🧭 What Is a Sabbatical?

(Hint: It’s Not a Vacation)

Most people think a sabbatical is just a long vacation.

It’s not. It’s a jailbreak.

A sabbatical is what happens when the life you built starts to feel like a cage—and instead of decorating the bars, you reach for the keys.

This week, I want to answer a question I get often: What exactly is a sabbatical?

And more importantly: Why would someone like you take one?

Let’s break it down.

🔍 Not Just Time Off — A Time In

A sabbatical is a planned, intentional break from your current work or life path to step back, reflect, reset, and realign. It’s not retirement. It’s not unemployment. And it’s definitely not “giving up.”

If anything, it’s the opposite.

A true sabbatical is a brave pause, a strategic interruption in the story you’ve been telling yourself—so you can write the next chapter with intention, not inertia.

People don’t take sabbaticals because everything is falling apart.

They take them because they’re brave enough to ask:

“Is this still working for me? And if not—what will?”

⚓ My First Sabbatical: The Camino

In 2019, I took my first true sabbatical. I left behind my career, my comforts, my calendar—and walked 500 miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

I had just come out of a 30-year marriage. My kids were grown and gone.

From the outside, I looked “fine.”

Inside, I was lost. Exhausted. Out of alignment.

I needed to move forward—but first, I had to stand still.

The Camino taught me what no job ever could:

• Pain demands presence.

• You can’t outrun your soul.

• Sometimes, less is more. Literally—I carried a small backpack, two change of clothes and the bare essentials for my sabbatical.

And somewhere between the blisters, the bread, and the breathtaking sunrises, I remembered who I was before the world told me who I should be.

👣 3 Types of Sabbatical Seekers

Let’s talk about you for a moment.

When I work with people exploring their own Bold Sabbatical, I notice they tend to fall into one of three categories:

1. The Burned-Out

You’ve been going hard for decades. Career, family, responsibilities. You’re running on fumes, quietly resentful, and wondering, “Is this all there is?”

You don’t need a break.

You need a breakthrough.

2. The Seeker

You’ve achieved some success but feel untethered. Tired in a way that sleep doesn’t fix. You’re asking bigger questions:

“Who am I now?”

“What do I really want next?”

You want to rediscover purpose, passion, or play. You don’t want to waste the second half.

What you need is time to listen—to yourself, to your desires, to what’s next.

3. The Ready-but-Stuck

You’ve got ideas. Dreams you’ve put on hold. You’re clear something needs to change—but you’re trapped in the “how.” The plan never seems ready. The timing never feels right.

You don’t need more time.

You need to take the first step.

🧭 The Sabbatical is the Strategy

I know what you might be thinking:

“I can’t just walk away from everything. I’ve got bills, responsibilities, people counting on me.”

Yes, you do.

So did I.

But here’s the hard truth no one tells you:

If you don’t stop, life will stop you.

Through burnout. Illness. Divorce. Regret. Or just… quiet desperation.

Taking a sabbatical isn’t reckless.

It’s strategic.

It’s a way to take control of your timeline—before it takes control of you.

💭 Ask Yourself…

So here’s your reflection moment for the week.

🌀 When’s the last time you did something for your soul—not your résumé?

🌀 What if your next chapter didn’t start with a plan… but with a pause?

🌀 What if you gave yourself permission to do nothing—so you could feel everything?

✉️ I Want to Hear From You

Have you ever taken a sabbatical?

Are you dreaming about one?

Do you feel stuck, and don’t know how to start?

Hit reply. I read every message.

Next week, I’ll share 3 signs you’re ready for a sabbatical (and 1 red flag that you’re not). Spoiler alert: It’s not about money or age.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

—

Stay bold,

Captain Rickman