Celebrating 5 Years at Avenue: My Sabbatical Recap
TL;DR: After celebrating five years at Avenue, I spent September on a four-week sabbatical filled with family time, fishing and camping, a long-awaited home project and plenty of opportunities to slow down and recharge. I came back feeling refreshed, grateful and especially appreciative to work somewhere that creates meaningful opportunities for its team to truly step away.
This year, I hit a pretty big milestone: five years at Avenue!
And while celebrating 5+ years with an organization and team I love was already pretty special, there was another major perk waiting for me on the other side of that anniversary: a month-long sabbatical.
At Avenue, every employee earns a four-week paid sabbatical when they reach their five-year anniversary, which they can use within the following year. After that, employees earn another sabbatical every three years.
So, this September, I closed my laptop, turned on my OOO message and did something I don't get to do very often, completely stepped away from work for a month.
And what did I do with all that free time?
A little bit of everything, actually.
Family, Food & a Little Friendly Competition
One of the things I was looking forward to during my sabbatical was having additional quality time with the people I love.
My partner and I got to spend time with his family in Walla Walla, where we leaned fully into some of my favorite fall activities. We made homemade pizza for the first time, enjoyed the cooler weather and played plenty of rounds of Aggravation, our favorite board game and one we take perhaps a little too seriously.
I also got to spend time with my grandmother in Bend, including checking out a new food cart pod together!
Gone Fishing, Literally
Person fly fishing along a river surrounded by rocky cliffs and high desert landscape in Central Oregon.
If you know me, you probably won't be shocked to hear that a good chunk of my sabbatical involved fishing.
My partner, our mini Aussie, Koko, and I spent plenty of time camping and fishing along some of our favorite Central Oregon rivers, including the Metolius, Crooked and Deschutes.
There’s something about spending a day on the river that makes it easy to slow down and be fully present. During September, I got to spend a lot more time outside, enjoying some of my favorite places with two of my favorite adventure buddies.
And, perhaps most importantly, I finally broke a pretty brutal streak of getting skunked on our last several fishing trips and caught three fish!
Tackling a Long-Awaited Home Project
In between all the fishing and family time, we also tackled a major DIY project we'd been planning for quite some time: installing a French drain system in front of our house.
Our yard is sloped, so improving the drainage has been on our to-do list for a while. It was definitely a lot of work, but it felt great to finally get it done, especially just in time for Oregon's rainy season!
What My Sabbatical Meant to Me
Looking back on the month, I'm incredibly grateful not only for how I got to spend it, but also for the opportunity to take that time in the first place.
Avenue's sabbatical benefit is one of the things I really value about working here. It's a tangible example of Avenue’s commitment to supporting our team's well-being and giving people the time and space to enjoy their lives outside of work.
Taking a full month away also gave me an even greater appreciation for my team. Before September, we worked together to make sure my clients, campaigns and ongoing projects were well supported while I was gone. Knowing everything was in good hands allowed me to truly unplug and be present during my time away.
I'm very grateful to work with a team that made that possible, and to our clients for being so supportive of my time away, too.
A Month Well Spent
Four weeks sounded like a long time when I first started planning my sabbatical, but unsurprisingly, it went by very quickly.
I came back feeling refreshed, grateful and excited to reconnect with my team and clients. I'm thankful for the time I had with family, cool fall days, camping trips, fishing adventures, competitive board games and even a completed French drain.
More than anything, I'm grateful to work at a company that doesn't just talk about supporting its people, but creates meaningful opportunities for us to step away, recharge and make time for the people and things that matter to us.
Five years at Avenue has given me plenty to celebrate, and this past month was a pretty special way to mark that milestone.
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