Archives for Types of Sabbaticals
Want to go from Employee to Entrepreneur? Attend A Unique Sabbatical Experience in Bali.
Do you see your future as an entrepreneur, freelancer, mid-career breaker or creator of social change? You can gain skills, tools, insight and knowledge to make your idea happen … if you’re willing to move quickly. Why take a chance and zoom off to Bali in October for three weeks? Because seizing opportunities are how […]
Why Your Career Path Should Have No End
Life expectancy is ballooning, but really, who’s paying attention? I wasn’t, and the results were a transition that could have been better navigated. Entering my third act of life, I ended up confused in a swamp land of outdated information, no great “how-to” bestseller as a guide and social benchmarks that just didn’t fit anymore. […]
Secrets of Confident and Smart Long-Term Travel
Endings are powerful experiences. As the season of shopping, glittering lights and cookies gains momentum, we are letting go of the final days of 2012. How was it for you? Living the life you want? Too busy for much of anything? Cat got your tongue? Soon we’ll all receive the greatest gift of all – […]
Where the Spirit Leads, Feet Follow: Walk, Baby, Walk
While extreme sports fuel many, the rest of us are not, nor do we aspire, to be in the club. For a lot of different reasons, we don’t want to go “peak bagging.” We’re not fit enough, strong enough or brave enough. Still we’d like to “live bold” and “dare to do more.” The urge […]
New Sabbatical Program Falls Short of Top Notch
I give an “A” for effort to Ray Clark, Founder and CEO, of The Marketing Arm. He’s kicked off 2012 with a program that combines time and cash for his longtime employees. Not too bad so far, eh? Anyone who has been with the Dallas-based marketing and promotions agency for at least seven years is being rewarded with […]
Shape Muscles, Sling Hammers and Do Good Work: The Sweat-Equity Sabbatical
Mixing travel and good deeds is a always a great recipe for a sabbatical. Maybe you want to volunteer abroad but are skittish about taking a chance on a charitable organization you’ve never heard in a far-off place … like Mongolia. Would the rock-solid reputation of “Habitat for Humanity” help you take the leap? No one disputes […]
New York Times Win-a-Trip 2011 Winner Will Offer Insight into “Service”
As one of five finalists, I still drool over the almost-mine opportunity to accompany a two-time Pulitzer Prize journalist on a trip to the developing world. Winning that Win-a-Trip 2011 Contest sponsored by The New York Times offered by Nicholas Kristof meant time out of my everyday rat race to one of the most desperate places on the […]
Wanted: Your “Service” Sabbatical Story
Individuals planning sabbaticals often ponder the “giving back” opportunity. Some sabbatical-goers spend their entire sabbatical as a volunteer in their community or in a far-flung country; others carve out a portion of their time away to help others. If either of these experiences describe what you did or are planning on your sabbatical, we invite […]
Adventure Philanthropy: The Sabbatical to Challenge You and Do for Others
You’re thinking of negotiating a sabbatical and what you really want to do with your time away is satisfy your need for a first-rate outdoor adventure and physical challenge. But you’re in virgin territory, in a company where no one has ever asked for a sabbatical before …. and not everyone can appreciate your idea […]
This “Crazy Thing:” The 6-Month Cycling Sabbatical
Every sabbatical experience is a chance to design a slice of your life. No matter how responsible you are, consider doing a “crazy thing” like Rabbi Bob Levy who, up until now, has liked to simply peddle around Ann Arbor, Michigan. A simple bike ride is far different than “this crazy thing like I’m doing,” Levy said. The […]
Is Girl Power Alive? Year-Long Sabbatical Project Seeks Answers
Sabbaticals associated with the academic world often receive a ho-hum reaction from me since the outcomes rarely seem to benefit anyone other than the professor and his/her career. But here’s a sabbatical with substantial payback and a project you can be involved in, too. What do you know about the “third wave of feminism in […]
Latest Travel Research: The Wealthy Want Sabbaticals That Make A Difference
A few years ago, after two weeks of trekking in Patagonia and staying in refugios and tents, three of us took an overnight bus ride across Chile to Argentina. We were grubby - not quite presentable for the fashion-forward Buenos Aires crowd. We checked into the finest luxury hotel in the city. (Thanks to our friend Dee […]
The $100,000 IKEA Life Improvement Sabbatical: Cast Your Vote
Almost 2,000 entries were received for the IKEA sabbatical contest, and five finalists have been chosen. Now through January 17th, you can cast your vote for the winner, who will receive a year-long sabbatical worth $100,000 and a 3-day/2-night trip to a spa resort in Phoenix, Ariz., to participate in a one-hour life coaching session […]
Was Our Trip Career Suicide?
Let me be clear, I do not think that this is the case at all, but now that we are back in Philly, in the midst of a full-time job search, during the worst recession of our lives, the market (employers and clients) have yet to make a definitive call on the matter. So I […]
Is “Writing” One of Your Sabbatical Goals? Advice from a Prolific Writer on How to Be Successful
Many people tell me that writing – a book, short story, an individual life story, or poetry – is a goal for their time away from work. That inspired me to turn to Casey Hawley, a colleague and one of the most prolific writers I know, for advice on how a finished writing project really […]
I’m Eating, Praying and Loving What’s Coming … and You Will, Too!
I’m disappointed. I expected the reviews on the new movie, Eat, Pray, Love, to be better. They’re not so hot. “… be warned that you are diving into a movie with the spiritual and emotional depth of a birdbath.” - St. Louis Suburban Journal. “A bloated monster of a movie. … gargantuan running time.” - […]
Living the Width of Your Life: How’ya Doing on That?
No matter that I’m in the midst of a frantic pace of checking off a long to-do list of work items before I start to pack. A precise collection of words can make me pause. This one did. “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just […]
Does the Internet Make You Smarter or Dumber?
This was the title of an article in last Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. Two experts answered the question. Clay Shirky says “Smarter”. Nicholas Carr argues “Dumber”. I was struck by some of Carr’s thinking, especially this: “…a growing body of evidence suggests that the Net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is also turning us […]
The Mini-Sabbatical: Carving 3 Hours Away from My World - Part II
In each of us dwells a wanderer, a gypsy, a pilgrim. On the second day of my mini-sabbatical – three hours carved out of a regular Thursday – I set out once again to do a pilgrim’s job of exploring a new land. In order to have this time out of a work day, I was […]
The Mini-Sabbatical: Carving 3 Hours Away from My World - Part I
Integral to a sabbatical is the longing to break away from the habits of our lives. More importantly, a sabbatical gives a break in a way that allows us to truly see the world around us. Cultivating this art – as a pilgrim in a new land - is as simple as slipping on a […]
Exploritas: Sabbatical Possibilities for Baby Boomers, But Beware Energetic Xers and Ys
Remember Elderhostel? That learning program company where you needed to be old and stay in a dorm room? It’s gone. On first glance, I always thought I would sign up for one of their programs. After I turned 50 and was a full-fledged AARP member, I had fun perusing the Elderhostel catalog of adventures that […]
Randy Hain: The Man Who Slowed Me Down and Made Me Think
By the time I met Randy Hain for an early morning cup of coffee in an Atlanta suburb, he had already been awake for almost three and a half hours. I met Randy at 7:15 a.m. Randy gets up every morning at 4 a.m. to meditate, pray, journal, read and think. It’s his quiet time, […]
Dan Clements on Sabbaticals with Kiddos
Dan Clements is the author of Escape 101: Sabbaticals Made Simple. He and his wife have taken several sabbaticals – the most recent was a 5-month career break to rural Paraguay, South America with their five-year old daughter. Dan was kind enough to share the following insights on taking sabbaticals with children. I sure love […]