What did I do during my paid year without work?
Òbidos, Portugal
To clarify the post title, my year long sabbatical was paid because I planned and saved for it, not because I had a generous benefactor (although if you can swing that, good for you!). I’ll write a future post on how I did that.
In the mean time, some people ask what I did for a year without a job, and I get why they’re asking. For the vast majority of us, work takes up a huge percentage of our time and energy. If you work 40 hours a week, some estimates are that you spend a third of your life, or 90,000 hours, working over the course of your life! And for many people work is not aligned to their values. It makes sense that it’s hard to even imagine what we’d do with the time that is not spent at a job.
How I spent my one year sabbatical
January 2022
I left my full-time job at the end of the month.
February 2022
Spent two weeks recovering from getting sick from finally being able to rest from all the stress from my job.
Rested some more.
March 2022
Rested, rested and rested even more!
Started to feel what it was like to wake up with my body’s internal alarm clock.
April 2022
Originally planned to go to Portugal, but delayed my trip due to health reasons
Started leadership coaching with Tracey Gee (highly recommend her!)
Identified the intersection of what I’m good at AND what energizes me through our work
May 2022
Bummed that I couldn’t travel internationally yet, so I went to NYC
I met up with former co-workers who became friends, ate good food, walked copious amounts and wandered the streets of NY singing throwback Boyz II Men ballads
June 2022
Rested even more!
Wrote and reflected
July 2022
Spent time with family visiting from out of the country
August 2022
Traveled to Mexico City and Oaxaca City
I basically spent my 3 days in Oaxaca City doing what? You guessed it -- resting!
Ate delicious food, met travel friends and museum hopped in Mexico City.
September 2022
Finally! Left for the main leg of my travels starting in Lisbon, Portugal
At my connecting airport I got the call that a dear family member in Ghana had passed
I adjusted my itinerary so that I could attend the memorial service in November
Continued my travels in Portugal to Porto, the Madeira Islands and Lisbon
October 2022
I was supposed to leave for the UK, but I caught covid, so I had an unexpected 10 day quarantine in Lisbon
Traveled to London for literally one day to pick up my Ghana passport from my aunt and uncle. In true African auntie fashion, she sent me away with home cooked jollof.
Met up with my cousin in Spain, most of the time spent trying to find a doctor, so that I could get a prescription for malaria pills for my trip to Ghana
November 2022
Traveled to Ghana
Traveled back to Atlanta, GA, US
December 2022
Hung out with my family for the holidays
January 2023
Dragged my feet and reluctantly started looking for jobs
February 2023
Snuck in a final trip to Colombia where I met coworkers who became friends in Medellin and Santa Marta
I danced a lot, made travel friends and tried new things like sleeping in a hostel right on the beach
Santa Marta, Colombia
Rest & reconnecting with my body
In case you didn’t notice it, I rested a lot during my sabbatical. While I left my job at the end of January, it wasn’t until March where I started to feel in tune with my body’s natural rhythms. Even with that I still gave myself permission to listen to my body and rest. Many of us working in tech are disconnected from our bodies as we jam ourselves into 40+ hours a week of work, and even when we’re sick instead of full on resting, we’re working from our beds, huddled over our computers. One of the gifts that my sabbatical gave me was reconnecting with my body, and it’s played a significant role in the decisions I’m making about work now.
Navigating disappointment & the unexpected
I know, I know, what could I have to feel disappointed about when I’m not working for a whole year?! No doubt, I was deeply privileged to take a year off, and it’s not lost on me. Nonetheless, life continued. My plans didn’t work out how I expected, a dear family member passed, I got sick while traveling. Particularly, if your sabbatical is longer, there will be mishaps and the unexpected. I was grateful for the space to grieve and process, and I was grateful for the flexibility to change plans. These experiences now influence my desire for time and location freedom in the way I work.
What would you do with a paid year without work?
A sabbatical is a gift in that it creates space to rest, reflect and re-imagine your life beyond the motions you’ve grown accustomed to. What are you longing for and what would you do with that gift?