Hey, would YOU like $30K to take four weeks off? Or how about being sponsored to spend 3 months in Italy revitalizing a fading village? Or, if all that sounds too cushy, why not embark on a 30-day eco-journey that reaches its peak with 10 days in Antarctica assisting with pollution research?

Sounds tempting, right? Of course! But there’s a catch. For starters, your chance in all cases are about, well, 1 in a million. Then there’s another catch: You’ll have to become a social-media barker for your sponsor. And there are more catches, including that a part of you (and your “content”) will forever be owned.

These are brilliant—and ultimately cheap—marketing schemes by savvy companies who prefer screen-based advertising to traditional tactics. Stok Cold Brew Coffee is behind the $30K sabbaticals. Airb&b came up with the Italian village concept. And if Antarctica is your fantasy, you can thank airb&b for that one too, along with their eco-partner Ocean Conservancy.

The upside here is that these promotions are calling attention to—and perhaps somehow doing something about—sad realities like dying small-town Italy and even-more-dying Planet Earth. (The Stok deal seems to not worry about social redemption—just social media).

On the sidelines, some pundits are thumbing their noses at these efforts. They note that candidates’ selection criteria will be heavily weighted on their influencer power, how airb&b’s success has worsened the affordable housing problem (which itself brings about pollution), and how dubious airb&b’s own record is when it comes to any environmental leadership or guidelines (not to mention that the travel industry is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions).

Welcome the relatively new phrase: Crisis Capitalism. Nowadays, certainly someone will have get-rich schemes from viewing dying species, seeing the ice caps before they melt away, and swimming with the dolphins while we still can. You can track back to Mr. Marx himself if seeking the roots of such opportunistic thinking.

Yet let’s hope the motives of and outcomes from this burst of sabbatical/save-the-world bingo makes some positive things happen. Heck, if the increased awareness about sabbaticals helps people move beyond today’s perceived priorities and toward a path beyond the BreakAway obstacles, then sign me up—however slim the odds I might actually find myself enjoying free lunch while spiffing up ancient Italy.

God Bless America gets plenty of play. Heck, they still sing the song during the 7^th-inning stretch at every Sunday MLB baseball game.

God Bless Puerto Rico? Not so much. Talk about being thrown curveballs, spitballs, and beanballs! In recent years, this unlucky territory of the USA has suffered catastrophic weather, skimpy support (not to mention abuse) from Mother Country USA, and a rapidly declining population as people flee their beloved but beleaguered homeland.

This week, Puerto Rico got pounded again by nasty weather. Sad. These are real people—real Americans. I’ve spent some time there, and aim to again. So today I salute Puerto Rico and wish them continued toughness and tenacity as they brave all these rough seas.

Here you see some high school girls enjoying a varsity soccer match on a Thursday night. America’s new pastime, of course, is football—so the pig-skinners get the Friday night lights. And usually, the youngsters and crowds follow in a grand American tradition.

Kids’ sports get plenty of bad raps these days. People fret about the costs, injuries, stress, commitment, and beyond. I get it. But this sports dad (and eternal coach and booster member) will kindly play defense. As everyday BreakAways go, athletics win. What better way to sidestep the routine, get exercise, make friends, experience competition, represent community, and get off-screen?

With any luck, those life lessons last a lifetime. And the kids will stay forever young and robust.

Lots of people like to travel, especially children. Follow them, ride the wave, and thank them later.

These people appear to be heels-over-head in their thrill-ride that might make some of us feel guts-inside-out. They are oblivious to the ominous skies and apparently delighted to defy gravity at breakneck speeds.

It’s State Fair time here in the Twin Cities—the biggest event of the year that takes over media, minds, roads, parking lots, and beyond. The hoo-ha can be annoying. But one tries to embrace the aspects of community, diversity, tradition, and enthusiasm.

Hey, people are getting out and doing something. That’s what BreakAway is all about. It’s peaceful. It’s great people (and animal) watching. It’s a sensual end-of-summer ritual, and you can’t have too many of those.

BreakAway advocates for taking time off and pursuing balance. A one-year faraway sabbatical is the rare grand slam. But even hobbies help advance your chance for sanity.

Gardening is a good one. You get some exercise, you work with nature, and you get off your butt and into the curative outdoors. Moreover, watching your garden grow can be a most magical experience.

Lettuce not forget, however, the hazards of gardening. My pollinator-friendly yard is just buzzing with hyper bees and hornets. The steep hillside hosts unseen holes and rocks, like wipe-out booby traps. And even this dang weed carries enough burrs to bury your clothes and gloves; I’ve had to toss much grubby gardening garb—and yanked it from hair and flesh.

Of course, during most growing seasons, I’ve stayed ahead of these weeds and avoided such terrible entanglements. But not this summer. There’s a lesson here, perhaps a metaphor. And I guess I’ll keep learning it—the painful way.

Our interns and executive assistants never sleep. At least since we brought on free coffee as a perk. So here are some recent BreakAways in the News they’ve found worthy of inclusion in this ongoing series…

• Young Swede sails for change

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate-change activist, has been generating a LOT of attention lately as she sails from Europe to New York as part of her campaign to increase awareness of and action re: climate change. She arrived today—on a zero-emissions sailboat with her dad a crew of 3 others.

Now THAT is one impressive journey! As one of our Sabbatical Suggestions, we state to “Accept Your Mission” when on a BreakAway. Could be to lose some weight. Might be to rekindle romance. Play guitar, learn a language, bake bread. Greta thinks bigger, like, save the world.

Beyond humbling and inspirational, this story brings new profundity to the ending of Mary Oliver’s poem, The Summer Day: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

• Use your vakay for career dev’t

An upbeat career-coaching site called Thrive/Global offers a fresh take on vacation: Use some time while relaxing to boost your skills. At BreakAway, we cheerlead loudly for people to take ALL their vacation time—and might prefer breaks that prioritize the vacate and the shun. Still, whatever works. Right?

Author May Busch offers 5 tips, including set up an easy win for when you get home…set aside time each day for reflection about work stuff that may otherwise get inadequate attention…and, my favorite, think on paper.

It’s trendy, of course, to go paperless (if that’s possible). But Ms. Busch points out what many of us old-schoolers know and practice: You spark fresh ideas—and activate different parts of your noodle—by noodling creatively on papyrus.

• “Sabbatical” sculpture ignites Burning Man

Burning Man is happening right about now on a dessert filled with tripping seekers and trippy happenings. But you knew that.

We’re unsure of just WHY one of the buzzy sculptures is named Sabbatical by Neophyte Nexus. But it is, and it’s cool. So the interns got excited and are begging for a company junket to the Festival next year. The motion is under consideration.

Meanwhile, check out these top 5 BM installations, including Sabbatical. And maybe—must maybe—we’ll seeya at Burning Man next year!

Here at BreakAway, we preach the Gospel of Getting Out! The Right to Run Away! And of course, we are zealous rockers—and urge everyone to see and support live music ASAP and often! Few diversions can compare in entertainment, exhilaration, and escape.

Who else opens the show with a guitar-jeweled crown moving above the stage? What other band has VIP seats in those on-stage balconies? (Pay no attention to those magnates behind the curtain!)

It’s Queen, of course. And though we’ll forever miss Freddy, 18,000 rabid fans happily embrace Adam Lambert (The Voice), original members Brian May (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums), and their bombastic supporting band.

You don’t often see that many people—ages 8 to 88—standing, weeping, singing along. But after all, we are the champions, my friends.

And we’ll keep on rocking ‘til the end.

This splashy character resides in Stockholm, and posed for this pic in July, 2012. Stockholm is a magical city—stretching out over 14 islands and featuring a cool, clean vibe.

Oh sure, the taxes are sky-high, the cost of living might make San Fran seem cheap, and buying a beer might make you gulp twice. But the Swedes don’t seem to mind—and neither does this robust fountain man.

Summers are synonymous with road trips. And what road trip is complete without a road house? When you see that shack or shanty oozing good vibes, killer music, and smokehouse aromas, you stop. You go in. Or out, as is the case of this establishment that’s without a sign, hidden at the end of a parking lot, in a quiet neighborhood on a lake, and laden with enough stuff to make a junkyard jealous.

The owners and their kinfolk run the place, modeled, they say, “after those crazy joints down in the Keys.” The regulars keep bringing more crazy kitsch. You cold get dizzy trying to take it all in—or is that the drinks? They’re open Thursday – Sunday, mostly sometimes. But if you’re really lucky, you don’t much care about day, time, or place. Because you’re on vacation. And those folks on the other stools have stories to tell.

Hey, summer’s fading. Already. I suggest you travel just far enough to find an escape like this. And then bask in the sun and smiles for a good, long time…