And we’re off…
The idea first came to us a year ago. Or was it 2? I don’t remember. Because, when the concept of a sabbatical was introduced, I was in a fever dream of work and school and sports and appointments and the dishwasher needs emptying and the laundry needs doing and the compost needs to go out and the kids need new socks and summer camp registration opens at 10 am but if I log on at 10:01 the kids won’t get a spot at camp and they’ll become delinquents with no futures and when I’m done securing their futures, I need to go to Trader Joes for the frozen dumplings but Whole Foods for the responsible chicken and Hannaford for the inexpensive sponges…
So, when Dave said that his board chair mentioned the possibility of a sabbatical, I said yes, yes lets definitely do that. Dave tried to back peddle (more than once). The leader of an organization can’t just walk out the door, of course, it would take months of considering, planning, consulting, and deliberating on his end. But for me, it was a yes, then and there, with no going back.
It took countless hours on the internet, deliberating the relative pros and cons of each region we’ll visit, each activity we’ll do, each Airbnb we’ll stay in. It took dozens of Zoom and in-person meetings, emails, phone calls, and WhatsApp messages from friends, family, teachers, acquaintances and strangers - all offering tid bits of advice. It took vaccines and boosters and drugs - no category of pharmaceutical went unconsidered. It took seasonally appropriate clothing ordered, considered and returned. It took Dave’s organization to believe in him enough to offer us this gift of time. It took me leaving my employer after 19 years. It took encouragement from our family and trust in ourselves that we can actually pull this off.
And so here we are, on a train to Washington D.C. , after a bus from Portland, to get to a plane to South Africa - the starting point for our journey around the world. Three+ months, 4 continents, 7 countries. And we’re off…
