How to Prepare for a Sabbatical Break from Work When You’re Past 40

Miguel Silva
Sep 2, 2018 · 5 min read

You read the stories all the time: Digital Nomads and young professionals who decide to take a gap-years off from their jobs to live out of a suitcase, blog about it from wherever they happen to find WiFi in the world, and spend the rest of their time learning how to surf or pursuing a passion. They are mostly in their 20’s or 30’s and have their whole career ahead of them, and to many they appear to be living the life.

I decided to do the same, at the age of 45, not to live out of a suitcase or learn how to surf, but to take a mid-career break and use the time for experience hunting and personal growth. I think everyone can and should plan at least one career break and try out something else. It’s liberating, self-empowering, and will ultimately make you a better professional.

However, the most common reaction from friends and colleagues when I announced my sabbatical was to commend me for being “brave”, indicative of the sad fact that at this stage of life many people feel trapped in their jobs and careers. Maybe they already call themselves a CxO, or are making more money than they need to live and are afraid to lose it, or feel that if they make the leap they may not be able to rejoin the workforce later given their age. I would say this is believing too little in yourself, and that there is never a better time to take a sabbatical break. At this age you have understood that life is short (thus value your time), have the maturity and likely the means to make the best of a career break. It is all about creating the opportunity for yourself.

However, being past 40 does mean your sabbatical may be of a different nature and may require a bit more planning and consideration than if you were to do this earlier in life. Here are a few tips based on my own journey:

The hardest part is deciding that you want to do this. Start off by making sure you are taking the decision for the right reasons. If you are unhappy with your marriage, fighting burn-out, depression or any other health issue then a sabbatical is not for you. These are things that need to be addressed with professionals and independently of your career. If you’re lucky enough to live in a country like Norway (the place I call home) you have plenty of support available and may even qualify for paid time off. A sabbatical is something else. It is a pause in your career, not because you have to but because you want to. Ask yourself why you want to and make sure it’s an honest answer. Believe in its benefits rather than get seduced with the notion of time off. For instance, I know a couple that decided to take career breaks together, moved to Bali for 6 months and home-schooled their 3 kids from a gorgeous beach house to build close family ties. Another friend decided to take a break from his CxO life and pursue a singing career for a year. These are example of passions well pursued through career breaks.

Once your mind is made up, make a rough plan for your sabbatical: Something with a concrete start and stop date. As many things in life, if you leave it to “someday” it will never happen. If you’ve thought long and hard about the “why”, you will already have a rough idea of what you want to use time on. In my case the decision came rather suddenly, but I had a general theme and developed three or four projects I wanted to explore. Making even the roughest of plans for your sabbatical will make it more real, and knowing you will likely pivot means you don’t need to have all the details worked out right from the start.

Next, talk to your loved ones. At this stage in life you are likely married and have kids, have a mortgage, perhaps you’re the primary provider in your household or otherwise have people that depend on you. More than likely you will have to quit your job, so make sure that your financial obligations for the next 12-24 months are taken care of and that you can take time off with a clear conscience. Otherwise you won’t have the freedom to invest in yourself (mentally or financially.) If traveling is what you want to do, study or start your own business, make sure you save up for this, or that you can borrow the money and comfortably pay it back over time once you get a steady salary again. In my case, we were pretty much debt free and knew we had enough to get us through an expensive house renovation project that was already underway. Airbnb and frequent flyer miles meant I could also do a fair amount of low cost trips during my year off.

If you’re toying with the idea but will need to do some research to figure out what you would like to do, start putting aside a little something for a “sabbatical fund” right away. That will make it even more real than just planning and will give you an idea of what is realistic to do based on how much you can save.

Last but not least, talk to your employer. The more progressive companies (like mine) will understand and support you. In that case, formulate a sabbatical agreement governing the right for you to take a defined period of unpaid time off whilst retaining the things you care most about. Be realistic and negotiate the terms fairly. Unless you work in the academic space, no one will pay you to take a year off, nor will they keep your job warm for you. If they value you, they may, however, agree to keep your pension and insurance in place, and agree to offer you a new role when the time comes for you to come back to work. And again, if you are not comfortable doing something less than what you are doing now, or are the type of person who feels strongly about losing your title, then a sabbatical is not for you. The honest thing would be for you to part ways with your company in good terms rather than trying to put together a bad sabbatical agreement that will get in the way of their progress or your personal investment. Once your sabbatical agreement is signed, help ease your team into the transition and give them enough notice and support so that losing you is as painless to them as possible. This may mean hiring or training your successor, or occasionally being available for their calls during your sabbatical. Be as upfront with your colleagues as you can on why you are doing this. There will be many questions and perhaps even some rumours. Although I contend sabbaticals will become more common place in the future, they are today a rarity and people will be curious to understand what’s going through your mind.

Miguel Silva

Written by

Technology Executive living in Oslo. Mexican by birth, permanent guest of Norway by choice, husband to one, father to two and friend to many.