What Did I Learn from My Sabbatical?
One year has passed. And despite being off the road for a while, it was difficult to sit down and summarize everything I have learned from this experience.
It all started when I made up my mind to take the leap and step outside my comfort zone.
It took me time and courage to get my employer’s approval, wrap things up at work and in my personal life, find a solution for my apartment, secure proper insurance, set up my coaching business and create a rough plan for how I wanted to spend my year off.
One thing was certain: I didn’t want to over-plan. I had only booked a return ticket nine months after my departure and set the intention to live as authentically as possible while learning from the people I would meet along the way.
A Journey Beyond Borders
I traveled by all kinds of public transportation, rode motorbikes and bicycles on both the left and right sides of the road, walked around 5,000 km (according to my phone), and swam both above and below the surface.
Along the way, I:
Learned colloquial words in eight different languages.
Used ten types of currency.
Volunteered in three different projects.
Completed four retreats.
Hiked several volcanoes, including Mount Fuji, where the steep and long path stole my breath and earthquake warnings served as a constant reminder of nature’s power.
Meditated in countless temples, nestled in lush forests or in noisy metropolis.
Cooked and enjoyed meals with locals, while feeling connection with the ground.
Felt the wind shift against my sun-burned skin while rock climbing, flying with a paramotor or kayaking over waters both rough or still.
Turned the streets into a giant battlefield by firing water guns at millions of people, including the police, during the Songkran celebration—because who wouldn’t want to go head-to-head with the police, just once in life?
And, most importantly, met countless people of all ages and backgrounds—each with unique stories that would take a lifetime to tell.
When Trust Was Tested
But not everything was easy.
Twice, my money was stolen—without even knowing who did it. One day, I reached into my bag and realized 70 euros were gone. The second time, I noticed only later, too late to do anything about it, that my 200 US dollars were counterfeit. It wasn’t just about losing money. It was about trust.
I had been moving through the world with an open heart, believing in the kindness of strangers. And suddenly, I found myself looking over my shoulder, questioning people’s intentions, wondering if the warmth I felt from others was genuine or if I was being naïve.
For days, I struggled to shake the unease. I wanted to believe in human goodness, but the seed of doubt had been planted.
Could I truly trust people again?
It took time. But the answer, I realized, was yes.
Because for every moment of loss, there were ten moments of generosity. A stranger offering me a meal when I struggled to make the South Korean vending machine work. A local giving me her spare towel as a gift when I found myself in an onsen high in the Japanese mountains without one. A friend driving me around, expecting nothing in return.
I learned that trust isn’t about expecting perfection from the world—it’s about choosing to believe in kindness, even after being hurt.
Lessons That Will Stay With Me
Beyond the knowledge I gained, this journey confirmed a few fundamental truths:
Focus only on what you can control, and trust that this will naturally shape what you cannot.
If you follow your instincts with an open heart and mind, you will be fine—and if not, you will figure things out.
The world is beautiful if you know where to look.
Everything is easier than you think if you approach it with positivity and openness.
Face your irrational fears with courage, self-love, and patience. They are often the gateway to lessons you never saw coming.
You often get what you need, rarely what you want.
Observe your thoughts. If they do not serve you, acknowledge them, let them go, and reflect on how you can shift your perspective.
Listen to your body and emotions; they are trying to tell you something you´d better undertsand.
Be yourself—especially when you fear rejection. Most of the time, people walk away from inauthenticity, not authenticity. And if they do, it wasn’t meant to be.
Say what you think—clearly and kindly.
If others have a different perspective, don’t try to change it; try to understand it. There is always something to learn.
Do not offer help unless someone shows they want it. Otherwise, you are not holding space for them to grow—you are only trying to ease your own discomfort.
A true leader serves their team by sharing power, prioritizing others’ needs, and fostering growth. When leaders serve first, they elevate both their team and themselves through personal growth, commitment, and engagement.
You don’t have to see it all or do it all. What truly matters is how you feel in the moment.
When working toward life goals, let them unfold naturally as a result of living a harmonious daily life.
In nature, nothing is inherently negative. If you perceive something negatively, it means there is inner work to be done.
You cannot truly know what others are experiencing internally, even if, based on their appearance, it seems you do.
If you find yourself at a crossroads, unsure of where to go, take the time to ask yourself what are your core values, what truly matters. Trust that the answer will come when you are ready to receive it.
We rarely see things as they are—we see them as we are. Learning to observe without judgment is key.
The real change starts from within. While you can’t control your surroundings, you can control your response, your growth, and your mindset. The most profound shifts happen when you turn inward, do the inner work, and let that transformation ripple outward into all areas of your life.
Much of the effort that leads to success happens behind the scenes. Building skills, forming habits, and working on personal growth take time before the results become visible.
What is true today may be proven wrong tomorrow.
And because of all of the above… returning is far more complicated than leaving.
The Challenge of Returning
You think you know the place you are returning to and the people you will find there. But as you have changed, so has the world around you. You see and understand things differently. You move at a rhythm you once couldn’t stand.
You no longer believe the answers are elsewhere, that conquering fear once means it's gone forever, or that fighting is the way to get what you want.
You now know that the answers you find simply lead you to new questions and you befriend your fears so that you can learn from them. And making your dreams come true often shifts your desires completely: you begin to dream of letting go. The superfluous. The expectations. The need for control. You start trusting life as it comes—even when it brings boredom, pain, sadness, or solitude. Because it is in these moments, when it is hardest to love ourselves, that we truly understand how incredible this life—this privilege to be alive—really is.
So no, I didn’t decide to leave it all behind and move to an exotic island. Instead, I’m returning to the life I once thought had too little left to teach me—because now I know that the real journey is never about where you are. It´s about who you are. And my journey of discovery is not over, it is just entering a new chapter.
What about you? Have you ever embarked on a journey that truly changed your perspective on life? If so, what did you learn?
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