Learnings from my sabbatical year - Expectations vs Reality
I originally wrote this post on LinkedIn, reflecting on the learnings gathered throughout this year and how they could potentially reflect on my professional life.
São Paulo, January 9, 2019
After 10 years in the workforce, building my career in Technology and Advertising both in Brazil and Australia, I decided to take a sabbatical to see the world with my girlfriend. We are now 10 months into our year-long career break and while looking back at my journal from before the trip, I realised that a lot of goals I had set out for myself and this trip did not quite happen - while others that I hadn't thought of came to be at the forefront of this experience. I'm still trying to grasp the learnings as I go, while making sure I remain present and open to whatever life may throw at me. Below are some of these findings, random thoughts and small "aha!" moments I had throughout this journey.
Travelling the world is a lot more doable than people think
Nara, Japan
I know it comes from a privileged position, as I've been lucky enough to always have a job in these past 10 years and family, friends and partner to support me. However, I do believe that taking a sabbatical year to travel the world is a lot more doable than people like to think. I personally know a lot of people around me who have better salaries and/or a more structured lifestyle than I do, and yet they think of sabbatical as this mystical, distant utopia. "I would LOVE to do something like this! If only I could (...)" they say and come up with all these conditions and boxes that would need to be ticked before they went onto actually doing it. I do understand that taking a whole year off is not for everyone - different people have different priorities, they don't want to risk their current jobs, or they'd miss home or family too much. But for those who have a burning desire to do it, all I can say is go for it. You would not regret.
It is an incredibly liberating feeling to resign your job (or take a career break) and know that you don't have anyone to report to, that you are free to do whatever you like and that you finally have the time to invest in your passions. And more importantly, you shake and start questioning all your fixed views about the world. Is money more important than my satisfaction? Do I really need to do a job that I don't love and put up with things that I think I shouldn't? It's amazing how much your views about the world and about yourself change when you take a step back and look it from the outside.
My relationship with time and money has completely changed
Kanazawa, Japan
My girlfriend and I saved money for about 2 years for this trip. Does it scare me the thought of going back home flat broke? Not so much anymore. It used to. But now that I've seen the world out there and the experiences you can have, I have a much more relaxed view about it. Worst case scenario we run out of money, need to take a loan from the bank and start paying it back when we're back to work. I'm fine with that.
As with time, I'm still wrestling with its meaning on this "free life". Yes, on one hand we have "all the time in the world", which would allow us to do everything we always wanted to do but couldn't while we were working. On the other hand, it is so much work to be constantly on the road (more on that later) that you always find yourself busy - or feeling guilty when you don't feel like exploring the new city you're in. Weekends and weekdays don't mean much anymore (only that places will be busier) - which at first sounds like an amazing thing, but I honestly miss that "Friday afternoon" feeling, when you head down to the pub for a much deserved beer after smashing another hard week at work. We need to be constantly seeking the "I deserve this" on everyday life and keep reminding ourselves of how amazing and special this experience is, while at the same time be disciplined with our expenses and our somewhat flexible obligations.
Personal vs Professional development
Forbidden City, Beijing, China
As a Digital Project Manager, one of the goals I set out for myself during this trip was to learn more about programming. I don't want to become a developer, but I do want to learn more about it. And we did it. We built and keep our travel blog Our Year On The Road, which allows us to play around a bit with coding, tweaking the theme, adding widgets and running the backend of the CMS. But I've been spending nowhere near as much time as I initially thought I would.
And there's nothing wrong with that. In reality, being free and open allowed me to develop another part of my life that I hadn't really thought of: the personal and spiritual side. Not being particularly religious, I always thought I was lacking on my spiritual development, which I gladly managed to catch up a bit on during this trip. I've been reading and studying a lot about Buddhism and spiritualism in general, which I feel like it's finally starting to bring me some peace to navigate through life. Some of the highlights for me are the book 'My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey' by Jill Bolte Taylor, a magnificent story of a brain scientist who survived a stroke, and my new favourite podcast 'Secular Buddhism' by Noah Rasheta, who has a fascinating take on Buddhism concepts from a secular perspective.
So yes, I was hoping I would learn a lot about programming and achieve strong professional development, while in reality it has been much more of a personal and spiritual journey (thankfully!).
I have completely refreshed my Kindle library
Lisbon, Portugal
Before leaving for this trip, my Kindle library would feature all the must-have performance / productivity / life hack books. The whole Malcolm Gladwell collection, 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' and all the others were always there to guide me through work, help me keep motivated and prepare me for the next move.
But now that I'm on the road, I ditched all that and allowed other things - anything, really - to come live in my Kindle. I've read some of the most fascinating (if not random) books during this trip, including 'Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World' (by Mark Miodownik) that dwells on the physical and atomic side of everyday materials such as plastic, paper and even chocolate; 'What Goes on Tour', by The Secret Footballer, an undisclosed former football player that talks about all the crazy stuff that happens in that world; and 'Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio' by Misha Glenny that paints a great picture of the drug war in Rio de Janeiro. Also worth mentioning 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben, an eye-opening book about how forests and trees are not only alive, but also communicate, cooperate and plan ahead in harmony. I know, crazy, right.
Being constantly on the go is emotionally draining
Driving around Scotland, UK
Now that's a challenge I did not see coming my way. I always loved travelling, so I thought I'd be very comfortable with being constantly on the move. What I failed to realise is that when you're travelling, you are always making decisions. Big or small, you are thinking and making decisions every minute of every day. Where to go next? What to do tomorrow? Which bus to get? What to have for lunch? What's my hotel room number, again?
You are never on autopilot as you do when back home, allowing your mind to wander off a bit as you go through your routine. And this constant process of decision-making takes a toll on you. It is tiring. It's draining! You get stressed every now and then. And then you think "Wait a minute, I'm on never-ending holidays, why am I stressed / sad / unhappy?", which in turn creates even more stress. It took me a while to realise that and it takes constant practice and mindfulness to not fall into this trap. I had to learn to be okay with not doing anything, if I don't feel like. I had to be okay with not being productive or achieving anything today - and still spending my precious money! It is a constant exercise, and thankfully I'm getting the hang of it.
Conclusion
Inside a tuk tuk, India
Well, I don't really think there's a conclusion here (yet). I'm still on my sabbatical for another 3 months, working on all these new areas of improvement, learning a lot more about myself and reassessing my values and priorities. And at the same time, I'm lucky enough to be exploring the world while I do that!
So what does that mean from a professional perspective? I'm now starting to believe that the "professional" and "personal" line here is thinner than I thought. I hope that this amazing experience I'm going through now will ultimately help me become a better, more accepting person - which, in turn, would make me a better professional as well.
I now know better what really matters to me and where to put my energy on, can work through difficulties and changes with more ease and pursue my passions and beliefs more clearly. And above all, I'm practicing acceptance, resilience and gratitude. I hope I can somehow bring this with me to work when I'm back.