HouseSitMatch blog editor Kelly Hayes-Raitt shares her secrets for maximizing a sabbatical by house sitting.

Enjoy a Radical Sabbatical by House Sitting – 8 Ways Your Career Will Soar & 7 Things to Do Before Your Sabbatical

By Kelly Hayes-Raitt

Most people at their mid-career mark feel they are at the top of their game and need to keep working. But, here are 8 ways a sabbatical will improve your career – and how house sitting can help.

Relieve Stress

The most immediate impact a planned work leave can have on your career is that you return less stressed, more rejuvenated, more focused, and inspired with renewed enthusiasm. Whether your sabbatical is a year or a few months, unplugging from your job can have huge benefits on your mental (and physical!) health.

House sitting can support your time off by providing a “home away from home” allowing you to relax and unplug from relentless sightseeing and searches for restaurants.

Reflect on Your Career During Your Sabbatical

Many people take a planned leave when they are just burned out and need to make a change. I took my sabbatical after a career-culminating run for elected office. I lost. I felt I needed a break from my 30-year career as a political activist/consultant to redefine myself. It was by house sitting – and the low-pressure flexibility it provided – that I had the time, distance, and energy to configure a new future for myself free of other people’s expectations.

Pursue a Hobby and Learn New Skills

A radical sabbatical can be a great time to try something new – or tick an item off your Bucket List. Learn a language. Write a book. Take that dream vacation. Make your first soufflé. House sitting can be the ticket to making that a reality!

Learn French by house sitting in a French village – and take that soufflé cooking lesson while you’re at it! Write your book during a quiet, rural house sitting retreat. Stretch that dream vacation budget with house sitting accommodations. House sitting not only provides a change of scenery, it opens doors to learning new skills and immersing yourself in your dream hobby.

Get an Advanced Degree or Certification

A planned leave can provide a needed break of concentrated time to devote yourself to pursuing an advanced certification or degree in your field. If your school is located far from your home, you might consider house sitting as a way to save on accommodations while you pursue your studies.

Start a Consulting Business

If you’ve ever dreamed about being your own boss, a sabbatical could be your answer to dipping your toe into the world of consulting. I segued from my political career into editing and book coaching while I house sat. House sitting allowed me to live rent-free as I learned the ropes and built my business.

Improve Your Health

Let’s face it: It’s pretty challenging to stay in great physical shape when chained to a desk 8 hours/day. Some people use their time off to focus on developing new fitness habits. Support your new lifestyle by house sitting in places close to great hiking trails or near lakes for wild swimming. Or book a yoga or other fitness retreat and save money by house sitting!

Reorder Priorities and Regain Work/Life Balance

There’s nothing like fully unplugging during a leave of absence to give yourself the freedom to reorder your priorities. Spend more time with your kids or grandkids – or extended cousins. Get in shape. Change your diet. Instill a new healthful habit.

Getting out of the grind of a routine is a great way to shake up your priorities. House sitting can help by taking you out of everything familiar – which gives you a chance to see your life through fresh eyes.

Volunteer While House Sitting

Career breaks provide great ways to give back to society. I have house sitting friends who volunteer in animal shelters wherever they house sit. I have written articles about my brief volunteer stints. For example, while house sitting in Berlin at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, I volunteered for a day at an intake center and interviewed recent refugees.

7 Things to Consider Before Your Sabbatical

Before taking a break from your career (particularly if your break will be an unpaid leave), you might think about these 7 considerations:

1. Have a financial plan. Create a budget for not only your normal monthly expenses, but for other costs for pursuing your dream sabbatical, such as travel, tuition, etc. Expand that budget at least 6 months beyond your planned sabbatical in case you cannot return to your paid job when you expected to (or if you choose not to!). Credit costs you’ll be saving by not working, such as commuting expenses, dry cleaning, etc.

2. Check your health insurance. Be sure your insurance plan will cover you while you are not working or that you have budgeted in the costs for premiums, copayments, prescriptions, and other medical care that might not be covered while you are not working full-time. Get a full medical checkup before your sabbatical starts while you are still fully insured.

3. Make a sabbatical plan. It’s so easy to spend those first weeks just chilling with Netflix and Fritos! (…and perhaps you should!) But have a timeline and a plan for making the most of your time off. This will allow you maximum time to start preparing for your adventure. How do you hope this time you’ve given yourself will affect you? Your goals and expectations will likely change during the course of your leave, but having a clear starting point will avoid wasting a lot of valuable time.

Consider the specifics of implementing your plan. Do you need to apply to a certification program ahead of time? Book a retreat? Buy plane tickets? Prepare a special room in your home for your hobby? It’s easier to start your sabbatical if some of the pieces are already in place.

4. Reinforce your non-work friendships. Most of us rely on our coworkers to form our friendship circles. Once you leave your job, however, you might want to fully break from office politics. Reach out to your long-time, non-work friends. You’ll need their support!

5. Keep the door open at your current job. Be sure to give plenty of notice and discuss your sabbatical expectations thoroughly and clearly – especially your options for returning. Emphasize what you intend to bring back to your career as a result of your leave. Be overly generous with preparing your coworkers for your absence.

6. Enlist the support of your family and close friends. Change can be threatening to many people, so they might need time to adjust to your impending leave of absence.

7. Join HouseSitMatch! House sitting can be a game-changer during your sabbatical by providing a rent-free retreat, an invigorating new location, a bucket-list travel destination, or (and!) an opportunity to create more sustainable routines. The best house sits are posted and booked several months ahead. So, post your profile, apply for your dream house sit, and count down the days to your radical sabbatical!

After nearly 30 years as a political activist/consultant in California, Kelly Hayes-Raitt hung up her shingle and took what she thought would be a year off. She ended up in the Middle East volunteering with refugees. For income, she rented out her Santa Monica home and traveled the world full-time as an international house sitter while building a new career as a book coach, editor, and freelance journalist. Her yearlong sabbatical started, um, in 2006…and lasted 12 years.

She also wrote a book!  …How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Diva.

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