Setting a Date
Source: misat0 from flickr
Taking a sabbatical and getting married share a lot in common.
- You start by deciding to do it.
- At the time you make a decision, you might not even know all the details, but that’s ok because everyone who does it doesn’t know all the details on Day 1.
- You decide on a budget, and it can be as small or as big as you like as long as your dreams match the budget.
- Whatever you initially budget, you’ll probably need a little more.
- You set a date far enough in the future to plan and pay for it, but not too far. Usually 1 year in advance is sufficient.
- Certain things need to be decided early on, and many more things are not finalized til the month before you leave.
OK, maybe the list of similarities is not that long. But marriage and a sabbatical are often similar in the amount of money they cost, and the amount of planning required to pull them off. Yet it seems like at least half the population has no trouble envisioning a $30,000 wedding but only a small number can envision a 6-month or 1-year sabbatical for the same budget.
Here’s how my wife and I decided we needed to change our life to include a sabbtical.
It was a “dam breaking” type moment. One day, a friend of hers from work passed away – at work. A couple of weeks later, another friend passed away on the commuter train to work. A short time after that, a close friend died from a long illness. Within the span of 2 months, a number of people “our age” were gone.
“Let’s go on a long vacation. 3 months, 6 months, something long.”
“OK.”
And from that moment the resolve to do it was like steel. A short time later my wife told her work that she would be needing extra time off on top of her vacation days, and I started dropping hints at mine that I was looking at more time away too.
When the time actually came to submit the paperwork and get the approvals, months later, all the people who needed to approve it saw it coming and had accepted it. In the process of making their plans, they knew that we would not be around to work on X Y Z projects, and those were assigned to others. The approval was the easiest part.
That fire, to travel, to work abroad, to leave the life we’ve known for 20 years and go try something new, has not been squelched by our recent trip. We’re planning again. Not right away, but in a year or two. We’re planning our next “wedding”. Anyone can do this. Even you.
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