How To Plan A Sabbatical

by Srinivas Rao
on January 5th, 2011
10 Comments

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Matt Koenig

Planning a sabbatical is no easy task. I should know, as I’ve been planning one now for some time. While I don’t have all the answers or even all the questions, I have learned some things that I hope will help you in your planning as well.

The first thing to realize is that there is a lot involved in making the decision to take a sabbatical or extended period of time off. It’s not an easy task and gets even more complicated if you have kids.

Tip #1 Give yourself plenty of time. This is not something that you want to rush. We’ve been thinking about taking a sabbatical for over a year now but have only just begun to get serious with the actual planning stage. One thing we quickly realized is that there are a lot of questions to ask and researching and getting answers to those questions take time. How much time do you need? That depends on how much time you have to dedicate to planning on a daily basis, how organized you are and how serious you are about doing this.

Tip #2 Have a mission plan. Make sure you have a purpose for your sabbatical. What is it you hope to accomplish or gain? Do you want to live overseas so you can learn a foreign language? Maybe you want to take your kids on an around the world trip and enroll them in the world’s best classroom. Whatever it is you want to do with your time make sure and write it down and have a clear understanding on what it is and how you will know when you accomplish it. This is key because it offers validity to your planning.

Tip #3 Ask other people with experience. There is nothing better than talking with someone who has done exactly what it is you want to do. Get online, search them out and contact them. Reach out and make a connection and then start asking them your questions. Ask them what it is you might not be thinking about but should be. Read their blog and learn as much as you can. Being able to draw from the experience of others is invaluable so don’t overlook this one.

Tip #4 Plan Your Return Now. You might think that all you need to do is plan your sabbatical or what you want to be doing with your time away. The truth is you should plan what you will do once you return before you leave. Think about it this way, do you want to return only to have to struggle and stress over what you will do and where you will live? Of course not! You will have a difficult enough time integrating back into a different life than you have grown accustomed to living abroad. These don’t need to be concrete plans but you should have a good solid idea on what it is you will do once you return home.

Tip #5 Research your company’s time off policies. Maybe you’ve already decided that you want to leave your job and not go back to it after your sabbatical. That’s totally cool! But for many they will want to come back to something. What if you could leave for a year and come back to your old job? There are many companies that have sabbatical policies that allow employees to take time off to travel or to do something they have always wanted to do and yet return to their jobs. Maybe your company has such a policy. You’ll never know until you inquire about it. Of course you might want to time this inquiry so as not to play your hand too soon. Diplomacy in requesting or announcing a sabbatical or departure is required in order to not burn the bridges on your way out the door.

Bonus Tip Don’t give up. Planning a sabbatical is hard and often confusing work. Hopefully the tips above will get you started in the right direction. But above all else probably the best piece of advice is to never, ever give up. Yes, it’s tough. Yes, it can feel very overwhelming. Yes, it can be confusing to know the right questions to ask. You may feel like giving up, that it’s just not worth the effort. It is worth the effort.

Some things to think about

You might be wondering where you start. Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling. First figure out where it is you want to spend your sabbatical. Maybe it’s some exotic Fijian island or maybe it’s right in your own backyard. Take some time to figure it all out.

Equally important if not more so is what you want to do on your sabbatical. We all joke about sitting on a beach drinking and watching the waves crash upon the shore. My guess is that will get old really quick. Instead make a list of some things you’ve always wanted to do. What is it that you hope to accomplish? Think about where you want your life to be at the end of your sabbatical. Maybe you want to learn a language, or learn a new sport or start your own business. Write it down and plan it out step by step. You won’t have all the answers right away but you’ll have the most important thing, the beginning of a plan.

Probably the thing people will struggle most with (I know that we sure do) is how to finance your sabbatical adventure. It’s not an inexpensive proposition and one either has to save up the money to remain solvent throughout the sabbatical or find ways to generate income during the sabbatical. Costs will vary considerably depending on where you plan to take your sabbatical as well as what you plan to do. Research is your friend on this one. Touch base with people who have lived there, traveled there and have knowledge of the cost. Then make sacrifices and start saving (unless of course you just won the lotto, then just get out there and start having the time of your life.)

If you have kids how will they continue their education? Will you home school or will they attend a local school? Research what it takes to home school your kids.
If you have a mortgage do you plan to sell your home or rent it out while you are gone? What will you do with all your stuff? How will you continue to meet your financial obligations, pay your bills, bank while overseas?
Staying healthy is critical and if you have kids it’s important to keep up with their immunizations. You want to be prepared in the event of a medical emergency. Does your current health insurance cover living internationally? Most likely it doesn’t. You’ll need to look into purchasing health insurance for your family while traveling.
And finally make sure you know how you will keep in touch with friends and family back home. They are going to want to hear all about your adventures and you can bet you are going to want to tell them.

Planning to take a sabbatical is no easy task, especially when you have a family. But by taking your time to plan it out right you will create an adventure you will never forget. Don’t let the fact that you won’t always have all the answers stop you. It may just be that the answers are not apparent until you actually get out there and start doing it.

Matt Koenig is a family man on a mission to take a 1 year sabbatical in Indonesia with his wife and 2 young kids. You can read all about the adventure and journey at 1 Year Sabbatical or follow him on Twitter (@1yearsabbatical)

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at The Skool of Life. He's also the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.

10 Comments

1 year ago
Srinivas Rao
Matt,

I have to say this is one of my favorite articles on travel that I’ve read in a while. Of course it doesn’t hurt that your sabbatical is to a destination that is high on my priority list. In all seriousness I think that you’ve pointed out many things that people don’t think about and as a result their sabbatical stays a pipe dream. The greatest thing about the blogosphere is that you have access to all sorts of people on sabbaticals of their own who can tell you how to do it.

1 year ago
Matt
I really enjoyed writing this for Flightster as it really helped cement alot of what I’ve been thinking the past year. I’m amazed at the number of families I have met online that are out traveling the world and having great adventures. It really is possible and we plan on being another success story that we hope will encourage other families. There is no time like the present. Thank you again Srini for posting this up.

1 year ago
Ryan
Matt – I really appreciate the depth of these points. A successful sabbatical will be one that has been well planned, and you lay out a great outline. I especially think it has hit home recently because I sold my bed 2 days before I left and had to sleep on a less-than-optimal air mattress the days leading up to my departure. As a result, I started my trip with a sleep deficit… Wish I had planned better!

1 year ago
Matt
Hey Ryan! Even the best laid our plans can have unforseen issues. Definitely something we will need to think about and plan for.

1 year ago
J.T. Wenting
One thing you didn’t mention is finances. sabbatical is hideously expensive, you’re going to be paying not just for a year long (give or take) vacation but also have to pay the bills on your house and everything that goes with it, your taxes, etc. etc., and in many countries have to find somewhere for the kids to stay while you’re gone as home schooling just happens to be illegal there.

And all that has to be paid for while you have zero money coming in for the duration (unless you happen to hold rights to something like books or music that happen to be selling well enough that you don’t need to work that job you’re quitting for a year).

1 year ago
Matt
Hi J.T.! You make a very good point about finances and it was something that I specifically didn’t touch on, except briefly, as I felt it is a topic all it’s own and probably the one single thing that holds people back from extensive traveling. But I don’t think that the cost of long term travel or living overseas with a family is as expensive as people believe it to be. Obviously every situation is different and people have different standards of living but there are plenty of families and people out there living very cheaply in various parts of the world. There are also lots of options to consider such as renting your house out or if you are so inclined selling it outright. I can’t speak directly to that as we don’t own a home currently. Freelancing, running your own online business, working part time overseas are all things that people have done to support their travels. The options are really endless and people have gotten incredibly creative with financing their desires to travel and see more of the world. Thanks for bringing finances up as it is an important topic.

1 year ago
Pat Katepoo
I’ve researched sabbatical planning and found the Your Sabbatical website to be a promising resource. They offer a proposal planning guide to present to your boss.

For those looking to do a short-term sabbatical of four to eight weeks, I’ve posted a full planning guide that you can read online, found at Time Off for Missions.

Best wishes to seeing your sabbatical dream come true.

1 year ago
J.T. Wenting
Matt, selling your house in the current housing market simply isn’t an option for most people. The price you get for it almost certainly won’t even cover the cost of paying back your mortgage, leaving you in serious debt and without a house.

Renting it out should also not be done lightly. Rules of course differ by country, but here it’s almost impossible to get rid of renters unless they don’t pay. Even if you have a fixed term rental agreement, you can’t terminate it after that period. Again, you’d end up without a house.
And you’re also responsible for maintaining the house while you’re not there, even if it’s rented out. Not cleaning, but painting, structural repairs, electrical problems, sprung watermains, etc. etc. you all have to pay for and arrange to have done on behalf of your renters.

You’re right that the cost of living abroad doesn’t have to be as high as it is at home, but we can assume that most people who want to go on a sabbatical want to take it easy for a while, so they’re not going to be backpacking from one youth hostel to another (they’re also likely a bit old for that) but want to enjoy at least middle class hotels or similar accommodation and decent (if not fancy) food.

Think $100 a day for a family of 2 on top of your fixed cost at home (taxes, insurance, etc.) would probably be a minimum to count on for your average sabbatical taker.
For a year that comes down to a good $36000, which for most people in Europe at least is more than a year’s income after taxes.
To set that aside with the cost of living you have at home would take you 10-15 years at least, if you put every cent you’d otherwise put in your retirement and emergency savings into the account you set up for it.

1 year ago
Matt
Hey J.T., I’ve always been of the belief that where there’s a will there’s a way. Sure, it’s not cheap, sure there are obstacles to overcome. But nothing is impossible. Of course you have to have the heart for it.

Selling your house is an option for many people. The market isn’t down everywhere. I know several people who are still doing quite well in real estate. Not everyone is in the same boat so selling or renting out are still valid options for many people. I think it’s important for someone considering a sabbatical to consider all the options regardless. Of course when planning a sabbatical you do want to consider the lifestyle that you want to live and plan accordingly. Depending on what you want it my take more financial planning and savings.

Also I think it’s a generalization to say that most people who take a sabbatical want to take it easy for awhile. While some may want to take it easy and relax, others will want to work on starting their own business, or write a book, make a movie or travel extensively. People take sabbaticals for many different reasons.

Finally not everyone is going to have the fixed costs at home that you speak about. We rent so when we leave we won’t have the cost of payments or insurance. And it certainly won’t take 10-15 years to save up the money if one is really serious about sacrificing and saving to reach their dreams and goals. Betsy and Warren Talbot of Married with Luggage were able to save the money for their 3 year RTW trip in a few years. In families with dual incomes you can more than double the monthly savings.

There are lots of examples of families out there doing exactly this. The difference between them and most people is that they put a priority on traveling and living the lifestyle they choose to live. It doesn’t mean they are right and other people are wrong. It just means they have different motivations in life. I really do appreciate the points you are bringing up as it’s critical to think about finances and long term financial planning. But I also think that anything is possible if your heart is in the right place.

10 months ago
Jill
We are planning a sabbatical year to France. I’m wondering about the income tax situation: If we rent our home out, but also have to pay as much rent for a living space abroad, say, in Europe, are there ways that we can avoid losing money? I have heard most sabbatical takers call the residents “house-sitters”, but if they are strangers and paying rent, this is not true. So not certain whether renting is an automatic lose situation on the tax grounds. Of course, you can’t use your rent in Europe to offset the rental income you have from renting your home, so you lose money. Do you know of any (above-board) ways that people get around this situation ( paying hefty tax on the rental income) and coming out having paid out more in rent and taxes for an equivalent place abroad than if you had stayed home? Cheers, J.

Flightster