Long Service Leave. What to do, what to do?

[samvara]

I can't believe I've been working for the same department for seven years, I have trouble committing to socks. However, I have 3 months paid leave that should be used to improve and enhance my life in some fabulous way.

Poll #4729

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19

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What should samvara do with her 3 months long service leave?

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Take 3 months off and vegetate, get enough sleep, read all those books, see lots of people, do my toenails again.
8 (44.4%)

Do a full time trimester and get 4/12 of my MBA out of the way (4/12 done right now and 2/12 in progress)
5 (27.8%)

Scuba dive a lot - Thailand, Indonesia, Egyptian Red Sea, Cozumel Mexico and, weirdly, Florida
12 (66.7%)

Go somewhere with snow (never seen) and... stare at it?
11 (61.1%)

Take Friday off for 2011… mmm 3-day weekends for a YEAR
11 (61.1%)

OIYP (Oxfam) Internship Program (would have to move to Sydney for 3 months)
5 (27.8%)

Drive around Australia (I kind of want to do this one day, yes, I know, everyone does and I’d probably need a lot more than 3 months)
5 (27.8%)

Something else that would be BRILLIANT

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Comments

[ironed_orchid]

I like all those options.

How about 1 month rest, one month of improving/worthy activity (school, volunteering) and one month of travel - not necessarily in that order.

[samvara]

That might be a good way to divvy it up... I also thought meditation retreat and Bibbulmun track...

[ironed_orchid]

A retreat could count as rest and self-improvement!

[maharetr]

Yeah, I know, my options are only usable if you have a timeturner :P I can't choose between charging through the MBA and taking four-day weeks. They were *awesome*, and it's probably my turn to be confused on Thursday nights... :D

*loves*

[samvara]

I think I'd do the 4-day week over the MBA - since I can do the MBA anyway, just slower.

[juliet]

4-day weeks are good, but there are other ways of getting that (e.g. flexitime). A lump of 3 months is a harder-to-come-by thing!

Sydney is an awesome place to live for a few months, & FWIW I didn't have any trouble finding a flat to sublet for 4 months when I was there. (Subletting probably not *strictly* legal but in a 'landlord shouldn't know' way which I was OK with :) ).

3 months is enough to do a fair-sized chunk of Australia-driving, I'd have thought. I did a decent loop around NSW in 2 weeks in a campervan (& didn't feel particularly rushed), and several worthwhile-feeling chunks by bike & train in 7 weeks or so before that.

[samvara]

I know! So many choices!

I don't think I'd have trouble finding a place in Sydney - I've friends there as well and yeah, I could do a fair chunk, but I've always imagined it as a slow progression with lots of stopping, meeting people and doing things.

[sara]

Well, I once drove across the U.S. in about a week and felt like I got a lot out of it, so I'd think you could do a lot of Australia in three months.

But then, if I had three months, responsibility-free, I'd think I could do most of the U.S. on a bicycle, so YMMV.

[samvara]

Brother J. drove across Australia in 3 days but there wasn't a lot of sleeping involved. My vision of traveling around involves a lot of stopping, visiting, meeting people and generally relating on the way.

One other thought was to do the Bibbulmun track end to end - almost 1000km.

[sara]

That looks like a good walk. My parents did a long supported trek through NZ a few years ago, and had a lovely time.

[transcendancing]

I look foreward to chats with you about this (tonight and other times too!) *love*

[meghanc]

Dude. Snow. Snow.

Or, you know, do a month of scuba diving, and then come and do some snow. Or possibly in reverse order, actually, since you probably don't want to go from gorgeous sandy beaches to icy, crystalline ski slopes.

And if you do a month of snow and a month of scuba, you've still got enough time for a very nice month of lounging the house and reading and napping! That sounds pretty awesome.

(Also, holy crap, you get THREE MONTHS off!? I have been at my present job for three-almost-four years, and I am up to a whopping two weeks of vacation time per year. And that's quite generous. I'm intensely envious.)

[samvara]

Heh, being a scuba diver does somewhat limit my access to and interest in snow. I feel I should see it at least once in my life but I'm not sure using LSL for it is required.

I know! THREE MONTHS, it's so weird, it used to be you had to serve for 10 years but my department offers 7 - it's to make up for low wages compared to industry and having to work in government - they do great perks.