Brrr. Pout. Sigh.

We’ve had some contact with folks who have houses, modest or otherwise, that we thought would be candidates for long-term rental. You see, most places rent by the week—and already have much of their season rented. So we can’t live there. And we don’t want to move around all the time, what with kids and work to do and all.

Anyway, no luck so far. Our alleged angels are either too expensive, not interested, unaligned with our schedule, or all the above. Maybe we’ve picked the wrong place to go. It’s a jungle down there.

We now don’t have one decent live lead in play. I’m like, we could end up living on the streets. Or worse yet, coming home with our tails between our legs to live out yet another tundra winter.

Plan Z, if all else fails, is now an overdue consideration. I love the Caribbean. But maybe she don’t love me. HELP!?!?!

• ODDS OF GOING: 33%, and dropping

The soon-to-be southbound loons were crying before I even got outside today, long before sunrise.

Dew clung to the grass like millions of tears from the heart of the earth.

Geez, I hate to be melodramatic, but it feels worse than that when your camcorder plunges into the lake and loses 9 months of irreplaceable memories. Yep. That’s what we did. And we just got word from the Best Repair Geek that, so sorry, we can’t salvage that data. It drowned. Resuscitation failed. It’s dead and gone.

Good-bye, sweet memories.

NOTE TO SELF AND EVERYBODY: PROTECT YOUR DIGITALIA!

• Lost forever are dozens of hours of kids on beaches, boats, and beds reading stories. Old friends at cabins and new friends in island restaurants. CurlyGirl lost in reverie with dollies and dresses. Drawing sidewalk chalk pictures of the first purple lilacs and blue herons. Birthdays and holidays and graduation from Jump Start.
• Gone are AllBoy’s theatrical dives into the water. His posse and Himself having a party screaming with Tween excitement. Hanging all shy and grinny with GF#1 (while he didn’t know I filmed from a distance). Pitching strikeouts and hitting home runs and playing violin with the orchestra. Using a driftwood stick for a mike and interviewing rellies during a summer reunion.

At least we were there, I guess.

But the memories? Sure, they’re in the head. But the head don’t work so pretty good as it used too—the RAM is nearly maxed out. So in a sense, it’s just gone. Let’s be real: Life in fast-forward means it’s essential to have ways to capture the moment for reverence and ponderance later. Or those recollections decay, like so many yesterday’s roses.

That’s certain a Sabbatical theme I repeat over and over: Log your BreakAway! Log your BreakAway! Your best investment in life is making good memories…because they always appreciate in value as the years go by.

“We SHOULD download that camera soon…”

We said it countless times. But we neglected to take those gold nuggets to the safety deposit box. Forgot to back up. Forgot common sense. Forgot that sh*t happens. Man, does it.

Note to self: Download. Back up. Repeat ad nauseum—to avoid the nausea of lost data.

This life is not, after all, a dress rehearsal. You can’t rewind to relive your kids’ 5th and 11th years. You can only, as time goes by, gather around the screen, the scrapbook, the album, and let the bygone images and silent voices wash over and through you.

We do that. Watch family videos. A lot. Instead of movies and Disney and NFL. It’s amazing how alive it feels—and how much you realize you’ve forgotten while the days and years race by.

Now I must go back outside with the loons and the dew. Right now, they’re the only ones who understand. I’ll try some lakeside yoga. Breathe, bend, groan.

Seek strength. And maybe, just maybe, a stubborn outlook that includes trying harder to savor each moment while it happens…not let misfortune steal it away. Realize that this game is worth suiting up for, and sometimes it takes all you got to get half of what you want.

• ODDS OF TRYING HARDER TO TEND TO TECH TOOLS: 95%
• ODDS OF GOING: 75% (a new high)

Blogging is hard. I wonder if even the monstrous, fearless Paul Bunyan could master it. Oh sure, he could easily handle the lifehacking and workhacking thing. But could his bulky fingers handle the little, lonely keyboard?

Can’t believe nearly a week has gone by and I’ve not written a word. But if I had a dollar for every time I’ve written an entry in my head, well, I might could solve the current economic crisis.

Speaking of, allow me to introduce one of our (very few) FOK (Friends of Kirk) members: The Armchair Economist. He may fill in when this BlogStar is underwater.

Armchair Economist tends to speak in a strong voice, and now strongly recommends you read this excellent editorial by one of the Star Tribune’s editors. It’s about saving for the future, the current bear market, and the risk and speculation we all ingest every time we buy shares.

BTW, the Armchair Economist lives reclusively on a Midwest farm, and shows up in public only occasionally—and usually under heavy guard at the exclusive Rob Roy Club in midtown Manhattan. He won’t say from where he wrote this editorial.

Oh yeah, he’s also a bad keyboarder, so he keyboards ONLY in CAPITAL letters. Sorry for the annoyance; he means well.

MY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES:

I HOPE YOU TOOK A MOMENT TO PERUSE THE “BEAR WITH ME” ARTICLE. WHAT A GEM! SUMMARIZES SO MUCH OF WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO SAY IN BETWEEN POUNDING FISTS ON TABLES. TO WIT:

FIRST, PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR WRITER IS NOT A RICH MAN OR WALL STREETER. HE’S JUST A GUY TRYING TO MAKE A BUCK.

SHORT SELLING IS EVIL: SUDDENLY, SHORT SELLING IS SEEN AS UNPATRIOTIC, BAD FOR CAPITALISM, & “GREEDY.” PISH TOSH! AS IF CAPITALISM ITSELF WERE WORKING RIGHT NOW! RATHER, WE ARE SLOWLY SOCIALIZING WALL STREET. AND MUCH MORE. MEANWHILE, THE ENTREPRENEURS WHO GOT RICH OFF IT FIRST SLIP OUT UNMARKED EXITS (WITHOUT EVEN YELLING “FIRE SALE!”) WHILE SNICKERING AND CLUTCHING THEIR CASH. MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS. WHAT A FARCE!

WALL STREET IS A “CASINO”: OUR AUTHOR MR. BANKS (WHAT A RICH NAME!) QUOTES POSSIBLE PRESIDENT MCCAIN AS SAYING THAT CERTAIN INVESTORS “HAVE TURNED WALL STREET INTO A CASINO.” WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, JOHNNY-COME-(NOT-SO)-LATELY, THE STREET HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CASINO. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT MIRAGE HAS MANY MORE SCANTILY-CLAD WOMEN ON THE FLOOR, AND THEY SERVE STIFFER DRINKS! ONE MORE THING THEY SHARE: WHAT HAPPENS THERE…STAYS THERE.

AND FINALLY…

BUY-AND-HOLD CAN GROW MOLD: GUESS WHO TAUGHT US ALL TO BUY AND HOLD? THAT’S RIGHT: THE SAME INVESTMENT PROS THAT ARE NOW TEARING DOWN THE WORLD ECONOMY. SURE, IT CAN WORK. BUT SO CAN TAKING A SMALL ALLOCATION AND PLAYING THE VOLATILITY. BUY AND SELL AND VICE VERSA FOR EVERY 3% MOVE THIS YEAR AND YOU COULD BE RICH. BUY AND HOLD THIS YEAR? YOUR 401K MAY BECOME A 104K. FOR THAT MATTER, THE DOW FIRST CROSSED 1,000 IN 1966. IT DIDN’T MEANINGFULLY MOVE BEYOND THAT TIL 1982. HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

IN SUMMARY, MY FELLOW INVESTORS, BEWARE THE BEAR. EXPECT MUCH BULL. AND FOLLOW NEITHER HERD.

GODSPEED, from THE ARMCHAIR ECONOMIST

BlogWriter’s Note: THE ARMCHAIR ECONOMIST has now left the keyboard and gone back into seclusion. But you can reach him though this website, if you dare.

There is hope. We are not alone! Check this out. Check them out! 4 lovely ladies with impressive resumes have found time not only to coordinate outfits and enjoy some champoo, but also to take Big Breaks AND collaborate on a book.

How nice to see that we’re not alone here. And to see that this team effort offers many of the same suggestions you’ll find throughout this site, in my sample chapters, and perhaps wherever you seek inspiration to Run Away. Taking off into your own bliss and space isn’t rocket science, folks. It just calls for you to:

Face your fears:

“Employees actually fear taking sabbaticals more than companies fear offering them.”

How true; how poignant!

Keep a healthy distance from the rat race, even when you must re-enter it:

“Disconnect from the ‘rush, rush, rush, do, do’…for sustaining the post-sabbatical glow.”

Perhaps that’s good advice, if challenging, for most any dang day?

Be true to yourself and capture your inner memoirist by “keeping a daily journal.”

Dig a little deeper; step away and listen to the insights of silence by “scheduling solo, quiet time and a week of full media deprivation.” Media deprivation!?! Ahhhhhh…

Good luck, my friends. May we all find enough courage and make enough noise to change the world…one Sabbatical at a time.

There is hope. We are not alone! Check this out. Check them out! 4 lovely ladies with impressive resumes have found time not only to coordinate outfits and enjoy some champoo, but also to take Big Breaks AND collaborate on a book.

How nice to see that we’re not alone here. And to see that this team effort offers many of the same suggestions you’ll find throughout this site, in my sample chapters, and perhaps wherever you seek inspiration to Run Away. Taking off into your own bliss and space isn’t rocket science, folks. It just calls for you to:

Face your fears:

“Employees actually fear taking sabbaticals more than companies fear offering them.”

How true; how poignant!

Keep a healthy distance from the rat race, even when you must re-enter it:

“Disconnect from the ‘rush, rush, rush, do, do’…for sustaining the post-sabbatical glow.”

Perhaps that’s good advice, if challenging, for most any dang day?

Be true to yourself and capture your inner memoirist by “keeping a daily journal.”

Dig a little deeper; step away and listen to the insights of silence by “scheduling solo, quiet time and a week of full media deprivation.” Media deprivation!?! Ahhhhhh…

Good luck, my friends. May we all find enough courage and make enough noise to change the world…one Sabbatical at a time.

We’re in Countdown Mode now. Less than three months, and we’re not having fun yet.

What happened? Countless obstacles (a.k.a. Big Butts) appear in your path when planning a Big Break. Duh!?! I’ll not list them all for fear of boring you and frightening myself. But today’s, which emerged last evening over dinner in a dark, rude restaurant is this: Communication. If you’re not going alone, you’ll need to talk over stuff like…

• Like…What is Plan Z? Or, can we even get a ticket back home after the 17 days in St. John—if the Sabbatical isn’t happening? See, we still only have on-way tickets. The airlines aren’t helpful. And the Kommittee if not doing the work. Yuck.
• LIKE…Sabbatical aside, how are we, the Family, doing with back-to-school? Oh BTW, we have these two high-maintenance hobbies called children (AllBoy, 11, and CurlyGirl, 5). School has started, but we are all still living like summertime around here. The violin and math book remain untouched. The iTouch is endlessly touched. Even getting to bed is like all-star wrestling. Where’s Alice (from “The Brady Bunch”) when you need her?  Routine can be boring. But it can make matters simpler, and get things done.

But nah, what we’ve got here is not only house-wide failure to communicate, but downright chaos and disorder. Dirty dishes abound. Junk food is ubiquitous. The Kids are so NOT adjusting to the fall regimen, but instead complaining about it all, trying to skip sports, and treating me like the bad cop.

Do these citified brats even want a BreakAway? Would they even groove on daily beach lessons (home schooling) with teacher-Dad? Or would they rather just watch SpongeBob SquarePants reruns?

Please: Don’t answer that.

Meanwhile, my own dreams seem like a school of angelfish getting tangled in nasty nets. And as for my parenting prowess? Let’s just say I’m getting real confident about my kayaking. Solo.

On very little, fitful sleep, these are the questions I’m not loving long before daybreak. Will the sun even come up today? I’m filled with doubt; the pre-dawn sky looks filled with murky haze. An ill wind is hissing and snarling. (Or is that just my children?)

Chance of rain: 70%.

• TODAY’S EMOTIONAL WEATHER FORECAST: Dark & stormy.
• ODDS OF GOING: 33%.
• ODDS OF THIS WEBSITE GETTING LAUNCHED: 25%.
• ODDS OF ME (OR ANYONE) MAKING A ‘CAREER’ PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF SABBATICAL: 10%.
• ODDS I’LL ATTEMPT A NAP TODAY: 100%.

Is it just me, or is Rilke’s first name, Rainer, kind of a downer?

Lucky me. I’ve got a mini-BreakAway in progress, having ditched the relentless routine to sneak in some more summer at lovely Lake Okoboji in Iowa. (Yes, Iowa.) Remember Iowa? The state that first endorsed Barrack Obama and brought you Field of Dreams?

Moonlight Graham: “This is the most special place in all the world, Ray. Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again. You feel for it, like it was your child.”

Shoeless Joe Jackson: “Is this heaven?

Ray Kinsella: “No, it’s Iowa.”

Ahh. In that dreamy script. Iowa is not just a state, but a state of mind. Guess what: So are Sabbaticals! They’re not just free time, but a place where “the wind never blows so cold.” Especially for those of us fixing to excape Minnesota in the winter.

So I sit on a deck overlooking a calm lake with a waning moon fading into it, the reasons for a Sabbatical seem clear as the brilliant sky. It’s the relaxation, stupid. A chance to dissipate some mental clouds, if only for a while, if only now and then.

A guy can achieve looser muscles and calmer mindwaves by escaping the daily grind, like I’ve just done by visiting this old, favorite vacation spot. Seems simple enough.

Here at glorious and blue Lake Okoboji, yesterday featured a sweet bike ride on new trails along lakes and through woods. Many a grassy knoll called my name and made me stop and chill a while.

A funky coffee shop (a shrine to Hendrix) provided live entertainment from a family of blonde ladies who served me quiche and salad. (Real men don’t eat salad, right?) Who gets even a slice of all that serendipity on a demanding day at the desk?

Meanwhile, a friend from Mankato escaped his day job and joined me by 2 yesterday. We were cruising on the pontoon by 3. We were out of beer by 5. We did a quick happy hour at the family shanty (named Itldo) before heading to a waterside restaurant for sundown with a steel-drum soundtrack and mahi mahi.

Hmmm, now where have I routinely devoured that before? Ah yes, the Virgin Islands.

An omen? Mahi mahi is by far the most common (and affordable) local fish around much of the Caribbean. (Some call it dolphin fish, which offends some diners so they won’t eat it, even though it has nothing to do with mammal dolphins.) I eat it often on St. John at Skinny Leg’s (one of Esquire’s Best Bars in America—and it even features “same day service!”). Their mahi burger is best with lots of the local hot pineapple sauce.

But back to the here and now: Today will feature golf, more boating, bar hopping, and another fine meal out. Not even sabbaticals promise days this easy and lovely. But they might, right? We’ll only know if we try. Absent my skeds and kids and egos and ids and doubts and pouts, I feel more like trying. Today, anyway.

• ODDS OF GOING: 75%. (What a jump from just three days ago. It can pay to BreakAway.)

Here’s a little article that nicely sums up why just everyone, not just Us, should be thinking about taking a BreakAway: They recharge batteries. As this story points out, that’s a great way to keep employees pleased and productive. But better yet, it’s a great way to keep employees from abandoning ship.

The good news mentioned here is that most companies are gradually growing up and offering folks more ways to get more done—flextime, offsite work, shared jobs, and all that. The bad news is that Sabbatical programs are still way behind that progressive curve. In my experience, many companies WANT to do it—and even kick it around—but then wimp out when it comes time to actually try business-as-unusual.

With the economy fears and money meltdown (Dow below 10,000 today, UGH), perhaps now is not the seize-the-moment alignment for Big Breaks to take off. But let us remember: Nothing lasts forever. If you (or your company) want to make Sabbaticals happen, the Dow will be somewhere else by the time you go somewhere else.

Take your time. And don’t be shy to talk to your boss (or spouse or shrink) about this wild idea you’ve been pondering…

Hello, World.

Please be kind. For some of us, this sort of exhibitionism is un-natural.

“This” is my blog—a word that always sounds to me like a three-dimensional burp. A noise your body makes when you’ve guzzled too much beer. (Don’t get any on ya…) And this is my first official blogpost. Sounds like funky body piercing.

The very thought of strangers reading my stuff makes me wince. Fortunately, I know better: 3 out of 4 blog readers are fellow bloggers, sniffing at each other (or so I’ve read). And most blogs get little attention in the crowded chaos and cacophony of the internet. So maybe there’s not much to worry about. And yet, maybe Link Love will save the world.

Still with me?

Hope so. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

LIKE…In 3 months, the next Sabbatical (a.k.a. BreakAway) begins. One-way air tickets will take us to St. John for about 17 days, and then…

LIKE…Where do we go from there? Could it be the Bahamas? Bermuda? Dominica? Grenada? Timbuktu? With some angst I must confess: I don’t know. Wasn’t it the late, great Donald Rumsfeld who once declared, “There are known knowns…There are unknown knowns…But there are also unknown unknowns.” Wow. How did he know? As for my troops, we just want to know…what are our marching orders?

That conversation has, at times, taken on a contentious, cocky tone that does NOT soothe the soul like a Sabbatical should. Sure, there are many options, but many more criteria and obstacles (known and unknown). Not to mention, the Caribbean is not exactly known for its easy transportation, affordable prices (on anything!), and transparency.

I mean, each and every island thinks of itself as an island unto itself. Island time rules, among other bizarre rules that take time to figure out. A ferry that runs “on the hour” may go awol, have a breakdown or mutiny, or take a week off for a holiday you’ve never heard of. Heck, there are countless languages, dialects, currencies, and chunks of sharp coral just waiting to slash and infect you during a simple snorkel outing. OUCH! No doubt: The planning is the hard part. Getting there is not always half the fun.

LIKE…What does one do with the feelings that arise now? You know: Fear, denial, panic, sticker-shock, nausea, family differences, what have ya. Wish I knew. Sometimes it sucks. I’m like, who needs THIS?

That all stated, we aim to go anyway. Or at least try. Having done this a few times before, I’m familiar with the emotional hurricanes that blow up about now. Good thing I’m much better as the years go by at managing such messes and stresses. HA!

• ODDS OF GOING: 55%
• TODAY’S BIGGEST BUTT: Cost—even a golf cart is $300/week in the Bahamas; airfare for one scenario just passed $8k (for cattle class, although in the islands you’re more likely to be seated with goats.)
• TODAY’S BIGGEST GROAN: The markets are sucking wind. How can one justify spending savings when those investments are worth less every day? Don’t postpone joy, sure, but on whose dime?
• TODAY’S BIGGEST INSPIRATION: It’s summer again here, and I want it to last forever. So remember: It does in the Caribbean!
• TODAY’S BIGGEST PROCRASTINATION: It’s summer again here, and I’m thinking maybe it will last forever (so we won’t need to go to the Caribbean!).
• TODAY’S PROMISE: A hot kayak ride at sunrise leaves a guy splashed with bliss and vinegary sweat.

Hi. I’m Kirk Horsted. Welcome to BreakAway–an amalgamation of opinions & ponderings on the provocative topic of Sabbaticals and Career Breaks. I emphatically believe that real people (like you!) can and should take these restorative breaks–and I’ve done a bunch of them myself to test the theory. Click What’s the Big Idea to read more…

For a firsthand account of what a BreakAway can look (& feel & sound & taste) like, check out the Travelog category of the blog, which chronicles my family’s 69-day tour of the West Indies during the winter of 2008-2009.  

Beyond that, If it’s all working properly, herein you may find:

• Inspiration. With any luck, you may find that the travelogs, trippy stories, and pictures from my past Sabbaticals will help kindle your own inner stirrings. After all, countless “ordinary” people find their way to successful Sabbaticals all the time. Really!
• Help! If you dream of taking a BreakAway someday (and who doesn’t?), you’ll find some recommended references—books, sites, more—to get you going.
• Humor? Let’s be clear: This site and blog endeavors to inform, but also entertain. Maybe even make you laugh (if only at me). This is NOT a Ph.D thesis. NOT a polished self-help hardback. NOT a “get-into-me,” MySpacey vanity show. Take it all in with a grain of salt (it goes well with beer) and just enjoy.
• Miscellanea. BreakAway is a big topic. And my brain “works” in mysterious ways. Thus you may find yourself reading about everything from finding work/life balance to being kidnapped. From the stupid economy to digitalia addiction. From lost luggage to moments of bliss. From the slow movement to fast sailboats. It’s all good, right?

So please…join the party. Take it all in. Leave a comment, ask a question or invite fellow Seekers, Slashers & Hackers to this site. Plot your own escape and share your plans.  

But for me, it’s time to get going. Time to live and blog like there’s no tomorrow. After all, do we know for certain that there is?

Carpe diem! Carpe noctus! Carpe vita!

And as we say in Minnesota, “Thanks for stoppin’…”