Source: Tulane Public Relations at flickr
I am currently listening to an audio book (from audible.com) called “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. I started off disagreeing with the author on some of his key points, but giving the book a chance and listening to it all the way through has changed my mind somewhat. How does it relate to sabbaticals? It does, and I’ll address that at the end. (Without purchasing the book, you can get a good understanding of the topic by reading this Fortune Magazine article “Secrets of Greatness” by the same author.)
First the premise: there is no such thing as natural born talent. You are not born to be a great golfer, artist, singer, actor, or computer programmer. All 1-day old babies have equal abilities in this regard.
But somewhere along the way, Picasso picked up a brush, Tiger Woods picked up a golf club (or more specifically was given one), and Mozart started composing music.
This might sound outrageous at first. Tiger Woods is naturally talented right? If I had a baby tomorrow, I could not hope to turn him into as good a golfer as Tiger Woods, no matter what I did, except if I got extremely lucky right? It turns out, anyone can craft their child to be the next Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods was born with nothing special that you and I were not born with.
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Source: fainmen at flickr
Here I sit, in the middle of February, looking out at the year ahead. Our goal is still, as the blog tagline suggests, “six months in a warm locale.” We pretty much have the locale nailed down. The timing, however, is not looking good.
First September 2010. Then November 2010.
The latest date in our minds? Pushes it into 2011.
Like, next year.
Ugh.
Why so long? Well, part of it is practical. We want to spend winter in a warm locale – no sense spending summer there and coming back to Canada for the snow and cold weather. And winter in Canada is almost over now. So it’s next winter. And then we want to be here for Christmas and New Years, to be with our families instead of having to interrupt our vacation to come back, or worse, miss it. Plus May and June are lovely times in Spain. So the plan is early next year. January or February 2011, coming back in May or June.
So where does that leave us for 2010? No vacation. Working. Saving, getting things ready.
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Source: euart at flickr
If you are thinking about taking significant time away from work (or at least away from your usual work), it may be interesting to step back a little and see if you’re also thinking about making other changes to your life. Perhaps they’re related. Perhaps a trip is not just a trip, but a change in attitude.
The traditional way to live your life – as taught to us as children by our parents and by 1960’s TV shows – is that you go to school, meet a nice girl or boy, graduate, marry, have three kids, live in a nice white picket fence home, and work for 40 years until the age of 65, after which you promptly take up golf or knitting. Then you die, and people will remember you as… well, they will call you charming and sweet.
Anything that deviates from that plan, including taking one or more significant breaks from work to go backpack through Europe or live in the Australian outback, is considered a radical departure from the way you are supposed to do it. You get 3 weeks of vacation a year, and that’s the end of that. If you will stay 20 years, we will up it to 5 weeks. All subject to approval by your boss as long as no one else in your department has booked that time off already.
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December 30th, 2009
Scott
Source: flydime at flickr
Feb 9 Update: I found that post I was looking for. Linked below as well.
I was inspired by Nora Dunn’s The Professional Hobo 2009 annual review to create one of my own. Of course, I did not lead as exciting a life as Nora did, since this blog basically started a year ago. So without further ado…
The blog launched in January, and by then I already knew I was taking some time off work in the spring. We had a number of friends and aquaintances pass away late in 2008 – a really odd cluster of several in a row looking back – and that led to the decision to change our lives, which led to this blog being launched.
In February, I was deep in the planning stages. Laying out a calendar, I had put city names in several spots, making sure we had enough time in each place and not too much time. We had made the decision to try to do a whole month in a single villa, and February was when we started making inquiries to various owners using a UK holiday web site. Bank drafts were sent to the landlords, and reservations were set in concrete.
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December 29th, 2009
Scott
Source: pattyequalsawesome at flickr
In life, many folks smarter than me say that it is important to always have a goal. And I firmly believe that. The subtitle of this blog is “Six Months in a Warm Locale”, that is my goal. Everything I do every day should move me a step or a centimeter or a micrometer closer to that goal. But not every day goes like that, but that is life anyways.
I feel (down in my soul!) the roller coaster has left the station, and has begun its long slow ascent up that first big hill. As 2010 approaches this week, 2010 is looking to be an interesting year for my wife and me.
Our current plan is that we won’t be able to get back to Spain until October or November 2010. That’s kinda sad for me, since it will be the longest time without a vacation for me personally in my whole life. But you have to sacrifice to win. And so 18 months without a vacation is a sacrifice, and not a huge one at that. But of all the times to not be traveling, this week where the airports are in lock down is a good time to stay put right?
In between now and then, I have time to implement my plan. I have a lot of ideas and not a lot of time, so I have to be selective about the ones I pursue, get help when required, and focus my limited energies on things that will move me the farthest towards my goal.
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December 25th, 2009
Scott
This is the City of Arts and Sciences complex in Valencia, Spain. Taken June 8, 2009. The complex includes several unique buildings – L’Hemisfèric (in the shape of an eye, above), El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (in the shape of a dinosaur skeleton), and L’Oceanogràfic (in the shape of a water lilly).
L’Hemisfèric
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November 27th, 2009
Scott
Source: me
This canyon, she is definitely grand. One of the best natural tourist spots in the world, it leaves you feeling small and insignificant. Not too bad a drive from Las Vegas, the West Rim has lots to see and do for a family day. This picture was taken Sept 9, 2008.
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