Contrary to popular belief, a sabbatical is not just an extended holiday. The concept has been most common within academic and creative circles where time is spent away from your day-to-day work to develop yourself, your knowledge or your practice. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t build an extended trip or time off into your sabbatical to refresh and rejuvenate.

Following the impact of COVID19, many of us are reassessing what is important to us and what we want to do moving forward with our “one wild and precious life” to quote Mary Oliver. For you, it might feel like the perfect time for time out for new experiences and development, but if you’re not sure how an adventure or travel sabbatical might bring as many benefits as some of the other options out there, keep reading! 

1.Return to work with better mental health

At a time when almost one in seven of us in the UK are experiencing mental health problems in the workplace, taking time out from the stresses of the work environment and office politics can help. The tendency is to push through burnout to deliver on our commitments, but actually taking time out can help you reset, work on yourself, and work out what you want and need. It gives you a better opportunity to return to work in a healthier state of mind.

2. Apply learnings from different experiences

The world is a wonderful teacher. If you choose an adventure experience that is new to you, it is very likely that you will be able to bring home new skills that you can apply in your personal and professional life. For example, choosing to join an ocean crossing on a tall ship will teach you a lot about effective team working and adjusting to new conditions every day. Long-distance hiking can teach you about resilience and being comfortable (or uncomfortable) with your own thoughts. Taking on a voluntary role in a remote location can teach you about adaptability and problem solving with limited resources. Watching how different cultures do business might shine a light on how you can innovate within your own organisation or role.

3. Gain perspective on what’s most important

Taking a step away for a few months will give you the opportunity to reassess what is important to you and how you want to shape your life moving forward. It is easy to get caught up in the cycle of life and before you know it, time has flown by. Are you working in an area that you are passionate about? Is your work-life balance right? Do you have the right job for your skills? Are you based where you want to be? It might turn out that the answers to all these questions are yes – sabbaticals can be life affirming! But you might also discover that there are changes that you want to make that it’s impossible to see when you are in it.

4. Choose activities during your sabbatical that can advance your career

The joy of adventure sabbaticals is the range of different experiences and opportunities you can incorporate into your personalised journey. This includes training with local artisans in their crafts, joining cooking classes from different cultures, visiting community groups to find out more about how local decisions are made, or taking on a coordinator role for a social or environmental project. Whether you work in a kitchen or a skyscraper, you’re a potter or a banker, there will be training opportunities that will help you to develop professionally. If you would like to design a unique sabbatical experience, Another World Adventures can work with you to create a bespoke sabbatical that hits all your requirements. 

5. Make new connections

Choosing your sabbatical to include group activities, you will be on the path to meet like minded people. This gives you the chance to connect with new people outside of your current network and your industry. Depending on where you meet them, these travel partners might be from different backgrounds or work in a different industry to you. But what will share is your curiosity about the world and through travel you will be building shared experiences. Other than being fun and inspiring to meet people who do different things, it’s been shown that multidisciplinary working breeds innovation, as well as giving you an interesting and expanded network when you return home. So really making those new friends will also benefit your organisation in the long run. 

This blog is part of the Another World Adventures Signature Sabbaticals series, which focuses on unusual and inspired tailor-made sabbatical trips whether you’re planning solo, en famille or just the two of you. These trips have been meticulously planned with serious attention to detail, so you can enjoy the ultimate luxury of time to do something uniquely different. 

Contact us to start designing your own bespoke Signature Sabbatical or you can choose one of our many adventures as part of your sabbatical journey.