Sabbatical I: Preliminaries

Premise

When I interviewed for my current job at The Wilderness Society - five meetings, seven people - I asked everyone I spoke about organizational culture.  They all had a different answer, but everyone mentioned work/life balance.  This sounded good.  I got the job, seven years and ten months ago. 

At some point I heard that TWS staff got sabbaticals after seven years; three months paid leave.  No expectations except coming back afterward for a year.  This sounded good too.  It gave me a goal. I would stick around long enough to earn the break.  It helps that I like the people I work with and the many foci of our work. 

Don't hate me; I wish this kind of long service leave was standard.

Plan

I started envisioning a trip long ago. My list of places to visit was global.  It would have taken more like three years to see.  So, I read about places, I looked at costs. I thought about routes and stops.  I considered a round-the-world trip (you can get tickets for this) but the balance of time in the air vs. experiences vs. on the ground did not appeal.  The UK, Dubai, Namibia, Dubai and India will have to wait.  Ultimately, here’s what I am up to between May 13 and June 26:

1.      New Zealand (2 weeks) – half marathon on Hawkes Bay, then campervanning around North Island, destinations tba depending on weather and opportunity, but including hiking, volcanoes, hot springs and other outdoor stuff.

2.     Australia I: Queensland (4 days) – hiking, half marathon in Brisbane

3.     Australia II:

a.   Northern Territory and Western Australia (2 ½ weeks) – Drive with my buddy Paul and his buddy Paul from Darwin NT to Broome WA via the Duncan Road, Purnululu National Park, and the Gibb River Road. Outback. Dust. Waterfalls. Gorges.  Saltwater crocs. Then getting clean after flying down to Perth.

4.      Singapore (2 days) – a quick visit with Xin, one of my former UCB TAs.

5.      South Korea (6 days) – Seoul.  Enough museums, castles, KPop and bibimbap for a few years.

That all looks kinda like this:

It was ridiculously hard to find an online way to make such a simple map.

Purpose

Why?  Forty-five days, more or less.  40 hours in the air. Lots of driving, much of it on dirt. Complex itinerary.  Mostly solo travel.  

Well, there are the exciting reasons:

1. Travel is fun, seeing new places, satisfying my curiosity about what’s there.
2. Travel simplifies life; it’s a voyage with fewer possessions, away from routine
3. Travel means seeing new geology
4. Travel is a chance to make photographs

Travel is also habit. I had to think (and probably overthink) about this.  So a personal history digression.

My family always travelled – many day-long drives to see grandparents, a few Pennsylvania to Texas road trips and flights to see family in Texas, Mexico, and California.  I grew up with travel as the normal thing you did on vacation. 

I started travelling in college, mostly summers in the West working and taking classes; several of these adventures involved cross country drives or bus rides.  I learned how to get myself around, I liked the success of doing this, and of seeing new places. 

The flame really got lit after graduation.  I was on the cusp of moving from Maryland to California to go to graduate school.  My girlfriend was teaching English in Indonesia, and it seemed a good adventure to go visit her.  This initial idea eventually became a Circle-Pacific trip, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.  Australia was a late addition; the college professor I’d worked for was investigating a new project.  He invited me to come along and help.  I could cook; he couldn’t.  So that summer, I had 10 weeks of adventures, getting myself through new countries, being in wholly different cultures for the first time, and going very far outside of what was then my zone of familiarity.

In Australia, I found the rocks that became the basis for my dissertation, resulting in more trips to Australia.  We also found other rocks to study that kept me going there and around the world for the next 30 years.  I found other reasons to travel within the US and overseas: martial arts seminars; teaching gigs; races.  I estimate I’m well over 500,000 miles to date, plus hiking and running mileage.

From all of this travel, I discovered I like the adventure, the wondering what was there, and seeing and experiencing new things.  I also liked doing it successfully, be it navigating unknown places (often while driving on the wrong side of the road), travelling solo, meeting new people, or faking my way with a new language.

My motivations have changed, however. After the losses in my family, the urge to keep seeing new places has muted.  Simultaneously, I’ve also been travelling a lot more domestically for work and races – maybe I’m just tired of going to airports.  As well, running marathons and my old martial arts injury, make me sorer when I travel.

Panic

A couple days ago, I had my “oh crap, what the heck and I doing” moment.  My itinerary suddenly felt ambitious and just too much to get my head around.  Many deep breaths, a lot of funneling bad ji out of my system, and I am back to being excited.

Pack

Many seasons, many climates, many countries.  I had to make a list:

Yes, I can read this.

Likewise, I had to button up my house, crewcut my yard, get a bunch of vaccinations, and lots of other tasks.  Another list, which I can also read.

End result: here’s the pile:

Only 30 kg total.

Enough.  Stay tuned for reports from the field.