Yesterday’s New York Times had an article – “Those ‘Gap Years’ Aren’t Just for Students” – addressing the growth in sabbaticals both as a midcareer boost and a “more creative long-term way [for businesses] to weather the economic downturn than layoffs”.
According to writer Tanya Mohn: “A report on adult gap years released in July 2008 by Mintel International, a market research company, described the potential American market for gap years as a ‘sleeping giant.’ And now, with job cuts on the rise, the newly unemployed may find the timing for a gap year to be ideal.”
Several midcareer breaks are exampled, including that of Dennis R. Sinar, M.D., (pictured) a practicing gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. Sinar recently returned from a year-long sabbatical spent exploring things like stone masonry, antique restoration, archaeology and traditional Eastern medicine, in locations spanning from Alaska to Nepal to Romania. He kept a daily blog of his career break.
He’s back at work but already planning sabbatical #2, considering the following very cool ideas for his time away:
- Volunteering on an organic farm somewhere in the world.
- Volunteering as a light maintenance person at a bed and breakfast somewhere fun.
- Railroad car restoration.
For planning help, he uses U.S.-based gap year planning organization, The Center for Interim Programs.
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