I took a 9 month sabbatical. Here’s how I did it — and 4 reasons –
I recommend it to everyone. Sarah Blinco is a communications and digital media consultant specializing in travel, wellbeing, and healthcare content for SMBs and start-ups. She publishes a popular lifestyle blog, travellivelearn.com; you can find her on Instagram and Twitter.
Sarah and her husband Cooper decided they wanted to rediscover their own health and happiness – now, six months into her nine month sabbatical from work, they’ve never been happier. To make it work, they saved up about £5,000 each, freelance while traveling, and house-sit around the world. My partner Cooper and I are Aussie expats living in England.
Our time in London has been amazing. But big city opportunities come with big pressures.
I don’t remember jumping on the hamster wheel, but sure knew when we were caught on it! We’d lost sight of our goals, and the situation was taking a toll on our wellbeing.
Mental health is something we’re talking more about these days, and for good reason. According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity every year. With one in four in the U.K. experiencing
a mental illness in any one year, it’s getting tougher for employers to retain talent, and is obviously a struggle for us as a workforce.
We wanted to rediscover our own health and happiness, and decided on a change.
My employer offers (unpaid) sabbatical leave for anyone with who’s been there three years.
I applied, citing the desire to travel and developing my personal and professional skillset
as key reasons for the time off. We put a realistic time frame on the plan, which gave us nine months to tie-up commitments and save money (about £5,000 each) we set off in August 2019.
Research published by Lonely Planet found that 92% of us see travel as an opportunity to make a positive change. We agree that it’s possible. After six months on the road, here are four great reasons that might inspire you to pursue a similar path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9_p-evpiGc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flIa2MsxzHA
Travel changes your perspective!!!
The first months of our time away included visits to Ireland, Spain, Malta, and France. As time passed, we shook off negative feelings from the past year and focused on the “now.” We ended up on all sorts of foreign adventures: a clifftop paella cooking class in Spain, sunrise yoga on a secret beach in Ibiza, and lining up with locals to collect freshly baked bread each morning
in a tiny French village. (Where My Ancestry Originated 4 Generations Ago.) Note: kg-me 😉
These happenings are blessings, daily reminders that there is life outside of what we’re told we “should” be doing. Through the experience of language, culture, and a shaken-up routine, what was previously stressful had simply become stuff that happened.
All part of “life’s rich tapestry,” as my father would say.
Fascinating new friends will inspire you
Our dream was to travel more and slower. Saving money alone wouldn’t cover us,
which is when we turned to house-sitting.
To succeed on a competitive house-sitting site, you need experience and reviews (it works like Airbnb). I developed a strategy and an effective application process, and successfully filled our blocks of travel time. We’ve subsequently been asked by colleagues and friends for advice on how to make this lifestyle a reality and have created guides to help others .
So far, we’ve cared for over 20 dogs, two horses, and a cat a dream for animal lovers. Benefits we had not anticipated included discovering places we would never have otherwise known about (like beautiful Balbriggan by the sea an hour outside of Dublin, or small villages like Duras in France), and meeting an array of people who have renewed our faith in humanity.
We’ve received so much kindness and hospitality. Then, there’s the stories: Fellow travelers who share relics, memories, and lessons on whiskey! Our English and Canadian expat friends, who pass on their passion for what it means to “be French.” In Malta we stayed with an ex-British Airways flight captain and his wife, an international squash champion, plus their nine dogs! This pair have created a Facebook community, “Adopt a Sicilian Stray,” through which they’ve re-homed hundreds of rescue dogs from terrible circumstances.
To walk in local shoes on their home turf is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
and one that has inspired us to look at our lives differently.
You are forced to adopt and adapt to new routines
At first, we attempted to fill our digital nomad calendars (we’re freelancing as multimedia content producers while we travel) in the same way as a “normal” 9-5 workday.
However, between pet care requirements and short winter days with fewer hours of light, this didn’t work. We’ve learned to schedule tasks or deadlines around travel between house sits, and realized that we can design our day according to our needs.
To me, this is an important lesson. Cond Nast Traveller reported in 2019 that, by 2020,
roughly 50% of the UK and USA’s workforce would be freelance. It’s a staggering figure, but it represents larger societal changes that are prompting more people to adopt
a fresh approach to life and work.
Your values become clear, and so does your path If you’re unhappy with your situation, stepping away can be the best way to clear your head and gain perspective. And it is possible to achieve. Over the past six months we’ve enjoyed the freedom to exist in new places, get curious and motivated, and clear out brain clutter. It’s not come without challenges though we’re still asking, “What’s next?”
Pre-sabbatical, that question was tainted with anxiety and fear.
This year, it’s full of opportunity. We’ll make our decisions based on what we value, and now we can see those things more clearly.
In any case, the benefits of pausing to take a travel sabbatical completely outweigh the risks
we all worry about. Cooper and I always wanted to travel beyond a week here or there, but were stopped by the usual fears. What if the work world changed while we’re gone, or we ran out of money? But now we’re making it happen and we’ve never been happier.
Even though the trend of solo travelling is becoming more popular, it is agreeable that venturing alone without a companion is daunting. Luckily, there are clever tricks anyone yearning to be a lone traveller can make use of to feel more comfortable along the way. I believe everyone can benefit from trying on the ‘lone traveller’ hat at some point in life.
Many swear that travelling solo can be likened to experiencing religious enlightenment!
Not only are you able to fully rely on your own judgements and ideas, but as a lone traveler, you can do whatever you please all throughout your journey. A pretty liberating thought! Of course, with all the freedoms of being a lone traveler, come the drawbacks. Some of these, concern safety and overall wellbeing.
To make things easier, following are my practical tips which will empower you to book your solo trip. You might also enjoy our feature in Get it Magazine on how to choose your own solo adventure, including interviews with two of our fave bloggers. Read it here
Plan Ahead!!!
The very first tip after you have decided to venture out solo, is to remember to take some time and extra effort to plan the whole trip as thoroughly as possible.
Spontaneous travel is great, but when a co-pilot is not there to help you out, you will want to have a plan to fall back on.
Make a list of all the must-have items you cannot travel without. But remember, you’ll need to pack light. Heavy bags and luggage will slow you down, and it may be uncomfortable to carry extra through a crowded airport or bus station.
Next, double check the bookings, such as the taxi, the means of transportation and accommodation.
Something I was taught is to try and memorise maps as accurately as possible. It’s helpful so you don’t have to be reading a map in public (potentially looking lost), or if Google Maps fails, as sometimes it does.
Plan, book, and get ready for the time of your life. You inevitably make friends, whether you’re heading off on long term travel, a wellbeing retreat or city tours.
Do not be afraid of solo dining
Many people are anxious to dine alone. It’s common to feel like sitting solo in a restaurant makes you seem desperate or ‘sad’. But, it’s not uncommon to witness people sitting by themselves, enjoying a coffee or a meal and reading a book.
So, let go of the irrational fear and embrace solo dining! If it is too uncomfortable to go to a fancy dinner, consider a smaller coffee place or coworking cafe and opt for a counter seat or a seat at the bar.
To keep yourself occupied, take some reading materials with you or maybe a laptop to do some research about the local must-see things.
You might also enjoy…
All in all, travelling alone can be a truly empowering and a unique experience.
At the end of your trip, you will certainly feel like a changed person full of new experiences and interesting stories. https://histopten.blogspot.
com/2013/03/my-top-ten-paradise-songs.html
^ Courtesy of Sarah Blinco. ^
There is always two sides to every story.
Insights for this week… We can either focus on what is working for us or what is not.
Perhaps we could beat ourselves up for ‘breaking the rules’ and not getting it 100% perfect every day or move forward knowing that right now I’m doing more than I did last month to be healthy, I’m drinking more water, I’m eating more protein and veggies, I have reduced my crazy snacking at night by 90%, gaining more energy getting more done in a day, both in business and in your personal life. If your old ‘normal’ is now considered ‘going off track’ then it means you have already transitioned into healthier habits. Take a Load Off of your mind and acknowledge how far you have come!
I believe a strong foundation made through faith gives us all the strength to with stand any storm… When you make your mind up it’s amazing how everything fits into place.
The universal rule confirmed again s/he who has certainty wins over uncertainty in all areas of life. With all the self help guru’s out there and the positive vibes “do find what you love and love what you do and you will never work a day in your life”,… Self-doubt can weigh you down.
As I’m chipping away at my WHY’s I noticed that ‘self-doubt’ was a trigger. Self-doubt is a form of internal conflict where we have internal conflict as discovered in a previous post we tend to look for comfort and if eating is a form of comfort. Then we default straight to what works for us no questions asked no stop before you act it’s the automatic default.
Recognizing what was happening gave me the ability to consciously make a choice on how to balance this out. Deciding to work through it and getting to the root cause what was causing you to feel “self-doubt” and resolve THAT permanently. WILL help implement a new strategy for handling self-doubt while moving forward. #Insight It’s OK to have a bad day because they help you appreciate the good days and provide you the contrast to fine tune how you currently do things supporting longevity through balance.
Burnout can contribute to fatigue and over eating!!!
Burnout is feedback of unfair exchange in one or more areas of life. (Mental, Spiritual, Vocational, Financial, Familial, Physical, Social). We all experience burnout in some form or another with varying degrees. Some people experience burnout in Business and it impacts their health and well being. I ate junk food, wanted more savory and sweet foods, slept less and couldn’t concentrate. I even questioned if I was cut out to be in the business. As I am into helping others transform their lives. What I learnt over the years of transitioning my life is we must balance ourselves in order to serve others is we must first take care of ourselves.
You can stay stuck with excuses or impulses or you can move forward by looking for answers, the choice is yours
Principle: Fear is taught and can be neutralized, Fear can stunt your growth or drive your results. there is no such thing as a fear of the unknown because there must be content in the past to generate a fear of an imagined result in the future. When we are looking at emotions that weigh us down such as guilt and shame from unbalanced perceptions in the past, our mind can exaggerate the “problem” or magnify the self-resentment, shame or guilt we stack upon ourselves. When this happens our subconscious works against our conscious mind.
Getting to the root cause of what you fear may happen if you lose weight is one of the underlying key factors to moving forward. Guilt and Shame can weigh you down. Often we can weigh ourselves down with guilt and shame and not even realize we are doing it.
Examples:
Conscious: When Security and Family are high in your values.
Sub-conscious: When we stay at home and spend more time with the family we gain weight, and when we gain weight we have a tendency to stay home more because family is important to us, When we feel good about ourselves… we go out way more enjoying ourselves and tend to lose weight instead of staying home!
Conscious: When Career or Education is high in your values.
Sub-conscious: we tend to eat and have unhealthy thoughts. The need to get an assignment done or a deadline met, requires more sugary snacks, coffee, what ever it takes to get it done. You think I want to eat healthy but then I’ll look at eating healthy tomorrow
Conscious: Love and connection is of high in your values !!!
Sub-conscious: When we want to fit in with everyone else we have a tendency to eat and drink what is unhealthy. When Fitting in with everyone else is important to you, we eat what others eat, eat when they eat ~ it’s all about socializing and connecting.
This cause unbalance diets and irregularity!!
These emotions come from our deep seated ingrained moral compass and often a challenge
to overcome. 80% of our thinking is done at a sub-conscious level and only 20% at a conscious level. Find out where your moral rules originate because this is where the guilt comes from, you believe you have gone against yourself or someone else according to these rules. First step is finding where your guilt of shame may lay… It could be religion, partners, parents, children, family, friends…
We are all perfectly imperfect and its okay to be perfectly imperfect to have an expectation on self to live a perfect obedient life and NEVER do anything wrong is setting yourself up to fail.
Fact: Your perceptions are the true causes and your reactions are the true effects of your life, where is the cause of your own effect. Take a load off by balancing your perceptions
(I use the Demartini Method to achieve this). No therapy is complete until cause equals affect.
We Must Live and Learn from Our Experiences!!!