How to take a sabbatical year.

Today: regular people show us how to take a sabbatical year. Have you dreamed of quitting work for a year?  You don’t want to quite paid work and leave your career altogether but… you’d really like to take a nice big break. Perhaps you have dreams of sailing around the world. Or you want to train full-time for an Ironman Triathlon.

Or you just really want a break mid-career to relax, invest in your health and spend time with your family. Maybe you really want a taste of that classic retired life while you’re still young and in good health: a full round of golf twice a week and a steady volunteer gig at the library. The classic reason to take a year off: write your great novel. There are so many reasons people take these ‘life sabbaticals’ and they finance them in so many creative ways.

First, how do you save up a year of living expenses? 

Frances and her family sold their home and travelled for a year. They home schooled their young kids, adventured like crazy and saw the world. Why did they do it? As Frances explains, they wanted a sabbatical year together. They had this big dream to travel and they felt that their kids were at a good age for it (5 and 7).

How did they take a sabbatical? They saved for years and they sold their home (renting it would not have covered its expenses). Also, their plan was to live somewhat cheaply while travelling. They would live in a sail boat – later a camper in Europe – so their housing costs would be low and fixed.

The Greenwood Davis family also travelled the world for a year. How did they do it? Heather is a travel writer and worked while they were on the road. Her husband took a sabbatical from work, doing a ‘four over five’ salary and they rented out their home for a year. Like Frances and her family, they homeschooled on the road.

NPR did a nice feature on the family that you can read here. If you want to read more about families pulling up stakes and travelling for a year, this Globe and Mail article profiles several families that have done it.

Many people taking a sabbatical, gap year or mini retirement also use Geographic Arbitrage to fund this time off work.

They may rent their home out for a year and the profit from it covers their rent and then some in a low cost of living country. Many times it’s South America where US and Canadian dollars can stretch a lot farther. They may move around the area but most of their year off is spent in a very low cost of living region, renting a house and making meals a home. This low cost living is a far cry from what most of us envision about a year of travel: expensive flights, hotels and dining out.

It’s also okay just to stay home if you quit work for a year. This actually might be a great option if your desire isn’t for travel or change – just your regular life at a less hectic speed. My husband and I are having a bit of low speed year.  We’re taking a very flexible approach to things. That has meant sometimes spending the day skiing while the kids are at daycare and school. We usually walk or bike our kids to school together. It’s been a slow and lovely break.

How did we fund our quasi sabbatical year? We still worked but a lot less. Our new small town life is cheaper than our city life but we’re still running at a deficit.  We’ve used savings to cover the gap. We will work more in the next year but we’ve really enjoyed this easier pace after a very stressful 2016-17. I can see why many people would want to take a year off as a breather, read a lot of books, maybe hit some fitness goals and do it all from home.

Ways to save for a year off of work, a mini retirement or gap year: 

Use a sabbatical program. My brother had an option as a teacher to work for four years and then take a year off. He received 80% of his salary each year he worked and then 80% on his sabbatical year.

Sell your house. Not what most people consider a good investment but many people I have read about that took a mini-retirement did so off of house equity. Some did it as part of downsizing. Ie. I moved in to something considerably less expensive and used the profit from selling their home to take a year off work. *This is us!

Set a long term goal and save. Frances’s family had been working towards their sabbatical travel year for quite a while. They saved for years to make it happen. Four years before their move they downsized to a smaller home so they could save more.

Use Geographic Arbitrage. Could you rent your home out for significantly more than it costs you each month? Could you live off of a fraction of your monthly budget if you were living in Chile? Moving to a low cost of living area is one way to take a mini retirement or gap year.

Downsize and declutter like crazy to create a sabbatical fund.

Many families that I have read about sold a lot of their stuff. The second car. Collections. Anything and everything that could earn them some dollars towards that goal of a year off. Maybe selling that $20,000 second car and replacing it with a $3,000 cargo bike could put you closer to taking a year off. Or moving into a smaller home in the same neighbourhood or from a house to an apartment. This article profiles three families that moved from a city to a rural area for lower cost of living and a slower pace.

Work just a little. If you can get your expenses low, save a bit ahead of time, and have a little income coming in, it can be possible to mostly take a year off of work. Some people can make a year off work not by quitting their job but by working a lot less. Maybe you take one shift a week or take on some contract work around tax time. Working a lot less will still feel like a big break and change of pace.

Curious about sabbaticals, mini-retirements or travelling for a year with kids? I’m a big fan of Tsh Oxenrider’s writing (she had the original SimpleMom blog!) and her book, At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Traveling the Globe chronicles her year abroad with her family. A good read if you are wondering about the benefits, logistics and rough patches of a year travelling with kids.

Have you ever taken a long break from work? Even unintentionally? Was it a positive time for you or did you feel unmoored without a job to go to? Does a gap year or mini-retirement interest you?