[ktrnka]

I'm wrapping up my current sabbatical, and I took one before.

In the first sabbatical, I left my job to work on a startup idea with friends, and I learned a ton from it, both technical and non technical. I did lots of side projects I'd wanted to do for a while when that flopped, which led me to learn some more technical skills I later used. I also hiked a lot more which was great. After maybe a year and a half I returned to the workforce because I missed working with people and my savings were dwindling.

In the current one, I left my job without much of a plan. I spent more time with friends and family, traveled a bit, mentored a bit, did some side projects, read more, and learned more. This time around I found I missed working with people sooner.

In both cases it was expensive but worth it. The most valuable parts were being more myself, spending time with people, and learning things I wouldn't normally.