Real-Time Evaluation of my Sabbatical

On 31 March, I concluded my latest two projects and closed my laptop for the last time, to start a well-deserved, open-ended sabbatical. It had been a pretty tough three years, since Corona kicked in - both on a personal and professional level. Ending an almost thirty-year relationship, finding a new home, and heavily competing over the few remaining assignments in the sector.

So, all good reasons to just leave it all behind and contemplate on what to do with the next phase, the autumn of my life. The first two weeks of April, I made the necessary preparations - terminated the house-rent, stored my few remaining belongings and bought some decent travel and hiking equipment – and on the 14th I boarded a flight to Canada with the idea to travel around the country until the end of July. That’d be the starters of my sabbatical, what next remains open.

After one month in-country, having a fabulous time, I couldn't resist doing something 'useful' again, to get my brain working again. So, during the umpteenth hike, mulling over the past period and incited by my professional deformation, I started to evaluate my trip against the OECD/DAC criteria… ??.

As it is too early for a mid-term review (MTR), let’s call this a real-time evaluation (RTE) of my sabbatical. So, here goes:

Relevance

I’ve found that taking a sabbatical is extremely relevant. As a matter of fact, taking the – rather bold -?decision late last year to quit working for an undefined period already had a very liberating effect – as well as slightly unsettling. Although definitely exciting, my career path has been pretty flat and limited to Water and Sanitation. And especially the latter started bothering me more and more. After all, I have been trained in land and water and environmental management, and have many more interests – climate change, biodiversity, development-economics, but also entirely different subjects, such as psychology, philosophy, physical and mental health, and even classic and exotic cars and motorbikes.

Unfortunately, with a CV that shows 30 years of WASH experience?(chiefly), it’s very hard to deviate from that career path. So, taking time off, having no distinct plans nor targets to meet anytime soon is absolutely relevant to try and overcome this issue.

Coherence

Taking this sabbatical is very coherent with my continues quest for purpose. I’ve always had a keen interest in personal development, emotional intelligence and living a purposeful life and especially these last two, three years, I spent a lot of time reading about Stoic philosophy, mindfulness and finding strength and purpose in the second half of life . Now, with all time in the world, I continue reading lots, but I also have ample opportunity to ‘digest’ all that I have read and am reading, during the many hikes I’m undertaking.?

Effectiveness

Having a totally empty agenda, and not living by the clock is not just extremely relaxing, but also very healthy. It’s like a total reset of the body and mind into the natural rhythm, you eat when you’re hungry, you go to bed when sleepy and only wake up when you’ve rested enough…

At the same time, especially during the many long hikes, I now have the time and space to really Find my WHY , define goals and objectives, and contemplate next steps. So, traveling through ?Canada, hiking through the Rockies is undoubtedly effective.

Efficiency

Efficiency is my middle-name. Everything I do, I do in such a hyper-efficient and organized manner (though without compromising on quality (output)), one could even claim that I’m slightly autistic. On top of that, I’m Dutch and hence, by default a cheapskate. For this trip, I invested in a large backpack, a great, durable daypack (that doubles as backpack and sports bag), some carabiners and some good walking sticks. Outdoor cloths and hiking boots I already owned, they only needed a few cans of?waterproof spray. And, in Canada, I had to buy a pair of ice cleats and a can of bear spray - which were absolute necessities.

For every hike, I pick and choose the best option for bringing the necessary supplies: for a short walk, no bag is required and the bear spray, pocket knife and binoculars are fixed to the belt, on medium-length hikes, I bring the 20 liter dry bag (which I already owned) with a sweater, water and some protein bars, and on the longer trails, I take the daypack with extra clothing, the cleats, sufficient food and water. And the walking sticks go along on every hike, short and long, flat terrain or steep climbs, these are the best investment ever. ?

Impact

There’s no doubt, this sabbatical has a major (positive) impact on my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. ?

Sustainability

I am pretty sure that the ‘results’ of this sabbatical, or at least of this trip through Canada thus far, will be permanent. Whatever the final outcome, I not only have a zillion photos to look back at, but the memories will remain with me forever.

As I’ve already had the luxury of visiting many amazing places thanks to my line of work, this might not be the experience of a lifetime, but I’m definitely having a great time. ?