Automatic Reply: Unplugged & Adventuring
Last month I set a personal record for vacation days so I could travel around Australia and New Zealand with my husband. We bungee jumped in the place it was invented, sipped cocktails at the iconic Sydney Opera House and spelunked through a labyrinth of underground caves. We saw enough breathtaking scenery for a lifetime. Not only did Hudl allow me to step away from work to take the trip, it was also their idea.
The trip served as my sabbatical — Hudl’s gift to me for hitting my five-year anniversary with the company. Hudl celebrates this milestone for every employee by providing a generous stipend toward a trip of your choice. (International travel is strongly encouraged!) Any expense can be covered, whether it’s your flight, hotel, AirBnB, game tickets, concert tickets, etc. — it’s your stipend to use as you please. This allows you to craft a trip that’s refreshing to you. For some that means lying on a beach for two weeks, for others it’s exploring a historic city or finding the best views from a mountaintop. For me, it was a little bit of everything.
My trip started in Sydney, Australia, where we visited icons like the Opera House, Bondi Beach and the Hudl Sydney office, of course. It was fun to see familiar faces and connect new faces with names I’d only known over Slack and email. From there we headed to Melbourne, where we feasted on some of the best food and coffee in the world.
Our next stop was the North Island of New Zealand. Australia entertained the city-loving part of me, but New Zealand absolutely spoiled us with adventure. The North Island offered magical experiences like the Hot Water Beach (think “dig your own hot tub”) and beautiful Cathedral Cove. We also ventured into the subterranean, abseiling 100 meters down into a gigantic underground cavern with huge boulders, luminescent glow worms, and glimpses at what they call the “Lost World.”
Our last stop of the trip was the city of Queenstown on the South Island, where we completed our adventure by taking our exploits to the sky. In the “Adventure Capital of the World”, my husband threw himself off the tallest bungee platform in New Zealand, and together we braved a 300-meter, tandem bungee swing (not as tame as it sounds). We darted down the Shotover River on a jet boat, relaxed in a mountainside hot pool, and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of the lakeside city nestled in the shadows of the Remarkables mountain range. One friend had described Queenstown to us as “heaven on earth,” and they weren’t kidding.
Despite the hustle and bustle of it all, I walked away feeling relaxed and refreshed after fully unplugging from work for the duration of the two-week sabbatical. I’m grateful for a company that values both my work and my rest.
Thank you, Hudl, and cheers to the next five years!
Interested in joining our growing team and going on your own sabbatical someday? Take a peek at our open positions on hudl.com/jobs.
