Yes, in 2019. I took 2 months off, and visited 7 countries in Southeast Asia.

Was it between jobs? It sounds amazing 😭

Nope. In Europe some companies offer you the possibility after a few years employed. Where I’m at now you can take a sabbatical every 3 years. I’d love to do it again.

Ah this is pretty nice. I wish I had this option

I took 4 months between 2 jobs and, to be honest, I did nothing because it was covid time and I was lost… so I tried to find back myself so consumed a lot of content… if it wasn’t Covid… Travel it would be :)

Not the best timing. Had you already found the new job before taking a break ?

No… As a consultant, I refused all proposed missions that didn’t match my beliefs then... I only found my new assignment when I thought that I was ready to “go back to work”.

spent the first three months of 2023 at recurse center

Did you enjoy it?

wanted to stay for the rest of my life

5 months. Went to Bolivia and Peru. Decompressed. Read a lot. Wrote. Enjoyed life!

How did you feel after the 5 months?

ask @chu !

Currently on one! On my 3rd month of a year long sabbatical. I am mostly exploring old curiosities, prototyping other careers, travelling and spending time with loved ones.

@julie a pattern that i think helps to explain how impactful the sabbatical im on is: “picking up the phone.” I mean this literally & metaphorically: trying out the nascent idea that emerged unexpectedly, acting on the suggestion a friend shared in passing, etc.

alt

and to put the above in context: I arrived into this sabbatical, and continue to spend the time I have in it, working on a side project that had remained on the periphery of work (meta: I’m glad you opened up this thread…it ended up creating space in my mind to reflect ^ _ ^)

14 months, originally planned for 6 months but it took fully 3 months to stop having work stress dreams! Tried to draw a lot, explore indie game dev (game jams), traveled (we were with family in Bangkok as a base), and just chilled…