I remember the moment like it was yesterday, standing on my balcony against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. My insides were twisting with the knowing that I needed to do something different, but my mind was full of static and unanswered questions. My intuition, used to being ignored, grew impatient and dropped an idea into my consciousness. It said, “You could travel.”
The static in my mind was replaced with a blur of colorful images, of imagined new people and experiences. My body felt expansive and light. Tension turned into relief. I drove myself to a bookstore and began the research that would take this idea from fantasy to reality.
Before my balcony epiphany, I was living in a beautiful metropolitan city, able to find a hiking trail in any direction, part of a wonderful group of friends. And working a job that was killing me inside.
I demonized the company culture and the leadership. And don’t get me wrong, there were all kinds of people running amok inside those walls. But I was a willing participant in the unhealthiness, too. I’d never even heard the word boundaries before. And there was a certain badge of honor for surviving that place. I was making more money than I’d ever made before and had moved to a brand-new state just for this job. So I unhappily stayed. Just like I had at the job before that and the job before that. Gritting my teeth and bearing it until I couldn’t any longer.
At the same time, I was becoming more acutely aware of the health challenges my parents had faced and were facing, and witnessed how even early in retirement they weren’t getting to see the world. They followed the formula, get good jobs, grow your 401k, have fun in retirement. But it wasn’t working out as planned.
So, I ended up taking a mid-career sabbatical. I didn’t save nearly enough money, but I simply couldn’t wait once I had enough research to figure out I could cobble together a long trip with string and tape, the sale of my car, and the emptying of my 401k. I saw the Taj Mahal. I milked goats. I shaved my head. I met wonderful people and learned and loved so much.
On the one hand, I don’t recommend you do it like I did. No one should ever cash out their 401k, not really. Compounding is a real and powerful financial thing. If I had planned more carefully, it could have been a more comfortable trip and I might have made different decisions upon reentry. And yet, I don’t regret a single thing, and if I had the chance to go back in time and keep that money in savings or choose the trip again, I’d choose the trip in a heartbeat.
I was full of big dreams and ideas when I came back. But I was also a little weary from walking an alternate path and I didn’t even have two pennies to rub together. When one of my old jobs with beloved colleagues became available right at that inflection point, I chose safety and security and molded myself back into the formula. And I’m still working my way out of it almost 13 years later. But it changed who I was and how I saw the world, and showed me a different version of life I so desperately needed to see.
My advice – just take the sabbatical. Take it desperate and a little cash-strapped. Plan for it and do it up right. Take it because you need a reset. Take it because you want to be inspired. Take it because there are no guarantees in life, and even if you love your career, you might not be in the same health or financial situation that you are in right now. Take it for the great stories. Take it to show yourself what you’re really made of, to push your limits and grow as a person. Take it once. Take one every seven years. Go back to your old life or create a completely new one. Just take it.
