My Sabbatical

Source: RussBowling at flickr

In my last post, See the World for $5,000, I outlined a 6 month trip to less travelled places in Asia that would run about $4,400 as an extremely cheap way to see the world.

I then realized I have enough air miles to fly for free.  So my budget actually works out to:

Lodging – $300
Food – $120
Travel – $75
Internet/Phone – $30
TOTAL – $525 per month reasonable budget

SUBTOTAL FOR SIX MONTHS – $3,150

Plus plan ticket to get there – $0

TOTAL FOR SIX MONTHS – $3,150

Now I realize not everyone has a lot of frequent flyer miles for a trip like this. But with a book such as Chris Guillebeau’s “Frequent Flyer Master“, you might be able to get plenty of miles just by applying for a few credit card offers.

This leaves a lot of leg room for more luxuries on the trip. Being $1,850 below the $5,000 target budget,indeed one can double the average nightly cost of lodging to $20 per night, and still be under $5,000 for six months. That seems like a sensible place to splurge, since for an extra few dollars one can get hot water, air conditioning, television, or WiFi Internet. Although these things often come at the lower priced places too.

Note: Purchasing Chris’ book through that link earns sabbatical.me a bit of revenue, to help fund my next sabbatical. Thank you in advance.

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Many North Americans have dreams of “traveling to Europe”. For some it’s a romantic tour through Italy, and for others its relaxing at a vineyard in the South of France. We all know someone who has been to Paris and loved it, or backpacked through Europe as a young adult. I’m not saying it’s everyone’s dream – it doesn’t have to be – but if you gave 100 people $1 million and asked them to list everything they were going to do, a large percentage would include a trip to Europe on the list.

So if you are planning a trip to Europe for the first time, here’s what you need to know before you go:

1. Don’t Try to Do Too Much

If you arrive in Paris for a one week vacation, you might be tempted to do multiple things in each day. You might think since the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomph, shopping along the Champs D’Elysee, and the Notre Dame cathedral are within a short walk and/or subway ride of each other, you can try to do all that in a single day. To which I say, what’s the point? If you go to Paris for only a week, you’re going to miss out on a lot of good stuff. Don’t try to do too much and enjoy doing less.

2. Don’t Try to Travel Too Much

The other temptation, related to the first, is that you think you can see several cities in a single trip too. Heck, you can fly into London, take the train to Paris, fly down to Nice, drive over to Monaco, do an afternoon in Italy, take the train back to Cannes, end up in Barcelona… and end up seeing nothing of all those great cities. Pick a city (or two) and enjoy your time.

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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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Online travel really exploded in the past 10 years. Whereas it used to be quite common to use a travel agent to book vacations and trips, nowadays most people manage their own travel plans to the point where the travel agency business is feeling the financial strain. The Internet has changed up many a business model, and travel has certainly been affected in a big way.

But perhaps the pendulum has swung too far? Is it possible there will soon be demand for someone who is an expert at managing complex travel arrangements again, and people would be willing to pay a small premium for that? It’s certainly an interesting thought.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of online travel as it exists today.

Pros #1: Cheaper

It’s certainly easier than ever to get the best price. There are online travel sites that monitor a particular route and email you when the price drops (Bing Travel). There are online travel sites that compare all the major airlines to find the best price (Expedia). There are last minute sites (Travelocity Last Minute Deals). Sites that specialize in packaged vacations (TripCentral). Sites that allow airlines and others to underbid each other for your business (PriceLine). There are a lot of options for the traveller trying to save money, and they get better every year.

It’s fair to say the single largest benefit to online travel booking has been how much easier it is to get a good price. Consumers have never before had so many options when it comes to getting the best price on travel.

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Source: James Jordan at flickr

For most people, life after school begins immediately with a job, and other than a week or two of vacation per year, there is often no breaks or downtime for 45 years or so until you retire. Sure, some people take maternity or parental leave, but given the significant milestone of having and caring for a baby, that’s not really a true break from things.

So if you’ve made the decision to take 3, 6 or 12 months off work as a sabbatical, recognize it is unusual for most people. Some people call it a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I prefer not to think of it like that.

So when is the best time to take this break? Should you take it when the economy is really hot, when your employer is growing and hiring, when times are good and income is up? Or should you take it when the market is slow, people are being let go or hiring is frozen, and in general you know its going to be a tough year?

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When I think back to European or Asian vacations past, my biggest problem has consistently been with electricity. Laptops need to be recharged, as do digital cameras, MP3 players, toothbrushes and cell phones. For the fairer sex, there are hair dryers and straightening irons that need to work. For many of us, these electrical devices have been treading on the border between need-to-have and want-to-have.

You can’t simply ignore the problem either. Being caught without a working camera, or hair dryer, is the kind of thing that can put a damper on the first few days of your trip. And you can end up spending more than you planned on new devices, or expensive electrical solutions bought in desperation.

There are two main problems you may face :

• different voltages / frequency
• different plug sizes

If your electrical device can handle the higher voltage (and devices such as laptops do generally handle 120V-220V – check the label) , then all you need is an adapter. An adapter changes the plug type from the North American A and B types, to the European C and F sizes. Or the United Kingdom G type.

To solve the voltage problem, you generally need either a transformer, or to purchase a power cable (brick) compatible with your device.

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It is sometimes said that the difference between someone who has a goal but doesn’t achieve it, and someone who has a goal and achieves it, is focus. Being consciously aware of everything you do, everything you spend your time and money on, and not just letting it slip through your fingers like sand.

Even a goal like mine – spending 6 months a year in a warm locale – requires daily focus to make sure what I am doing is allowing me to stay on track to the goal.

When I find myself with the opportunity to buy a new sexy gadget, before I pull my wallet out I ask myself how is buying this going to help me achieve my goal? If not, will not buying this help me achieve my goal? More often than not, not buying something is more likely to help me achieve my goal in the form of saving money.

Does this mean I don’t buy anything? No. Today I bought a soft drink and potato chips from the variety store that cost me $4. But I did that consciously. Is it going to help me achieve my goal? No. Is it going to hurt me in achieving my goal? No. It’s not about removing all personal pleasures from your life, although some people do that.

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