The Difference Between a Sabbatical and a Vacation
Source: kevindooley at flickr
Some people have antiquated views of what a sabbatical is. Take for example this question, to which someone defined a sabbatical as:
“A sabbatical is a period of paid leave granted to a college teacher/professor for study or travel. Traditionally, this is done once every 7 years. This only applies to college teachers/professors, and not anyone else besides.”
Oh, sorry about that. Only teachers can take a sabbatical and the term doesn’t apply to anyone else. Nothing to see here folks, most of you should head over to the My Vacation website instead.
Even the Wiktionary entry is not very supportive of the concept of sabbatical being for everyone:
“An extended period of leave, often one year long, taken by an employee in order to carry out projects not otherwise associated with the employee’s job. During the sabbatical, the employer may pay some or all of the wages that would have been otherwise earned or some or all of the expenses incurred. University lecturers, for example, may be granted a one-year paid sabbatical once every seven years.”
OK, so a sabbatical used to be associated with paid time off work to do project not directly related to your job. Maybe I really should just shut this site down and apply my time elsewhere.
Of course, that’s silly. A vacation is something people do for a week or two. They run off to Florida or up to the cottage or even to Hawaii. And 7 days later they are back at their desks telling everyone how great their trip was. Most people in their life that they don’t talk to on a daily basis (family, parents, co-workers, dog) hardly noticed they were away.
Wikipedia might say it best:
“In recent times, “sabbatical” has come to mean any extended absence in the career of an individual in order to achieve something. In the modern sense, one takes sabbatical typically to fulfill some goal, e.g., writing a book or traveling extensively for research.”
I like the idea that a sabbatical is a break from work with a higher purpose or goal. Yes, perhaps you want to go study Spanish in Spain, or live amongst the people of Macchu Pichu for a couple of months. It’s not just staying at home eating bon-bons and watching Oprah (as the saying goes). Perhaps you have a story to tell and want to write a book.
Any extended period of time away from your normal work to do something special. I like that.
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