Sabbatical

A matter of life and death

Rory Stirling
Sep 9, 2018 · 3 min read
Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang, China

“Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, and certainly not as the same person”

(Yvon Chouinard — Patagonia founder)

Ok, i’ll admit, this post is not about a life or death journey. But it is about a life changing journey and I think you should do the same.

I’ve recently been lucky enough to spend several months away with my wife (Ashleigh) and our daughter (Margot). We started in Asia and spent many weeks exploring each of China, Japan and Indonesia. We then returned to Europe and did the same. It was epic. We called it a #RadicalFamBatical.

The amount of time away was pure self-indulgence and unless the perfect circumstances present themselves it’s not practical or advisable for most.

But here’s the observation I make to my good friends…

After 4 weeks in China it felt like we’d been away a lifetime. We’d already been to 10 different mind-blowing locations. All of them were new to us and we had “wow” moments almost every day.

2 weeks away is a long holiday but 4 weeks is a completely different beast. It can be a life-changing adventure. The trick is to go somewhere you’ve never been before, somewhere that’s physically and/or culturally different to home, and move around frequently.

Our brains play a cruel trick on us that you can use to your advantage. Stay in one location and soon your memories of each day blur into one. Time seems to accelerate. Experience a new place every day and our experience is the reverse. Time slows down. It’s not relaxing but I never suggested it would be.

During our trip, Ashleigh and I went to sleep every night enormously grateful for the opportunity we’d been given. It dawned on us that most couples don’t get to spend this amount of quality time together until they retire. How crazy is that!?

Good for me— so what?

Here’s my argument…

(1) With enough planning and commitment anyone can take a month away from work

(2) Travelling for a month creates a life changing journey for you and your family. It leads to unexpected experiences, life lessons and personal growth. The positive significantly outweighs the negative

Conclusion: EVERYONE should do this at some point in their working lives

The above might be controversial to some — I can hear you shouting valid excuses already. I’m not foolish enough to believe a one-size-fits-all approach to anything in life. My position is simply a healthy challenge to our natural resistance to anything risky or different, it’s not intended to be prescriptive.

There are many good reasons why this isn’t possible or the right thing for some families. My key point is that you don’t need as long as you think and the most common obstacles are not as big as you think:

  • What about work? I said it’s possible “…with enough planning and commitment”. That could be any time in the next 10 years. Whether you’re a founder, CEO or employee, if you give you and your team enough time to prepare then it can work seamlessly. In fact it can be a great opportunity for everyone involved. Some companies offer paid or unpaid sabbatical after a period of employment. If your company doesn’t then perhaps you should suggest it. If that doesn’t work, then commit to doing it before you start your next company or job. I recently heard that the median company tenure in the US is less than 5 years.
  • What about cost? I didn’t say this had to be glamorous. But one thing you should consider is how much you normally spend in a working month at home. How much of that could you save or re-capture to help pay for the trip.
  • School holidays? You only need a month!

The key to all of this is planning and commitment. If you want to make it happen then I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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Notes on travelling in Asia:

  • If you’re considering China then let me know, I’ve nailed the 4-week itinerary :-)
  • Travelling in Asia is a tech-lovers dream — you can literally book every part of your journey (planes, trains, hotels, cars, guides, day trips, activities) directly from your phone

Rory Stirling

Written by

VC at Connect Ventures. Investing in seed stage fintech. Love tech, startups, VC, leadership, learning & decision making. Formerly BGF Ventures & MMC Ventures.

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