Sabbatical!

On Friday I served my last day as an employee with IBM. I had been with IBM for just shy of three years and have decided to go on a sabbatical. I came to this decision due to a number of reasons (in no particular order):

1. I already had two overseas trips organized and wanted to maximize the time I spend while in Australia and India
2. My wife and I decided to relocate back to the UK
3. I have a long laundry list of courses and self development that I want to complete to grow and challenge myself for the future
4. Life is short and today is the youngest I will be for the rest of my life
5. I had taken sabbatical a few years ago where I wasn’t able to achieve my goals

Coming to this decision is very difficult, yet I am fortunate that my wife is on the same page as I am in wanting to take some time off as part of our relocation to London. We have a lot of things planned over the next couple of months. It begins with a road trip through California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. We then fly to Australia to spend a four weeks with my family along with a couple of side trips to Cairns and Byron Bay. In December we fly to London via Los Angeles to sort out a few remaining items as part of the relocation. Our first stop in London is short as we then fly to India for a wedding the week of Christmas. We finally land back into London on December 31st to celebrate New Years and begin the year in the United Kingdom as part of our new chapter in life.

My sabbatical plan is to make sure I hit the goals I set for 2015, reflect on the last few years in the US and ensure I revise my short, medium and long term plans for the future. Furthermore it is time to relax, spend time with friends and family I hardly see in my home country and see some new sights. This year has been truly amazing and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next few months! Sabbatical, here I come!