Sabbatical Ideas

[bojangles808]

Shuswap lake in BC in the summer. Spend lots of time on the lake with the kids. Some opportunity for fishing and hiking too.

BC and Alberta is nice because you get 25% off everything with the current exchange rate

 

[Caseknife]

Milford Track, New Zealand

 

[Deadfall]

Go see America. Grand canyon, Mount Rushmore, Smithsonian, arlington. Those are just a few things. Lots and lots In-between all those places.
Ozarks.

 

[CaliWoodsman]

What month of the year will you be doing this? Do you want to have to organize/plan travel, or stay put in one or two home bases? With young kids, some sort of beach/water option can give them aan outlet that's easy afternoon trip

Flexible on timing, pretty much anytime May-November. My preference is to spend as little time as possible “traveling” and more time being there (wherever that is). Which is why I’ve been disinclined towards a huge roadtrip.

The planning for doing all this with two little kids is a challenge (and one of the reasons I like beach options).

 

[CaliWoodsman]

Amazing how many NZ responses there are. That’s consistent with everyone I’ve ever talked to who’s visited there.

 

[Caseknife]

How about pick 4 western US national parks and spend a week in each.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Go see America. Grand canyon, Mount Rushmore, Smithsonian, arlington. Those are just a few things. Lots and lots In-between all those places.
Ozarks.

I agree. This would be my first choice if you haven’t seen much here.

Don’t go To Hati!

 

[ddd-shooter]

Flexible on timing, pretty much anytime May-November. My preference is to spend as little time as possible “traveling” and more time being there (wherever that is). Which is why I’ve been disinclined towards a huge roadtrip.

The planning for doing all this with two little kids is a challenge (and one of the reasons I like beach options).

If you want beaches and live in Cali, Hawaii or Florida would be my recommendations. Either one would eat up a month easily.

 

[smoke]

If you haven't been around the United States, you might consider that - I'm always surprised how many Americans have traveled the world but haven't been in more than 5 -10 states. After that, southern Europe is very nice and family friendly. And for a wild card, I'll suggest Pulao - still a relatively untouched part of the Pacific. Give us a report!

 

[Bearwhisky]

Haiti looks like a neat place to visit…there are some unique dining experiences available.

In all seriousness, with a young family, I think Florida would be a great place to spend a month. Good mix of access to beaches/relaxing activites, nature adventures and destination spots.


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[wintersoldia]

I have a month long sabbatical from work next year - no emails, no phone calls, completely disconnected for a month. I’d like to go and do something memorable and am looking for ideas of places to go. Some parameters:
- Not a hunting trip
- We have two girls who will be 3 and 5 so needs to be family friendly / doable with kids
- Preferably somewhere where we could spend the entire month there
- Nothing dangerous - we’ll visit Kabul some other time.

Let’s hear your ideas!

I visited Singapore 2022 if you are open to the idea to see new developments it’s really a magnificent site

 

[wesfromky]

Get an AirB&B somewhere in Cody, West Yellowstone, Gardiner, etc for Sept. Mid May - mid June as 2nd choice. Bring camping stuff to do a few overnight - 2 night trips form the rental basecamp.

Option 2 is there anywhere that you are considering moving to in the next few years? If so, do an AirB&B there to see what it is like.

 

[RockAndSage]

I spent a large part of my life living and working overseas, and doing an international flight with a 2yo and a 5yo would be emergency-only for me.

This would especially be the case for a long-haul flight from CA to Europe or NZ or similar - once you get on those planes it's 10-15 hours of being trapped with anything from ear-pressure regulation problems to nausea, that those little ones can't get away from. And can't be comforted through. It's a recipe for utter misery for all involved, including subjecting sometimes an entire plane's worth of passengers to that misery. I'd wait until they were in the 8-11yo stages before doing anything international, mostly because of their greater ability to get more out of it, along with the stuff being mentioned above being much less of a factor.

Were I in your situation, what would sound pretty appealing would be renting a cabin up in the redwoods around Humbolt, further up north in the Trinity Alps (plenty of recreational lakes up there), or up around Donner or Lake Tahoe. The redwoods can be magical in the summer, for both kids and adults. Given that you're a Rokslider, there would be so much opportunity for dad time with the girls learning about the forest, reading animal sign, being able to feel safe because of dad on an "adventure" into the dark woods...tons of opportunity.

 

[northernalpine]

US version: road trip or rent an RV, either (1) head up the ALCAN through MT to Alaska for a few weeks or (2) hit some of the national parks ie Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Rushmore, etc

Euro versions: northwest Norwegian coast is incredible and filled with fjords that will melt your face off, island hopping in Sweden’s archipelago during the summer is an experience that will stick with your kids, UK is the easy button between shopping/castles/highlands/history/accommodations/ease of transit but is spendy, and if you want to go the route less traveled, northern Italy as a whole and Croatian beaches are pretty amazing. Outside of the UK, the exchange rate is excellent.

Norway, Helgelandskusten coastal area


Swedish Archipelago


Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

[CorbLand]

Find something centrally located in southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Hit a bunch of the national parks in that area.

Spend a couple weeks in Kanab, then head down towards Flagstaff.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Flexible on timing, pretty much anytime May-November. My preference is to spend as little time as possible “traveling” and more time being there (wherever that is). Which is why I’ve been disinclined towards a huge roadtrip.

The planning for doing all this with two little kids is a challenge (and one of the reasons I like beach options).

May to Nov...1 month...Limit travel...

May to Sept, I would book a vrbo in Harbor Springs, MI.

If Oct or Nov, book a vrbo on Siesta Key, FL.

 

[Steve O]

I have a month long sabbatical from work next year - no emails, no phone calls, completely disconnected for a month. I’d like to go and do something memorable and am looking for ideas of places to go. Some parameters:
- Not a hunting trip
- We have two girls who will be 3 and 5 so needs to be family friendly / doable with kids
- Preferably somewhere where we could spend the entire month there
- Nothing dangerous - we’ll visit Kabul some other time.

Let’s hear your ideas!

What month? Summer I would go to Alaska and take the ferry all up the coast. Do some bear viewing. Take the train to Denali. Rent a car an get to as far as the road would take me north.

Spring or fall I’d spend in AZ both to south; hike the Grand Camyon rim to rim to rim.

 

[TaperPin]

I don’t even remember what keeps young kids occupied at that age. Does anyone remember trips when they were younger than kindergarten?

If someone didn’t live next to the sea, or get to a beach very often, getting a beach cottage with easy access to a part sandy part rocky walkable coastline is relaxing and kids can do kid things.

If you’ve never been there, Alaska will literally feel like a different country - very cool to visit, and kids can do kid things there as well. Taking the ferry is really cool if you’ve never done it, at least for the first few days - of course some kids travel better than others. Summer on the coast is chilly all summer - not shorts weather.

If you find an island to stay on anywhere in world, you’ll always remember it. The town will be different - everyone knows everyone and they know you’re new. It feels different, the locals are different, the experience is different.

I could easily sit on the beach at Tahoe every day for a month - summer weather is very comfortable. Some rentals come with local beach access and some don’t.

I could also sit at Grand Teton national park for a month and relax. Plenty of nice weather, any kind of local trip you might like, and good food at the lodge or in Jackson.

I could also sit on the beach for a month on the outer banks of NC. Weekends are ridiculously busy, but most of the population leaves during the week - it’s a little weird, but the food is also good.

Estes Park in Colorado is very comfortable in the summer - short hikes, nice drives, big mountains, good food.

Dude ranches in the Rocky Mountain states are stupid as sht, but you’re in a nice semi rustic place with nice weather, get to ride a horse, catch a fish, wear a cowboy hat, take it easy and enjoy being outdoors without being outdoors.

Out west there are rental cabins in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, few places to go, too far away from towns to go in every day, and you’ll be forced to relax and be bored - like house sitting for a relative you’ve never met. Lol

Cody WY is nice - whatever you do it’s relaxing. It’s a chance to experience what most of the state used to be like. See some bears and buffalo at park if you want - maybe a wolf. Traffic in the park sucks.

There are also weirdos who simply get a bed and breakfast room for a month in a place they’ve never been and simply live like a local - do local things, like the locals do. Weird right?

 

[Rich M]

I'd just hook up a camp trailer and drive somewhere, stay a couple days, then move around a bit. Plan to hit the national parks or whatever flips yer flops.

Be fun to do a month long camping trip with inquisitive kids.