How to Plan a Sabbatical in 5 Steps

Here’s our quick reference, 5 step guide to kick off your sabbatical planning.

1. Start with The Why

Dig into your motivations. Whether it’s reconnecting with your family, learning to sail, or volunteering with orangutans, your ‘Why’ will shape your trip. What do you want to be different at the end of the trip? What have you always wanted to do but never had the time? If taking the children, what do you want them to learn from their time away?

2. Create a long list

There are no boundaries at this step. Make a long list of your dream destinations and activities. Get inspired: watch travel shows, pick up a Wanderlust, delve into National Geographic. If going as a family, this is the point at which to involve the children in suggesting ideas (with the caveat that there will be filters applied at the next step).

3. Whittle the list down

With your ‘why’ in mind, go through your list in detail and choose which places best match what you want to get out of your time away. While it feels like you’ll have a lot of time to play with, one key to the success of a sabbatical is not to cram too much in. Focus on getting the most out of each destination rather than skimming the surface to see the highlights. The benefit of time, in contrast to going on holiday, is that you can develop a deeper connection to and understanding of each place you visit.

Practicalities will also inevitably shape your trip. If, realistically, you’re going to need to be connected some of the time, places with good internet will be a must. Some destinations or activities are not practical for young children (white water rafting often requires a minimum age of 12; safaris may often don’t accept under 8s). While sabbaticals are perfect for pushing your boundaries, if there are some non-negotiable creature comforts (e.g. air conditioning), there are a few more remote places that wouldn’t work.

4. Set a Budget

Compare your available pot with the costs of your destinations. Factor in travel, activities, price hikes at peak times, food and accommodation. Make sure you include a good variety of styles to keep each one fresh and interesting. Allow for the accommodation with the major ‘wow’ factor, and balance that with more charmingly rustic places to stay elsewhere.

This part can be difficult if you are unfamiliar with prices in the places you want to travel to. Getting a trip planner involved will help to guide your planning.

5. Plan it well – especially accommodation & transport

It will seem like a long time to plan for. While it may be tempting to ‘wing it’, there are certain elements that can cause a lot of headaches and unnecessarily eat into your time away if they’re not booked, or at least well researched, in advance.

The key points to plan are the flights, transport and accommodation. It’s also useful to book key activities in advance, to ensure availability. At certain times of year, some places can get very booked up. The obvious times – over the festive period, over peak season for each country – but there are also local festivals you may not know about which can alter availability. Being aware of the details of local transport – such as local ferry operating days between islands – can mean the difference between reaching your accommodation and having to book an extra night somewhere on the fly.

Choose when you go where carefully. Peak season is overrated in some places: go low season for fewer crowds and lower costs. Low season in many tropical places means an occasional short downpour, and, depending on your activities, doesn’t need to hamper your enjoyment.

Consider the psychology of travel when you plan. Make sure your itinerary balances rest and activity, and has elements that appeals to every member of your travelling group. This may include the kind of rooms you book. Getting the right configuration is key for families, as is allowing enough space for each traveller to make the accommodation feel like home, even for a few days. Having the children on a sofa bed works occassionally, but giving every member of the family their own space is important for sanity on a long trip.

Vary the place you go to – mix up cities with jungle and beach, and try different styles of accommodation: a tented camp, a home stay, a luxurious independent hotel. Make sure every destination justifies itself by being sufficiently distinct from the last one.

The hardest part is the nitty gritty: transfers, top-notch guides, on-the-ground support. It’s the ‘unknown unknowns’ that can set you back. Working with an adviser who knows the destination like a local will take the uncertainty out of planning. LiNGER have mastered the art of planning seamless and stress-free sabbaticals, and know their destinations backwards.

Get in touch to chat through what taking a sabbatical could look like for you.

For a stress-free approach to planning a seamless trip, get in touch with us at LiNGER.

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Images courtesy of: Africa Hub & Kenya Tourism Board; Finca Rosa Blanca Costa Rica