Why Take a Sabbatical? Our Top 3 Reasons
When we started talking about this crazy sabbatical idea a year ago, we were met mostly with enthusiasm. I think everyone thought we’d never, ever pull the trigger. We were too corporate or too risk averse. Even we had days where we weren’t sure it was going to happen. Now that we are off on sabbatical, here’s a peek into the reasons why we felt we needed to let it all go – job, apartment, even San Francisco.
As successful corporate professionals, the burn out was real. Chloe managed a large accounting team for a Series E startup and I was the Vice President over a consulting practice. Exhausting work hours, intense stress, company volatility, and, in my case, endless travel (over 250,000 miles in 2019) left us seeking relief. But everyone is burned out right? Take a 1 month break not a 9 month break. How did we go from burned out to burn it all to the ground and leave for almost a year?
Reason #1 – The Ultimate Disconnect
Firstly, today’s connected society breeds an unhealthy culture that requires you to leave it all behind to recover. There is no rest for the weary once you reach a certain responsibility level and companies ENCOURAGE this. We’re actually decent at taking time away and fortunate enough to go abroad for a few weeks every 18 months. Going abroad five years ago meant it was difficult, if not impossible, to reach us. This meant our companies understood that abroad meant unavailable. But midway through 2019, we found ourselves in a Barcelona hotel room both attached to our computers handling one of those many escalations that arise as soon as you’re ‘unavailable’. Suddenly abroad was no longer enough to escape and honestly a month wouldn’t even be enough to start. Something major had to change.
Reason #2 – Self-Discovery
Secondly, for me (Ashleigh) at least, a HUGE portion of my identity is tied up in my work. It’s my baby – bringing soul sucking exhaustion and endless rewards, which is what new parents tell us they experience with a newborn. I’m addicted to the adrenaline and the need to be needed. My family raised me to seek exceptional achievement in the corporate world. As a result, I sat in that same Barcelona hotel room feeling a desire to know who I was outside of this insanity. What untapped passions and interests did I have? Would I be happy without work? Who would I be without the job title of Vice President?
Reason #3 – Personal Growth
Third, and yes this will sound a bit ridiculous, we lived in a comfortable bubble – the bubble of privilege, the bubble of San Francisco, the bubble of stuff, the bubble of the United States. Every time we wandered outside, we felt both uncomfortable and exhilarated. It was time to be uncomfortable more regularly, leave our comfort zone, and see who we became.
We are so truly grateful that we have the opportunity to take this sabbatical and cannot wait to see what it holds, especially in terms of personal growth! Thanks to all of the amazing people in our lives for their support as we go on this trip. It was hard to leave our friends and loved ones in San Francisco. But that is another blog post for another day.
