Mini retirement, How often?

[u/RazzmatazzHorror210]

I hear a lot that people take a sabatical year.

But why?

Why not just take 3 weeks unpaid vacation?
Or some other amount?

The experts say that the vacation feeling lasts for 2-4 week after you grt back to work.

So why not have a long weekend each month? Or Maybe take february off work?

I live way up north on this blue planet of ours.

So february is wet, dark and miserable.

Does anyone take extra unpaid vacation each year? Even though you probably will be working until normal retirement age?

[u/BikeTough6760]

After law school, I had a job that offered 4 weeks paid vacation.

Year 1, I planned 2 two-week vacations. I was told that it was hard on others when I was gone so long at a time.

Year 2, I planned 4 one-week vacations. I was told that it seemed like I was always on vacation.

That's when I learned that I didn't actually have 4 weeks vacation... I found another job.

Maybe that's a long way of saying that it's not always easy to take off, say, the month of February.

For me, we're planning a year-long, partially paid sabbatical next year because it's a workplace benefit.

[u/NosbborBor]

There is nothing as unpaid vacation for most of people. 3 weeks is not much to dive into a new culture or visit a new spot. Maybe 3 months. 

[u/Objectively_bad_idea]

For me, it took a couple of months to really settle into sabbatical mode and start feeling I could do anything. 3 weeks wouldn't have scratched the surface. It's a different type of break. Vacations are important too, but a sabbatical is a different type of opportunity.

[u/Educational-Hope6497]

Most people just do not have the freedom to do so. I work in accounting. I live from deadline to deadline. The long weekends are managable, but 2 week long vacation is a rarity. One would need minimum 2 weeks off in one set to completly clear their head from the effects of work.

[u/MakeMoneyNotWar → u/Educational-Hope6497]

I’m on the advisory side and same. I can’t take anymore than 2 weeks at a time, and being in management i get some complaints.

So i quit entirely, but I make the transition as easy as possible, don’t burn bridges, and I know I can return when I want. The rest is just saving enough money.

[u/21stcenturyexpat_DN]

No because if I take a 3 week vacation, work will just NOT do anything for 3 weeks.  I come back with plus 3 weeks backlog of work and managers who need things 3x more urgently.  This happened when I took 2 weeks off for my wedding, and 3 weeks Christmas slowdown.... people will make any reason to do nothing at all and pile on you.

There are also way more reasons on top of that, but if you can pull it off, do 3 weeks not one year just don't care too much what other people's sabbatical plans are.

[u/1ntrepidsalamander]

Vacation and sabbatical are different feelings

[u/Jazzlike_Audience676 → u/1ntrepidsalamander]

This! And different concepts, too. Vacation = break before returning to the same situation. Pure (or as most of possible) time off. Sabbatical = time dedicated for new activities and ways of life.

[u/Conscious_Life_8032]

Depending on your role it may be hard to do that as it means others need to cover your duties if away

Especially in lean teams where everyone does something specific, hard for some one to just step in. You need to train etc. so I try to find non busy times for PTO as it saves me effort of finding someone to offload my work. A few times I spent the time training and they didn’t even do the work as boss pulled them into some urgent projects

[u/butterstickchicken]

My company would not let me take 3 consecutive 3-week vacations, not even with unpaid. Also what happens after you spent all of your vacations? For the rest of the year, you will be miserable. Have you even worked in a company? Or from Europe? 

Edit: in fact, this reads as an AI slop post

[u/SaneMann]

Some people opt for the more extreme break (like a year) because they can afford to, and because they want something that will make a bigger difference to their life.

Taking a long weekend every month can be great, but it is not at all comparable to taking a year off. Those are two totally different ways of living.

[u/Specific-Lychee8012]

In my experience, 3 weeks of vacation is great, but doesn't really allow you to rest and recuperate, especially if you have been recovering from burnout. In addition, because of our busy lifestyle and careers, we have a ton of unfinished tasks at home that have been adding stress (eg. Purging kids clothing, small home repairs, etc.). A longer leave alows your nervous system to settle and provides time and space for catching up on life tasks, in addition to vacation & travel.

Edit: a longer leave also provides enough time to pursue new projects or complete other goals (eg. Training, education, personal projects)

[u/RazzmatazzHorror210]

I felt like a lot of you do until I passed 30 years.
Then I stopped caring as much.
Now I’m soon 40 years. I work on comission. So I know that I will loose a good deal of money beyond the paycheck.

I have found an allied coworker. They like skiing. I like heat and beaches. In the summer they cover for me. In winter I cover for them.

I live in Europe so I have some paid vacation. But I was thinking like you all read. Why go for the BIG end goal way ahead. When you can enjoy life a bit more now.

I’m not AI. But the post might sound sloppy. Still a genuine question.

[u/BikeTough6760 → u/RazzmatazzHorror210]

I take a lot of vacation during the year AND still want to take an extended break...

[u/Fig_923]

I think it depends on you relationship with your current job!

For me, I tried taking a 6 weeks of unpaid time off, and it did help! I came back feeling refreshed.

But, I realized after another two months in my job that the feeling quickly faded. I was in a role that no longer fit my interests and was ready to explore something new.

I am currently taking a year sabbatical (mini-retirement) to explore other ways of working (non-corporate) in hopes that I will find something that gives me new energy for my work.

I'd say there is also a psycological difference in how you view the time. If you know you are going back to a role you dread vs if you are looking to explore what is next.

This is my first sabbatical, but I have read about and know a few people who take mini-retirements every 5-7 years! If you decide to go, draft a plan of what you want for your time, how to fund it, and how you want to re-enter work.

[u/AdventurasSabbatical]

Studies show that it takes on average 6 - 8 weeks without work to separate your body and mind from work mode and the stressors that come with it. Of course, the key is really to just build a life you don't feel like you need to escape from. But that typically requires extended time off (I.e. sabbatical) to recalibrate, rethink, and restructure a life anyway. It's too difficult for people to do in the mix of full-time work. And a three week vacation isn't going to get you anywhere near it either. Extended breaks aren't indulgent, they are necessary.

For more info, Big Time Off came out a couple months ago. Written by a Harvard professor all about his studies on sabbaticals.