My 100 Day Sabbatical: A By The Numbers Recap
A few days ago I returned from my first ever sabbatical. The small college I founded has a sabbatical policy that allows for a 1 to 3 month sabbatical every 5 years. To take the opportunity I had to notify the Board of Directors and staff one year in advance to give everyone time to figure out how to cover my role responsibilities and name an Acting President while I was away. I strongly recommend taking a sabbatical, even a short one. Every organization should have a sabbatical policy or some way to give people dedicated time off every few years. It has made all the difference.
When I began my sabbatical 100 days ago, my overarching goal was to return to myself. These past few years have been really challenging in numerous ways and I had lost my sense of who I was. I had gotten consumed by the roles I played and no longer felt like the person I formerly knew myself to be. To get back to myself, I decided to spend my sabbatical doing things that would make me feel grounded and return to my core essence. For me this was solo travel, long walks, reading books, and living life at a slow and steady pace.
In a later post I will share some of the insights I have had, but for now, here is a glimpse of what it practically looked like for me to slow down and attempt to return to myself.
Sabbatical by the numbers — TRAVEL:
- Away from home for 100 days
- Visited 9 countries, including 3 that were new for me
- 25 cities visited (shortest stay: Braga for 4 hours | longest stay: Ponte de Lima for 4 weeks)
- Longest time in any country: 5 weeks (Portugal) 🇵🇹
- Shortest time in any country: 1 day (England) 🇬🇧
- Favorite place: almost all of them (seriously)
- Least favorite place: Aberdeen, Scotland (too dreary and wet for long walks and not much to do so I changed my plans and left early to Spain)
Sabbatical by the numbers — BOOKS:
A friend very generously offered me this before I began my sabbatical: “In the spirit of Harambee, I started a piggy bank of sorts last July as a sabbatical send off. Often folks at home will have a harambee with the intent of trying to solve for ‘x’ when life goes sideways (not that a sabbatical is life going sideways). I know you’re a planner Michelle and that you’ve got most of your plans in place for the next few months so this is for the unknowns that emerge. It’s not much but I hope it will allow you to indulge in some way that feels right while you’re in Portugal.”
I chose to use her gift to buy books to read — an indulgence I don’t often allow myself because I live in a tiny house and don’t have room for them and because I have not had much time for reading the past several years. And a love of reading is something this friend and I share so it felt like a good way to honor her and her gift.
I found myself drawn to reading books that expanded my perspective on things and gave me new lenses, some of which were previously not much explored by me.
- # of books read: 12
- # of countries of origin of the authors: 7
- # of books I kept for my home collection: 3(the rest I left behind in my hostel / Airbnb or in a cafe book exchange)
- Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (listened as audio book prior to leaving Portland)
- By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho (purchased at Livaria Lello in Porto, the most beautiful bookstore in the world, and read at apartment in Ponte de Lima)
- Manual of Painting and Calligraphy by Jose Saramago (purchased a small bookstore in Ponte de Lima on the recommendation of the shop owner and read in Ponte de Lima)
- The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst (purchased a small bookstore in Ponte de Lima on the recommendation of the shop owner and read in Ponte de Lima)
- The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundahti Roy (purchased a small bookstore in Ponte de Lima on the recommendation of the shop owner and read in Ponte de Lima)
- The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso (purchased in bookstore in Viana do Castelo while waiting out the rain to take my bus home)
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (purchased and read in Edinburgh)
- Of Stone and Sky by Merryn Glover (purchased at National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh and read in Aberdeen; loved this one so much I kept it by sending it home with a friend after he visited me)
- Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (purchased at El Corte Ingles department store in Alicante and read there)
- The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter (purchased at bookstore in Alicante and finished in Marrakech)
- The God of Small Things by Arundahti Roy (purchased at LHR to read on my flights home and I still have it)
- The Land of Maybe: A Faroe Islands Year by Tim Ecott (purchased at a bookstore in Torshavn at the beginning of sabbatical and the only book I carried with me the entire time — all others were left behind)
Sabbatical by the numbers — WALKING
I set a goal for myself at the beginning to walk 5–7 miles per day. Soon I found myself easily reaching that goal, so I increased it to 7–10 miles per day which was much harder to reach. At my walking pace that is a commitment of at least 3 hours of walking per day. I definitely had 3 hours available each day to walk but often found myself breaking it up into a morning walk and an afternoon walk. Each day I wrote down in my notebook how far I walked that day based on what my app on my phone told me — here is how that ended up looking:
In my next post I will attempt to answer some of the questions my friends, family, and colleagues have asked upon my return. I have appreciated their questions and the opportunity to reflect on my 100 day sabbatical through the lens of their curiosity. If you have a question you would like to contribute, feel free to post it below in the comments.
