In exactly two weeks, I’m not sure what will happen. But for the first time in decades, I won’t have a job to go to. No, I’m not quitting my job and no, I didn’t get fired. For three months, I will be on a paid sabbatical.
There will be no work for me. There’ll be no waking up, getting a coffee, and sitting down to stare at a screen. There’ll be no team meetings to laugh through. No coworkers to laugh with, no semblance of what life currently is. That both terrifies me and invigorates me.
When I first started planning to go on sabbatical, I saw it as a “summer vacation” that I haven’t had since 2006. It isn’t a vacation, I can see that now. On a vacation, you fill an itinerary with things to do, people to see, and places to be. No. A sabbatical is a break. It’s a break from the day-to-day, a period of non-work so long that it is impossible to plan. It’s a time to wander, to wonder, and try something new.
For me, I still have no idea what I’ll be doing. I know there will be a few key moments as I watch my youngest sister get married; a few visitors coming to stay with us; and a few adventures. But I hope to be truly bored at some point.
I go by the handle withinboredom for a reason. I get bored so very easily, and in that boredom, I solve problems Google has no answer for, explore places most people never bother to go, and most importantly, share those experiences with the world.
This blog will be that place I share with the world. If you’re going on a sabbatical, this can be your place too, just send an email to rob@sabbaticals.blog and I’ll set you up. But for me, I’m going to try to write here at least weekly. I make no promises… it is a sabbatical afterall.