Interview with Micah from Work Play Mommy
Sabbaticals come in all shapes and sizes! This is why we love interviewing other professionals who have decided to take a career break to focus on what is most important to them.
Our goal is to empower YOU to follow your own sabbatical dream!
Whether you decide to take a 2-month or 2-year sabbatical, go alone or with your kids, travel to the other side of the world, or stay close to your community… Get ready to embark on your own unique journey!
For those of you thinking you can’t travel with kids, you’ll want to read this one!
Micah’s three children in Granada, Spain
Micah is a working mom of three living in the Midwest. By day she is an estate planning attorney. Since having kids, she’s had a dream: to take a family sabbatical.
She believed their sabbatical would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With her family, she started planning for it years in advance! They finally left for 10 weeks and traveled through 4 countries. They visited Paris, Granada, Madrid, London, and Dublin!
They loved their sabbatical so much that they came back with an even bigger dream:
to make sabbaticals a regular occurrence even in the midst of their working lives!
Let’s learn about Micah’s dream to continue to adventure with her family and to encourage others to do the same!
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How a sabbatical with kids managed to even boost their finances? Let’s find out!
Q: What inspired you to take a sabbatical?
Our children really inspired us to make sabbaticals a priority. Traveling with our children is some of the most fun we have ever had. Knowing that the time is fleeting with them forced us to move a sabbatical to the top of the financial priority list.
Our family had long dreamed of a sabbatical. Before we took the trip, we believed it to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now, we know that we want sabbaticals to be a regular occurrence even in the midst of our working lives.
Q: How did you decide on the date to actually start your sabbatical?
We booked our travel to correspond with great weather and off-peak travel times. This cut down tremendously on the overall costs and expenses associated with our trip.
Q: What did you think your sabbatical was going to look like and what did it end up being like?
We thought that it would be fun and a good story. What we learned, however, was that our sabbatical was a life-changing adventure that has shaped all of our future plans.
Q: What were your biggest fears regarding your sabbatical? And did they end up turning out to be true or not?
We had 2 big fears for our sabbatical.
- That anyone in our family would get seriously injured or sick.
Of course, we traveled with travel health insurance, but we certainly did not want to have sickness or injury cast a pall over our trip.
- That our financial plan would get way off track.
In both cases, we needn’t have worried. By the grace of God, no one in our family was injured or sick during the course of our trip, and with good planning and modest living, our sabbatical actually put us farther ahead financially!
Your sabbatical can actually put you farther ahead financially
thanks to good planning and modest living.
Micah’s family in Paris
Q: Tell us about the biggest challenges you encountered during the planning phase of your sabbatical.
Rooms and accommodations for larger families! Traveling with children is definitely worth it, but does require more expense, advance planning, and patience. Finding accommodations in our budget, in exactly the right place took extra work and planning!
Q: What kind of budgeting or overall financial planning did you do before, during, and after your sabbatical?
Because our sabbatical had been such a priority, we started planning years before we actually left.
Before our sabbatical, we focused on achieving some major milestones including:
- becoming debt free
- saving up a healthy emergency fund
- and curating careers with flexibility.
Remote work opportunities and financial freedom allowed us to pursue this dream.
Q: What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from your sabbatical?
When our family has the chance to unplug from the day-to-day and intentionally spend time together, we start to excel in more areas like family togetherness, career advancement, and even personal relationships.
Q: What do you wish you had known before planning your sabbatical? Any advice for future sabbatical takers?
Too many people believe that traveling with kids is just too hard. I started to believe them before we took our international sabbatical. Now, I know with some planning, preparation, and patience, other parents can do it too.
Therefore, I have now made it one of my goals to help share our experiences, tips, reviews, and recommendations on our website www.workplaymommy.com
Read more about Micah’s travels and adventures at www.workplaymommy.com.
Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram @workplaymommy
What’s in for you, sabbatical dreamer?
Are you considering taking a sabbatical yourself? Get inspired by Lisa’s story!
4 Takeaways When Planning A Sabbatical With Kids:
- Stop believing people who tell you traveling with kids is just too hard. It’s never too late to make it happen!
- Don’t rush the planning, especially when traveling with children. It’s never too early to start planning for it!
- Book your travel to correspond with great weather and off-peak travel times. This can cut down tremendously on overall costs and expenses associated with your trip.
- Use your sabbatical planning to achieve other major milestones such as becoming debt free, saving up a healthy emergency fund, and curating careers with flexibility. These can be your first steps when starting to plan for a sabbatical.
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