year off" from a mining company here in Australia. The mining industry turned and now both of them can't find jobs. They're both engineers too, so it should be easy. Anyway they wanted to switch to O&G, but the first thing I thought was you screwed your co-workers by just quitting one day, so what's stopping you from doing that to us. No thanks. I didn't recommend either. Nice people, but I wish them luck.
2. You're missing a MAJOR opportunity to meet the girl of your dreams. You're going to be around young (18-30yr old) girls that are smart enough to get into Rice and are low on emotional baggage. You're still close enough to home that they're a definite long term option as well.
3. Finding those girls will be more fullfilling then talking to other backpackers that just came out of Uni and are interested in "travel". Haha. I'm sure since you're 30 you've figured out some more interests. Trust me you won't be talking about politics, business, or even interesting things about the places you're seeing. You'll be taking selfies next to world landmarks then getting wasted...which is fun, but not life changing.
4. You can just go work/live in a new place too. If your company is that big they'll transfer you. You'll get a WAY better experience if you can spend more than a month in some place and make some real friends, not just meet other backpackers/travellers.
Anyway your call...
My background...I moved from Calgary O&G when I was 28 to Australia. It was a great move, but I also had dreams of just quitting and doing the same thing. Having a real job and a comfortable place to live down here is WAY better than working at the hostel bar. Trust me...since I still frequent the backpacker bars.
