No doubt:  Word is getting out.  Sabbaticals are not a secret anymore.  From bad times, sometimes, comes great innovations.  Maybe that’s what’s happening as some GM plants try to keep skilled workers, give them a break, and try new ways to survive this global meltdown.  

As the Times reports, 

The move is also expected to sweep across other manufacturing industries as companies try to hold on to staff but reduce the cost of paying them. Vauxhall’s Merseyside plant is offering the 4,500 employees a sabbatical of up to nine months on 30 per cent of their pay.

To be sure, this may be an offer many workers CAN refuse.  But for those with the creativity, resources, and faith, a reduced-pay BreakAway may be the upside to the downturn.  

Here’s the deal:  Sabbaticals happen.  If you are open to them.  They may not arrive at the perfect time, but is there a perfect time for anything?  Think about the events (good and bad) that often arrive in a surprise package:  Babies; accidents; winning lottery tickets; new love.  

Zen philosophy holds that many life lessons and improvements originate from “the bad thing.”  It’s in time of crisis and misery that conditions force us to look seek strength, open up, and dig our way out of dilemmas.  Or as TV Preacher Extraordinaire Robert Schuller puts it, 

Tough times don’t last.  Tough people do.  

Also exciting are the other many ways that corporations are trying to retain staff and innovate their way out of this mess, from shorter shifts and four-day work weeks to “flextiming.”  Forced flex time, if you will:  Take some weeks off now, and pay back those yours later when the economy is no longer hitting the brakes.  

Elmer Anderson, a Minnesota treasure who started a Fortune 500 company and also served as governor, would say that a company will thrive if it takes care of its customers first, its employees second, and profit third.  What a brilliant way to show that if you put people first (but not just yourselves), success will follow.  

Could that be what the car companies–and other hurting employers–are now doing?  Suddenly, people with skills are a hot commodity, not just a trade-able commodity.  

With any luck, some employees will embrace this opportunity.  While they may not have the resources to fly off to a dream destination, maybe there are other life-list goals they can actualize.  

• Spending time with friends and family.  
• Getting the house in order.  
• Picking up the guitar or recipe book.  
• Rest.  Relax.  Ready yourself for what’s next.  
• Accept what you cannot control; go pitbull on the rest.  

When times are good, it’s easy to take jobs for granted–if not complain about the hard work and long hours.  Things are different now.  Let’s hope the car companies can find ways to survive, some employees can embrace the gift of free time, and all can emerge in a better place when things get better.  Which they always do.

A loon was calling its unmistakable cry this morning.  What the!?!  Poor creature needs to get out of town; the windchill is -10 this morning.  Has the bird (have we all) gone loonie?  Yes, I say.  Move on.  Yet that cry is right-on, as today marks the heartbreaking swan song of my favorite radio show.  Period.  

I believe in radio. Love it with all my heart—more than TV, more than this silly, cold computer screen.

Just one more time, while I’m doing my morning rituals, I get to start my day with Minnesota Public Radio’s The Morning Show.  They sign off tomorrow, with a raucous and live (and thus uncharacteristic) performance.  Not sure I can get out of bed without this show’s homey charm, humor, and eclectic music mix.  

Jim Ed Poole and Dale Connelly (whose real name is Tom Keith) have been up long before sunrise for decades.  But Jim Ed wants to retire.  Hey, ain’t nothing wrong with that!  As Michelle Shocked (the kind of artist this program will play that you won’t hear anywhere else) sings:

“The secret to a long life is knowing when it’s time to go…” 

Yes, even people with (what would appear to be) one of the funnest jobs in the world need to retire now and then.  Jim Ed is ready for perma-Sabbatical.  Good on ya, mate.  

The show was started by a guy named Garrison Keillor who promoted Jim Ed from board operator to co-star, and then moved on to become a superstar himself.

Having met Dale, I can safely say that with these gentlemen, what you hear is what you get.  I’ve known Tom too. Used to play softball with him—often scheming the right to sit next to him at the Chalktalk (bar) after the game. I was a bit star-struck of course. But above all, he was and is just a complete sweetheart of a guy. He can make people laugh with the most subtle, natural move or comment.    

We all need more laughter!

Their retirement will leave a void for many of us. But nothing lasts forever. Not even radio (which, someday, will BURY television). Be well, boys. Thanks for the memories, the music, and making it such a pleasure to get up, stand up, and face a new day.

Check it out! This guru and travel agent for the BreakAway-bound is offering discounts to those who lost their jobs! He’s talking with HR departments to help tend to the soon-jobless.

He’s preaching the virtues of “newfound freedom” when unemployment strikes. He’s swimming against current panic and making money doing it.

Gotta love this guy—AND the amazing trips he offers!

Well, shiver me timbers! Not only is the world not flat, but this fabulous couple has logged (or should I say “blogged?”) enough travel to know. Try this site—if you need some inspiration, or feel like your get up and go has gotten up and gone.

Know what else is cool? They just do it. They don’t babble about BreakAways, preach about imbalance, or drone on about debt. Oh sure, they’ve got something to sell there. But they’ve got to find some way to fund their next Big Break, eh?

The Pre-Socratic Pythagoreans were wrong! The world is round; no more excuses about staying put cuz you might fall off the face of the earth! Moreover, travelmates are everywhere! We are not alone!

BlogStar Seth Godin today writes about the need to attract—and retain—top talent. As he puts it,

“It only takes 10% as much effort to hire someone in the bottom 90% of the class. And it takes the other 90% to find and cajole and retain the top 10%.”

Don’t mean to repeat myself—or to beat a dead Horsted—but once you get those four-star performers, and they stay and keep giving moremoremore, give them a BreakAway now and then. If there is a better way (beyond mere pay) to keep key people, please tell me all about it.

My 2-person corporation would love to know. After all, we constantly seek ways to prevent an exodus of crucial, if crotchety, stakeholders.

Lest anyone think that taking a big BreakAway is merely a financial expense, let me assure you that is only the beginning.

Today, as I try to calm my brain before bed, it keeps brooding over that list. It looks something like this…

• Work income mostly stops
• Work upon return is exponentially more uncertain
• Most living expenses (mortgage, etc.) don’t take a break
• The kids’ will miss out on school, sports, activities
• The cat will bum out
• Alluring job opportunities for this winter have been turned away
• Any Bad Thing (injury, illness, theft) could ruin days
• Family disharmony could too
• Coming home (to much winter) may be depressing

Is it any wonder most people don’t do this sort of thing? I mean, even people with money, freedom, or audacity may have more common sense. HELP!?!

• ODDS OF GOING TODAY: 55%

Survey sez: 

• 83%: Percentage of Americans who say spending time outdoors makes them feel refreshed, healthy, and excited.
• 61% Percentage who say they don’t take enough advantage of the restorative powers of nature.
• Source: Edelman

There’s a reason why most Sabbaticals for this clan happen during the November through March period: Winter. Too young to make “winter” a verb. Too old to see the 6 months of winter roundabout as one big happy snowman.

What’s the biggest flaw of winter? The challenge of playing—heck just being—outside. And as the survey says, spending time outdoors makes one feel refreshed, healthy, and excited.

Then again, for many people—especially those who work indoors (often without windows) and commute several hours a week—getting outside is difficult in the best of circumstances. A lunchtime walk can work wonders. But a week at the lake or woods or ocean can work miracles.

Imagine what several months focused on natural splendor can do.

Are you spending enough time outside? Am I? No, I’m not. I’m too busy working. Planning. And blogging. On that note, good-bye. I’m heading into the great wild yonder I call my backyard…

There is hope. We are not alone! Check this out. Check them out! 4 lovely ladies with impressive resumes have found time not only to coordinate outfits and enjoy some champoo, but also to take Big Breaks AND collaborate on a book.

How nice to see that we’re not alone here. And to see that this team effort offers many of the same suggestions you’ll find throughout this site, in my sample chapters, and perhaps wherever you seek inspiration to Run Away. Taking off into your own bliss and space isn’t rocket science, folks. It just calls for you to:

Face your fears:

“Employees actually fear taking sabbaticals more than companies fear offering them.”

How true; how poignant!

Keep a healthy distance from the rat race, even when you must re-enter it:

“Disconnect from the ‘rush, rush, rush, do, do’…for sustaining the post-sabbatical glow.”

Perhaps that’s good advice, if challenging, for most any dang day?

Be true to yourself and capture your inner memoirist by “keeping a daily journal.”

Dig a little deeper; step away and listen to the insights of silence by “scheduling solo, quiet time and a week of full media deprivation.” Media deprivation!?! Ahhhhhh…

Good luck, my friends. May we all find enough courage and make enough noise to change the world…one Sabbatical at a time.

There is hope. We are not alone! Check this out. Check them out! 4 lovely ladies with impressive resumes have found time not only to coordinate outfits and enjoy some champoo, but also to take Big Breaks AND collaborate on a book.

How nice to see that we’re not alone here. And to see that this team effort offers many of the same suggestions you’ll find throughout this site, in my sample chapters, and perhaps wherever you seek inspiration to Run Away. Taking off into your own bliss and space isn’t rocket science, folks. It just calls for you to:

Face your fears:

“Employees actually fear taking sabbaticals more than companies fear offering them.”

How true; how poignant!

Keep a healthy distance from the rat race, even when you must re-enter it:

“Disconnect from the ‘rush, rush, rush, do, do’…for sustaining the post-sabbatical glow.”

Perhaps that’s good advice, if challenging, for most any dang day?

Be true to yourself and capture your inner memoirist by “keeping a daily journal.”

Dig a little deeper; step away and listen to the insights of silence by “scheduling solo, quiet time and a week of full media deprivation.” Media deprivation!?! Ahhhhhh…

Good luck, my friends. May we all find enough courage and make enough noise to change the world…one Sabbatical at a time.

Hi. I’m Kirk Horsted. Welcome to BreakAway–an amalgamation of opinions & ponderings on the provocative topic of Sabbaticals and Career Breaks. I emphatically believe that real people (like you!) can and should take these restorative breaks–and I’ve done a bunch of them myself to test the theory. Click What’s the Big Idea to read more…

For a firsthand account of what a BreakAway can look (& feel & sound & taste) like, check out the Travelog category of the blog, which chronicles my family’s 69-day tour of the West Indies during the winter of 2008-2009.  

Beyond that, If it’s all working properly, herein you may find:

• Inspiration. With any luck, you may find that the travelogs, trippy stories, and pictures from my past Sabbaticals will help kindle your own inner stirrings. After all, countless “ordinary” people find their way to successful Sabbaticals all the time. Really!
• Help! If you dream of taking a BreakAway someday (and who doesn’t?), you’ll find some recommended references—books, sites, more—to get you going.
• Humor? Let’s be clear: This site and blog endeavors to inform, but also entertain. Maybe even make you laugh (if only at me). This is NOT a Ph.D thesis. NOT a polished self-help hardback. NOT a “get-into-me,” MySpacey vanity show. Take it all in with a grain of salt (it goes well with beer) and just enjoy.
• Miscellanea. BreakAway is a big topic. And my brain “works” in mysterious ways. Thus you may find yourself reading about everything from finding work/life balance to being kidnapped. From the stupid economy to digitalia addiction. From lost luggage to moments of bliss. From the slow movement to fast sailboats. It’s all good, right?

So please…join the party. Take it all in. Leave a comment, ask a question or invite fellow Seekers, Slashers & Hackers to this site. Plot your own escape and share your plans.  

But for me, it’s time to get going. Time to live and blog like there’s no tomorrow. After all, do we know for certain that there is?

Carpe diem! Carpe noctus! Carpe vita!

And as we say in Minnesota, “Thanks for stoppin’…”