1 month in
I kicked off my first sabbatical (career break) last month, launching myself into a whirlwind of novelty via travel. I walked, hiked, biked, museum-ed, late-night bistro-ed, fresh-out-the-over bakery-ed, and mid-day-hot-sun geloto-ed — all the usual travel shenanigans but with a French flair.
Giving myself space from my normal routine accelerated my ability to disconnect from all prior work responsibilities, daily norms + rituals, and any form of calendar-like schedule. I already had this trip on the books for awhile, thought I didn't know I'd be using it as a strategy for starting my sabbatical with a clean break from work. This was my explore mode phase.
Now that I'm home, settled back into my usual habitat and patterns, I feel ready and eager to build, tinker, and learn. I've scratched the itch to travel, the need for novelty, and am comfortably placed in my incubator space for making stuff.
I've got a long list of project ideas from years of letting my curiosity take a back seat. And with a little (or lot of) trial and error, I'm hoping at least one of them proves to be useful to others. In this next chapter of my sabbatical, I'm initiating build mode.