My last international pre-Corona trip was in November 2019 and I felt free again when we took off to our journey in Uganda, at the end of January 2022. “But the forests of Uganda, for magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life—plant, bird, insect, reptile, beast—for the vast scale and awful fecundity of the natural processes that are beheld at work, eclipsed, and indeed effaced, all previous impressions.” Therefore Winston Churchill concludes with “Uganda is the pearl.” in My African Journey.
As I belong myself to Generation Golf, working in the automotive business for several years, I dived, during my sabbatical, into the UN Sustainable Development Goal: #13 Climate action. The clock is ticking:
Synchrodestiny! The Fairventures CEO Johannes Schwegler invited me to join the software spin-off TREEO for some months as a volunteer and mentor. TREEO’s core idea is to empower millions of smallholder farmers to plant trees. Farmers will then sell CO2 removals to net-zero companies via a smartphone app like they sell bananas or cocoa on their local market. In order to lock the CO2 for 50+ years, the harvested wood will be used in the building sector or in Biochar, serving as a long term CO2 sink. Potentially, 205 GtCO2 can be removed additionally with planting trees world-wide. Particularly, in areas with rainforest climate due to the amazing quick growth of trees. The German TV-show „Das schaffst du nie!“ planted 1,000 trees on 24h in February 2019. After 24 months, in April 2022 the Sengon trees have grown up to 29 cm diameter (DBH).
Just back from my 4 months sabbatical this week and I want to share my retro with you here. When I mentioned that I am “off” for a sabbatical many people reacted interested, disturbed, or jealous. This leads to my first learning I will share in several blog posts over the next few days.
Valuable Time “in-between”
In our hyper efficient western business world, there is no room for hiatus or idleness:
“Idleness is the beginning of all vice”
For me, the sabbatical was a time of poor productivity but a source of new energy to marshal the next phase in my life. I did this consciously after finishing my master degree in the US in 1995. Then, my three month trip in the US and Canada from east to west and north to south was not only a great culture and nature experience. It gave me a clear mind & heart on my future professional and family life.
Similarly, in my 2022 sabbatical I reflected on my “first software career” and how family life changes with grown up kids. Do you remember the time you finished your last university exam and now looking forward towards a bright future expecting new opportunities? This is how I feel today, fresh for a start in a second career: 51 years old still 15+ years to go 😉
Claudia’s little Buddha in Flores
Taking off 2-4 months has tremendous value, and I asked myself: Why didn’t I do this earlier? The Bosch Sabbatical program is so easy to implement and well thought through. I think the biggest hurdle is the expected social pressure. Hence, it is your decision which people you allow to judge you. My recommendation: allow yourself a valuable time window between two phases in your life.
The following posts guide you through different topics during my sabbatical:
Overall, I have re-calibrated my perspective on humans and earth, from the very tiny to the wholistic. From July onwards I will concentrate my energy on Climate-Tech by joining the start-up TREEO.
