Planning a 4 month Sabbatical

Ok, so here's my first ever blog post.

After the initial shock and, frankly, a little embarrassment at even receiving this opportunity, I made my first foray into deciding where I might go. Having a daughter studying at a college in London made this a little bit easier, of course I needed to go there, but I couldn't lob on her turf for too long, right?

BUT WHERE ELSE?

I was pondering the Camino de Santiago for a while. And then some other ideas started to creep in. I have long been a follower of Rick Steve's travel podcast, so I shuffled back through some of those and came up with a short list of faves.

Then I did the unthinkable. I announced my award on Facebook. Yep. I let everyone know that I was going on Sabbatical and asked them where they would go. The ideas flooded in and I got completely overwhelmed. So I took a step back to think. "Where was I going to go and WHEN?" May rolled by, and then June, and then July was well on its way when I finally got the dates clear in my mind and my first booking was made. May 2024 in Sevilla, Spain. I did it. And with thanks to my friend Annette, who will be joining me that month, we secured an amazing airbnb apartment right down the street from the school I will be taking Flamenco and Spanish lessons at. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yep. I will be attending the Taller school of Flamenco for the entire month of May in Sevilla!

OK, this photo is OBVIOUSLY not of me. But after a month of lessons every day, I may begin to dance like a Flamenca! Oh, and every day I was also be studying Spanish.

Annette and I will also be looking for Gluten Free tapas cooking classes and surveying the local wine region.

So once I have taken the plunge and booked this portion of the trip, a natural trajectory started to emerge. It made sense to start in London to hang out with my daughter Imogen, and then take her on a tour of a couple of places or so while she is on Spring break. So this is how the London, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia portion began to evolve. The once she is back at school then what? I have 2 weeks to use before the Sevilla sojourn. Oh yes, I remember a number of people telling me Portugal is amazing, so I booked 4 days in Porto and 4 days in Lisbon.

Okay now this plan was really starting to take shape. London 10 days, Italy 7 days, Slovenia 5 days, Croatia 2 weeks, Portugal 8 days, and then my long stay in Sevilla. And then what? Jude, my husband, finally agrees to escape with me for two additional weeks in Spain landing us in Barcelona in the middle of June.

But I still have another month and I haven't planned to get home to Australia. For anyone who has flown from Europe to Australia, you will know that this is a horrible trip. 20+ flying is too much. But I have to visit my Mum. So I research places to stop on the way from Europe to Australia. Singapore? India? Sri Lanka? Malaysia!!! I've never been to Kuala Lumpur. I research interesting places in Malaysia and find out about Georgetown. And I fall in love. So that's how I will break up that leg of the trip. 8 days in Penang, staying a shop house in Georgetown. Then off to spend 2 weeks in Melbourne with my Mum.... and then home.

So you see, once I got the ball rolling, it was easy. Not to mention the fact that the award affords me an $11,000 travel stipend. Won't have to pay for any accommodation or flights.

Someone pinch me!