Rob Varela / Star staff Denise Abdun-Nur, in her garage with her Porsche, took a sabbatical from her job as an elementary schoolteacher to work on a pit crew.

Courtesy of Juha Lievonen/Automatic Racing Denise Abdun-Nur works with the Automatic Racing pit crew during the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series in Virginia.

It started with the desire to drive a convertible.

Denise Abdun-Nur had never been into sports cars. She'd never been into speed. In fact, driving fast scared the Ventura kindergarten teacher.

But some friends — the men on her hockey team — convinced her about five years ago that she should really check out some sports cars when she started looking for a new car.

"I had been driving hand-me-down Lincoln Town Cars for the last 20 years," she said. They were her mother's used cars.

Then she sat in a Porsche.

"That was the beginning of the end," Abdun-Nur said.

Her interest in cars didn't stop when she bought her first black Boxster. Abdun-Nur wanted to drive her car to its full potential, but in a safe way. She started to search for racetracks.

For Abdun-Nur, a whim had become an obsession. She bought a Boxster S and rigged it for racing.

But teaching didn't give her enough time to really explore the sport, so she took a bold step. She took a year off from school.

It is a year not only for racing, but also for spending time with her family. She also is pursuing all the things she hasn't had time for while working.

"I thought, If I don't do it now, I may never do it,'" she said.

In October, Abdun-Nur got to explore her dream job. She took two days to travel to the East Coast and join a BMW racing team for its final race of the year — a race at which the team won the championship.

It's dubbed 'vocationing'

Abdun-Nur arranged the experience through a Portland, Ore., company called Vocation Vacations. The company is built around the idea of people "vocationing" — trying out their dream jobs while on vacation.

For some, it's a fun way to explore a passion or hobby. For others, it's a way to test a new career before making the leap.

Founder Brian Kurth said about 75 percent of the company's business comes from people who are looking to change careers in the months or years ahead.

Some find their dream career is all they imagined. Some learn there's a lot of hard work involved but are still willing to endure it for the rewards. Some figure out there isn't any way they could adapt to what they thought was a dream job.

All those outcomes are valuable, Kurth said. Clients may be experts in their own fields but hold vague or romanticized ideas about the work they want to do. Jumping into what amounts to a short internship brings reality to bear.

Mentors key to the process

The most valuable part of the experience is working with a mentor, Kurth said. For those who would rather seek mentors on their own, Kurth recently released a book titled "Test-Drive Your Dream Job," which lays out the necessary steps.

It's vital to find mentors willing to share their own passion or it won't work, he said. His company hinges on providing those passionate mentors.

Abdun-Nur, 55, found Vocation Vacations when she joined AARP online. She saw a link to Vocation Vacations and scrolled through the possible trips. She came across the one that made her heart pound: pit crew member.

She flew to North Carolina and drove to Virginia to spend the weekend with Automatic Racing, a Florida team competing in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series.

It wasn't cheap. She had to arrange her travel and hotel. For the price of $2,149, she had two days with the team. The fee covered expenses, such as her paddock pass for access to restricted areas and the pit area, time trials, team dinners and meetings.

It was more pricey than many regular holidays, but it wasn't a normal trip.

"I'd rather spend a lot of money, have a great memory and live conservatively later," Abdun-Nur said. "It's better to have the great memories."

She even put her "kindergarten teacher skills" to work by cutting out new vinyl decals for a car that had been banged up in practice the day before the race.

Giggling around the track

Though she couldn't drive one of the cars — because of insurance liability — she was able to ride in the pace car around the track with professional drivers at race speed.

Abdun-Nur's voice brightens when she describes the experience.

"For me, it was just a dream," she said. "I had a smile and was giggling out loud the whole way."

Abdun-Nur was the first woman to do a Vocation Vacation with the team, and she brought a unique perspective because she races, said Sylvia Sebrowski with Automatic Racing. Sebrowski said the people who sign on for the team are often racing enthusiasts of one sort or another.

"We always get to meet interesting people and find out from their perspective the spectator view," she said. "Everybody enjoys themselves."

The crew members are experienced and welcome the chance to talk with people about what they do, Sebrowski said. With Abdun-Nur, the discussions often related back to her own racing experience and she got along well with the team.

A closer look inside the job

Sebrowski said she would recommend experiences that get people behind the scenes — in this case, in the pits and garages.

"It lets them actually follow their passion," she said. "If they're really interested in racing, it gives them the side of racing ... they don't see when they sit in the stands and watch a race or sit at home."

Kurth said about 12 percent of the vocationers who have used his service in the past four years have ditched their careers to chase their dream jobs. Many made the transition in the past two years.

Abdun-Nur said taking time off means a lot. She is spending time with family and friends, traveling a bit and enjoying watching sunsets.

"I can waste time doing really valuable things," she said.

She's still deciding what happens next.

"In a lot of ways, I'm re-creating my life," she said.

On the Net:

http://www.vocationvacations.com