So many celebrities, they never take the time off.  I’ve never taken the time off to really — you know, just music after music and tour after tour. I’m just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else’s hurt. My dream of what awards shows are supposed to be, ’cause, and I don’t try to justify it because I was just in the wrong. That’s period. But I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I’m going to make it through the rest of this life, how I’m going to improve.”

What parents should be looking for is the opportunity for their children to have their lives transformed by what happens inside the classroom and out of it.  And that can’t come without access to faculty who have had the opportunity to recharge their own intellectual reservoirs.”

Most professors have no business going on “sabbaticals” at all and certainly not every six years.”

Sabbatical at most places is not a year but a semester, and faculty are expected to do research and, at some institutions, provide evidence of production. Hm, pretty cushy!”

As for the sabbatical, of course the root is from sabbath, or rest. Fields were allowed to lie fallow every seven years so that they would be more productive. (The extension of this is the jubilee, which is the year following seven sabbaticals, when sins and debts are forgiven and all may start anew.) It’s not a new idea, by the way, and many institutions other than universities award them; I can’t see how it can be figured into the equation of the current cost of tuition.”

The feeling of balance and serenity we’d so desperately sought, and found, is already gone, swept away in the pace of this frenetic city.”    

…Yep, the comeback can be crass, but it’s still so worth it. 

In many ways, moving abroad is the new sports car of the mid-life crisis.”  

Although some rare birds fly off on BreakAways throughout life, a mid-life crisis may offer serendipitous alignment.  And really, it can be so much more beneficial than, say, an affair, a divorce, or even a Porsche. 

The couple discussed taking time off before, but it was the sudden death of a friend, diagnosed with cancer at age 54, that spurred them into action.”  

It’s easy to get complacent—or too patient.  But life can implode in an instant.  So get going when the going is good! 

It took about six months to find the perfect balance.”  

A sabbatical is not a sure shot to bliss.  That’s why giving yourself as much time as possible ups the odds of finding ultimate enjoyment. 

As a family, we bonded closer than ever as we trekked into unfamiliar emotional territory and over geographical borders.”  

There may be no better way for a family to get connected than to disconnect from the daily agenda. 

The longer we were gone, the less we missed Calgary.”  

Although many people claim to “love” where they live, this family proves it’s easy to fall in love with the larger world too.  There’s a lot to love!