Calder says she has sometimes referred to it as a sabbatical, but that makes it sound as though she was doing something serious.
"That would have been almost normal for me to do that - give myself some other new big task to do.
"It was an unusual thing for me to just take some time out just to be a human being in the world."
Calder's property career began by chance as a 16-year-old, when her dad saw a newspaper advertisement for a property valuation diploma at the University of Auckland, sponsored by the old Valuation Department.
She worked her way through the nuts and bolts of valuation and property management, and kept studying, eventually gaining an MBA and working in leadership roles in the public sector.
A return to corporate property management 10 years ago, in roles that combined her property and leadership nous, culminated in a job with Z Energy.
"Z for me was the highlight of my career. It was like everything else I'd done to that date had prepared me for joining Z."
The firm had a 100-year history as Shell, but the creation of Z Energy - after the international oil giant sold its New Zealand retail assets in 2011 to the NZ Super Fund and Infratil - created an opportunity to set up an asset property portfolio management function, says Calder, "which was right up my alley".
As part of the leadership team she also worked on creating a new business strategy, structure, culture and values for the business.
"So why leave it?
"There's been times in my career in the past where I've got to a point that I usually describe as feeling like a hamster on a wheel, and my last year at Z my wheel got the speed wobbles.
"It's really important for me in my work to feel really connected to the reason why: what am I accomplishing? How am I making a difference?
"After four years at Z I just felt like I'd lost my connection with that purpose a little bit."
With her role at Z evolving into something more akin to business as usual, Calder resigned from her job.
She says her identity was very interconnected with her work so she wasn't sure how she'd react to travelling the world with no job.
"I took to it like a duck to water and got into the groove of travelling and just being a human in the world pretty quickly without too much trouble, which I think was enlightening.
After a six-month trip that took in the sights of the United States, South America, Italy, France and Spain, where she spent time learning Spanish, Calder returned to New Zealand late last year.
In a "happy coincidence", independent property adviser TwentyTwo was looking for a senior consultant to boot up its Auckland office.
Calder knew the Wellington-based firm from work it had done for Z and says she's excited by the opportunity to make a difference across a number of client organisations.
Now she has brushed off a few cobwebs, Calder says she's enjoying being back on the job - having confirmed it is an industry she loves.
"So what's different? It's probably that it's important now that it's not the only thing."
And there's also a line item in her personal budget for travel.
