Where am I? Boyd Lake State Park, Loveland, Colorado Image(s) of the day(s): Fears faced: Letting Tucker and Molly off leash when I wasn’t supposed to! I’m so paranoid I’ll get caught or they’ll run off! But they had so much fun playing in the lake! The worst thing that happened was Molly rolled around all … More Sabbatical Days 2-4: Camping with Mom at Boyd Lake State Park
Much of sabbatical is about trade offs. To begin with, we traded some retirement savings and discretionary spending to make our sabbatical possible. And on sabbatical, we’ll be trading our current routines and habits for new ones that reflect different priorities. A large part of my personal journey is to focus on thoughtfully feeding and … More Sabbatical Life: Trading This for That
S.E. FLEENOR writes novels and non-fiction essays centering on feminism, pop culture, and social justice. Fleenor is also a non-profit consultant and copyeditor. sefleenor.com I haven’t really written much about the sabbatical I took in 2016, which extended from the beginning of May through the beginning of January. Well, kind of. You see, I’m somewhat of … More Finding Purpose by Stepping Away: My Sabbatical Experience by guest blogger S.E. Fleenor
Music creeps into your soul, alters your mood, and just generally makes life more meaningful. We use music to keep us motivated while working out (it’s the only thing that got me through a half-marathon a few years ago), express words that we don’t have, soothe our souls during rough times, and to sing along … More Our Ultimate Playlist for Sabbatical Road Trips
My husband, Trent, and I are taking a year-long sabbatical, and like good planners we have each defined our personal priorities for that year. I suppose this could have gone badly, but we actually came up with the same three priorities, in the same order. Us Body Mind Perhaps it is not groundbreaking, but it … More Life (and sabbatical) is all about priorities, and the fewer the better
As with anything, preparation is key, and preparing for sabbatical is serious business. We will be on the road for much of the first six months, camping and/or visiting friends and family all around the country. And then we will leave the U.S. for six months to live in Thailand. Check out our itinerary as … More Sabbatical prep in four lists: from Popup camping to Thailand
Taking a year off is going to be life changing, and at some point we both realized that we needed to do more than save money and make lists to prepare for it. We needed to PRACTICE for our sabbatical, our Found Year. What does that mean exactly? Well, it started with a realization that … More Sabbatical Test Drive: 5 Small steps to get you (and your wallet) ready for an adventure of your own!
Until recently, our plans for sabbatical were not widely known. We had told our families and some friends, but it was all really hush hush until we were fully committed and ready to tell our employers. I didn’t realize how much that was weighing on me until we finally announced our plans to the world … More The joy you emit returns to you, so let your light shine!
A few weeks ago, we fully committed to our sabbatical in yet another tangible way. We bought a used popup camper. After doing the math, we figured out it would be cheaper to invest in this little beauty rather than in hotel stays as we spend six months traveling around to the National Parks (Sabbatical … More Sabbatical essential: Meet the Freedom Machine, our home away from home
For years, my husband and I have said “someday we’ll live abroad” and “someday we’ll get really healthy” and “someday we’ll take a cooking class together” and “someday we’ll visit every National Park.” Well, one day we realized that someday may never come, so we better change our mantra to “Today we will…” Once we … More Sabbatical Lessons: 8 Excuses that Became Inspiration to Say Yes to a Year Off!
The Found Year 