- Alma Rex-Ezonfade took a sabbatical after years of working non-stop.
- She saved $51,300 for her sabbatical, which she spent on traveling and exploring personal interests.
- Despite initial difficulties, she found joy in her free time and plans to take more sabbaticals in the future.
This storytelling essay is based on a conversation with Alma Rex-Ezonfade, 31, who lives in Toronto, Canada. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
On my 29th birthday, I opened a savings account and put $500 in it. I had told myself that for my 30th birthday I would give myself a gap year, and this was my first step towards making that dream of taking an “adult gap year” a reality.
I was tired of working and always being on top of things. I immigrated to Canada from Nigeria when I was 22 to get my master’s degree and started working right after graduating. It felt like I was running on a hamster wheel and I was going, going, going, going.
I calculated my budget for the year
Before taking my sabbatical, I was a Customer Success Manager at Astreya, earning around 110,000 CAD ($80,500). I was also a content creator and earned almost 200,000 CAD ($146,600) a year between my 9 to 5 salary and my income working with brands and running campaigns.
I calculated how much I really needed to save based on my spending at the time.
For necessities like rent, car payments, groceries, gas, phone bill, and utilities, I estimated about 4,200 CAD ($3,100) per month. I also decided I wanted to travel, which I knew would be a little expensive because I’m not a budget traveler. I planned 18,000 CAD ($13,200) for two large trips and several smaller trips.
In total, I calculated that I would need to save around 70,000 CAD ($51,300) for my sabbatical, which I did by putting most of my content creator income into my sabbatical fund. If I didn’t have my job as a content creator, I would have gotten a part-time job to generate that supplemental income.
I also cut expenses. I was never ashamed to say, “I can’t afford that” or “I can’t do that activity,” because I was planning something that had a much higher priority than going out and spending $200 in one night.
I left my job but struggled to do nothing
Saving took me a little longer than planned, but in April 2023 I resigned.
The day I stopped, I spent the whole day at home, watching TV without watching anything. I didn’t do anything else; I just needed my brain to shut down.
On Monday I woke up at 8am as usual because I forgot I didn’t have a job. Then I remembered I could sleep in, but I was already awake, so I tried to figure out what my new routine would be.
I started putting together a plan and then realized that would simply defeat the entire purpose. The plan was to let go.
Still, I didn’t feel like I could just do nothing. I found myself planning my upcoming trips, brainstorming content ideas for my YouTube channel, and posting more regularly on my Instagram page. I had been thinking about opening my own clothing brand for years, so I started working on ideas for that too.
One of my friends said to me, “The whole point was you didn’t work. Why can’t you stop working?”
The week after I left, I checked into a hotel for a few days, ordered room service, and cried the entire time. There were tears of gratitude, tears of exhaustion, tears of relief. I was allowing myself to think, “Okay, I did it and I’m here.”
I was used to being a high performer, managing a team, getting results and doing all these things. I had to get used to the idea of not working and overcome the feeling that I wasn’t useful because I wasn’t being productive. I had to shift so that my validation came from my own happiness and see my value beyond the results of my work.
Three weeks into my sabbatical, one of my former bosses reached out to me to tell me about a contract position at Google she wanted me to interview for. Honestly, I almost accepted because I wasn’t used to the idea of not having a job.
It took a little getting used to, but eventually I managed to go an entire week without doing any work.
Did I make the right decision?
In the first few months, when I went on sabbatical, I was very sad.
I looked at all the money I had put into my sabbatical account and thought about everything else I could have done with that money instead of sitting idle for a whole year.
Maybe I should just take it out and buy a house, I thought. I even asked my real estate agent friend to look at properties for me, but I knew that if I bought the house I would be unhappy, always wondering what I could have achieved if I simply took the year off.
I remember talking to my therapist and trying to validate the decision over and over again. Ultimately, I realized I was in the best time of my life to give myself this gift. And when I sorted that out a few months later, I started to revel in the idea that I was on sabbatical.
I learned to have fun
I liked having the luxury of time to do whatever I wanted.
I fell in love with working out again. I started coloring, drawing and making pottery. I started reading again and started writing again. I spent more time with myself and my family. I took up my childhood hobbies again, like building Legos and taking Polaroid photos. I also cooked more and tried new cafes in Toronto.
Some of my favorite memories from my sabbatical are the many days I spent sitting on the couch watching TV and only getting up to eat. I finished all six seasons of Downton Abbey in one week. I also watched all of Schitt’s Creek, as well as many Korean shows.
Working on my clothing brand has become a passion project. I learned about fabrics and the fashion industry – I enjoyed learning things for the sake of learning.
I visited friends and family in other countries, went on a few birthday trips with friends, took a seven-day Caribbean cruise, and spent four weeks traveling in Europe.
I plan to take a lot more sabbaticals
After a full year of sabbatical leave, my sabbatical funds are almost completely depleted and my income as a content creator is keeping me afloat now. I thought I would panic about my finances, but taking time off helped me develop a mindset shift; I know I’ll figure it out one way or another.
My fashion brand launches this month, so I’m giving myself until September to find out what’s next. My plan is to work at a company for another three years to gain more experience and knowledge, and then take another year off at age 35, and I will repeat this cycle until I retire.
One of the biggest things I’m taking away from this gap year is realizing that a lot of things aren’t that serious. When you are an immigrant, many things they are so serious; I had to start my life over in Canada and stand out in this life. But I realized that I needed to enjoy life.
I’ve never been happier and I’m more broke than I’ve ever been. For me, this year has really been a redefinition of what happiness looks like at different points in my life. My loved ones have said that I am less moody and controlling and yell less.
I feel a little sad that I had to take an entire year off from work to find joy in my life.
If you took a sabbatical and would like to share your story, please email Jane Zhang at janezhang@businessinsider.com.
