The Sabbatical Project: Category: Solo

A tech leader goes exploring — inside and out.

“My sabbatical gave me the space to explore my passions and really identify my life purpose. It has changed the whole trajectory of my life.”

Newly-minted US resident uses time to heal, explore.

“If there are things that you really want to do that you can’t do in a full-time job or if you don’t do it in between when the hell are you going to do them?”

A nonprofit leader steps away to heal and choose how (or if) she wants to return to her dream job.

“My hope was that by stepping away, when I came back, I would actually be choosing this again, as opposed to it just happening to me.”

“I remember like getting back on that plane and thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll never be the same person again.’”

Using sabbaticals to test out hypotheses for work and life.

“Maybe some people need the sabbatical because everything is just perfect. At least for me, this has never been true. If there’s something that lingers as an open question or aspiration, I give myself theme and space to explore it fully.”

A medical device marketer quits to pursue her lifelong dream job at age 40.

“I realized that my entire self-worth was based on external validation. I’ve had to reprogram. I now see success as the amount of joy something brings me.”

A Singaporean consultant seeks recovery and self-knowledge.

“I feel the ability to be really courageous and brave…I felt like it enabled me to be a stronger person, both mentally and also in terms of my experience.”

A journalist takes nine months away from work to write her memoir.

“There’s a story that’s been inside me for a while; I needed to write this book to keep living.”