This is the first in a series of Sabbatical stories meant to inspire those with a desire to take a Sabbatical of their own. What better inspiration but to hear from other people that took the leap and made the decision to take a Sabbatical and travel the world? I thought it was only fitting that I start the series with my good friends for over a decade, Chris and Lauren. After all their year long Sabbatical around the world was what inspired my own adventure.
What made you decide to go on a Sabbatical?
Chris: We first discussed the crazy idea while on a road trip through Michigan to attend the wedding of some close friends. Lauren and I met (and married) in Chicago, but had decided that at some point we would move to Michigan to be closer to family before having kids as neither of us had any family in the Chicago area. That presented a unique opportunity for us because we would almost certainly be leaving our jobs to relocate (neither Chicago-based company had Detroit offices), so taking the time in between the move made things a bit easier for us than having to negotiate the time with our employers.
Additionally I was interested in leaving my career (accounting/finance) to try to do some private trading/investing and thought the experience of traveling through so many countries/economies would be a great learning experience for that new challenge so it was partially about a career transition for me. After first floating the idea, we then spent about a year debating the pros and cons before deciding to go for it. Once we were committed to the trip, we spent the next two years saving and planning the route and details.
Lauren: We both love to travel and wanted to see the world before settling down and doing the whole mortgage, dog, 2.5 kids thing. We knew we wanted to leave Chicago and our jobs to relocate to Michigan, so taking a year to travel in between was easier on us than most.
How did your family and friends react to hearing your decision to take a Sabbatical?
Chris: Overall they were excited for us and for the opportunity, but of course they would miss us being gone so long. While most of the conversations were excitement for us, naturally we got a few of the “but [insert terrible thing] is going to happen to you in [insert country most Americans don’t know much about]” conversations. We spent a lot of time reminding our families that while travelers are occasionally victims of petty theft, most countries are much safer than the US in terms of crime (especially violent crime). After a few of those conversations our families were 100% on board. Interestingly, none of them really questioned the impact on our careers and saw the experience as a net positive. Lauren’s family – all in Michigan – were also excited knowing that at the end of the trip we’d be settling in the Detroit area with them.
Lauren: Chris and I both had previously traveled extensively and moved away from home for college and to start our professional lives, so our families were used to us being away. It helped a lot that we each wrote travel blogs about our experiences so our families could follow along real time. Also, they were excited to visit us on the road!
How long did you travel and how many countries did you visit?
Chris: We traveled for a full year and visited just over 50 countries (I believe it was 54 for Lauren and 57 for me since I traveled alone when she went home for a wedding). While that averages out to about a country a week, it wasn’t quite that even of a split. For example we spent almost three weeks in Indonesia, but just a couple of days in other “smaller” geographical countries (i.e. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania where you can pretty much cross all three on a bus in a day if you are just passing through).
On that note, that is one thing that changed over the course of planning. Our original plan was to pick about 3-4 places and stay for a month (some ideas were Chile, Turkey, Indonesia, and possibly China) but after talking to someone in Chicago who did a trip like ours many years before with his wife, we decided to move more often knowing the trade-off is seeing more places but not getting the “deeper dive” on a country and culture that you would by staying longer in one place.
What did you gain from your Sabbatical?
Chris: It’s hard to pin down the overall experience into words other than to say it was a once in a lifetime trip and we’ll never really be able to fully appreciate how lucky we were for the opportunity. Some of the travel clichés like “appreciating other cultures, food, languages, etc” are obviously there, but in a deeper way you do return a different person with a new dimension to how you view the world. There are so many times just sitting around the house that we say to each other “remember that time we were in [insert country] and did [insert cool thing]?” We also joke that now that we are quite boring and definitely homebodies that our son will never believe that we did that when he gets older. Fortunately we have the pictures to prove it.
Lauren: I’d also add problem-solving skills, self-reliance, an appreciation for the kindness and hospitality of people around the globe, and an incredible bonding experience for our marriage (we were together pretty much 24/7 for 365 days!).
What was your favorite experience?
Chris: My personal favorite was the two days (and overnight camping stop) that we spent in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. There is truly nothing like it on earth. It’s beautiful in a way that pictures do not do justice and honestly feels like being on Mars (they actually film many movies set on mars there such as The Martian with Matt Damon).
Lauren: Traveling in a campervan around New Zealand! It was tight quarters, but having our own wheels that we could sleep in gave us such freedom to explore this amazing country. If we came across a beautiful stream amid the mountains of fjord land, we simply would pull over, break out the breakfast table and chairs, and have instant coffee as we listened to the rushing water.
What was your favorite country?
Chris: This of course was the first question everyone asked us when we returned and after much deliberation we agreed that we could only do a top 3. We are pretty much in agreement the top three were 1) Japan due to a combo of interesting culture, great fun and food in Tokyo, and beautiful sites in Kyoto, 2) New Zealand… which we both agree is 100% the most beautiful country in the world (note – we only did the South Island but had a camper van which we highly recommend), and lastly 3) South Africa due to the natural beauty, wonderful stay in Cape Town, and our amazing safari in Kruger (as a side note right when we visited the country’s currency had weakened dramatically due to political issues so we were able to eat and drink like royalty on a tiny budget, which added to our enjoyment).
If I had to list an honorable mention recipient it would be Jordan. Jordanians are tied with Iranians in my mind for friendliest people in the world and the country is amazing. From a great capital in Amman to natural and historical sites such as Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, etc just an amazing place.
Lauren: We typically loved anywhere that felt undiscovered by other tourists. So getting personal tours of the wineries of Macedonia, swimming in the Bay of Kotor with no one else around in Montenegro, or kayaking to a deserted island in El Nido, Philippines were experiences that always ranked the highest for us.
What one piece of travel gear would you most recommend?
Chris: This is obvious, but extremely comfortable walking shoes/boots. I used Merrill boots for the trip and they were a lifesaver. Additionally, I went with black boots because they could double as dress shoes in a slightly nicer restaurant. A close second place would be my kindle because while traveling on a budget there is a lot of down time waiting for planes, trains, and busses and you don’t want to carry actual books around to minimize the weight.
Lauren: My Deuter travel backpack (with the cute yellow flower). Chris bought me this backpack a few months after we first started dating ahead of our first international trip together (yes, we planned an international trip within our first few months of dating!), and it is still going strong following our RTW trip despite being tossed into more planes, trains, busses, boats, or cars than we could count.
Also, my Nikon 5100 DSLR camera with its standard zoom lens and the 35 mm f/1.8G prime lens (along with Adobe Lightroom) allowed me to capture beautiful shots of all the places we visited.
What was your biggest mistake during your trip and is there anything that you would change it you were to do it over again?
Chris: A few times I wished we’d stayed just a night or two longer during periods that we moved often. While three nights is a great weekend vacation when you are taking a quick break from work, sometimes it is more work while on a long trip like ours. We did a lot of two and three night stays and I feel like if we had just one more night in many of those cities we’d have been more relaxed. The first day in a new city you don’t even have your bearings and if you have to find cheap food, laundry, etc you can burn through your time there really quickly. A good example is after bouncing around Eastern Europe with a lot of 2 and 3 night stays, we spent six nights in Krakow, Poland and it was wonderful to relax, get caught up on blogging and travel planning (which is constant work), and not feeling like we had to be tourists every minute of the day.
Lauren: I’d echo what Chris said. Also, it is a mistake to have too high of expectations for any given travel experience, especially if it is tied to the weather. There were several times when we got up in the wee hours of the morning to hike up to the top of a viewing point to catch a supposedly breathtaking sunrise to find our view was completely obstructed by fog…. Or drive several hours out of the way to the world’s largest dark sky reserve to do some world-class stargazing, only to find the forecast was cloudy for days. If you go in expecting the photo on the front of the guidebook, you may be disappointed.
Was it difficult to transition back home ?
Chris: I think overall we had a pretty easy transition back. Right at the end of our trip we were staring to burn out a little so we were actually excited about getting back to a “normal” life rather than dreading the trip ending. I like to say that if our trip was a month shorter we would have wished the trip was longer but a month longer would have been too much. For me one year was the sweet spot but I imagine this would be different for everyone.
Lauren: By the end of our trip, we were ready to come home. After moving around so much, I remember dreaming about getting our own place and being able to put up a Christmas tree! Also, I was excited to take a bath in a place that hundreds of others hadn’t also been in before me. But now that we have a house of our own (and all the lawn mowing, snow shoveling, housecleaning that goes along with it), we look back fondly on the trip and when we spent our days wandering around foreign cities and having wine with lunch on a Tuesday.
How did it impact your career? (were you easily able to find a job when you came back, did potential employers look at it negatively or positively?)
Chris: For the work transition, we were optimistic about it when still traveling, but of course couldn’t help but worry a bit in terms of “what if we can’t get back into the workforce” or “will the gap on the resume hurt.” In the end, we worried for nothing as it worked out just fine. My situation is different as I immediately started working from home for myself (as an “aspiring trader” as I like to say). Additionally, after about a year home I decided to do a little consulting on the side in my down time and when I reached out to my old boss for a reference, he was happy to provide one, but said he’d actually rather me do some part time for him via my old company remotely, so that worked out more perfectly than I expected. I think my takeaway from that is that if you are a valued employee, give proper notice, assist with the transition of your work before you leave, and stay in touch… a good company should always recognize your value and have you back.
Lauren: As our trip neared the end, I felt the pressure mount to find a job in Michigan that I loved. Previously, I had only worked for one amazing employer and had a very high bar for what my next position would need to be. My efforts to job hunt while on the road were fruitless…. It was too hard to try to communicate when there was a 12 hour time difference and I wasn’t able to come in for an interview. Also, most jobs are looking for “just in time” applicants, so applying several months before I wanted to start was tricky. Once I returned back to the States, however, things fell into place. I was so fortunate to find another fantastic company to work for that saw my trip as an asset. Some folks sneer at the idea of giving up a good job to “gallivant around the world” (one person even said, “that is such a millennial thing to do”), but fortunately they are in the minority (and are most likely secretly jealous inside anyway!).
Any tips for someone thinking of taking a Sabbatical?
Chris: Obviously plan plan plan. Budget, routes, gear to pack, etc you cannot over-plan enough to work through potential pitfalls and understand how much work it really is. On our trip we spent about ½ of our time being tourists and the other ½ blogging and travel planning – it really is a lot of work. I think of it like this… most people take vacations for a few days to a week, seldom much longer. Long term travel starts out like that and the first week will feel like a vacation, but then it becomes your lifestyle and you have to start planning for things you wouldn’t worry about on a normal vacation: doing laundry, finding a grocery store so you don’t have to always eat at restaurants, and CONSTANTLY planning your next plane, bus, etc since they fill up and get more expensive the closer you get. Usually all of your travel is planned in advance for a vacation so you don’t have to “block out” a day at the beach to look for flights, hotels, etc while the sun is shining through your window or you see everyone else at the pool having fun.
Also this sounds obvious, but remember that you will feel tired, jetlagged, burned out, and just outright sick from time to time and that likely won’t occur at a convenient time. When you have that activity-packed week where you are hitting 3 cities in 7 days, you will inevitably get a cold or something where you just want to sleep in, watch TV, and eat soup until you feel 100% but you can’t. For me for example that is best summed up by a lovely, surprise case of Dengue Fever in Indonesia where I basically slept for a week and we had to cancel a few days of that part of the trip and stay put while I recovered.
Lastly – one thing that really kept us from burning out was that we stayed in a ton of AirBNBs – especially in cities. You can often get a small apartment for not much more than a private hostel bed/room and WAY cheaper than a hotel. We found that having our own little place were we could wake up, relax, make breakfast, often do laundry in-unit, etc made it feel a little less like we were traveling. And many are in great little neighborhoods away from the tourist stuff (and tourist prices) where you feel more like a local. Some of our fondest memories were low-key stays of usually 4-6 nights in Madrid, Buenos Aires, Poland, etc where we could relax and not worry about the next flight or bus. We were actually able to feel “at home” even all the way across the world when we could come home to our little apartment, make a simple dinner, and just relax on the couch.
Lauren: Take lots of photos and write about all your experiences in a blog or journal. It is amazing how quickly the details of a certain destination’s history get fuzzy, or those temples/cathedrals/shrines begin to blur.
If you are interested in seeing more of Lauren and Chris’s adventure, you can check out the blog that Lauren wrote focused on the travel side of things at Redhead Roamer. Chris also kept a blog but his focused on finance and economics of the countries they visited called Backpack Investing.
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