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More than ever, it seems, there is a growing disconnect between those old strangers in the dark, ‘business and pleasure’, a gnawing sense that we\u2019ve reached a nadir in the workplace and burning the candle at both ends has finally caught up with us. We\u2019re no longer working to live but simply living to work \u2013 the ramifications of which could be far deeper than you’d think.<\/p>\n
Just over three out of four suicides in the UK are by\u00a0men and suicide remains the biggest cause of death for males under 35. On average, 191,000 men per year will report stress, depression or anxiety brought on by work. Travel isn\u2019t a single, definitive answer to such serious problems by any stretch, but it does allow people to recharge. switch off, escape daily pressures, revaluate their own world, take stock and open minds to new cultures. The only trouble is, not enough men are travelling.<\/p>\n
Read more: Three life-altering benefits of adventure hiking\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Nearly two-thirds of leisure travelers today are women, according to research last year<\/a> from the George Washington University School of Business, which also found professional women on average took holiday every 10 months, compared to their male equivalents who took time off every 12 months. Forbes<\/em><\/a> didn\u2019t make the gender balance feel any less askew, back in 2014, when reporting that females make 80 per cent of the decisions in the world\u2019s tourism sector.<\/p>\n But should we be that surprised? Whether through fear or career ambition or a little of both, men into their thirties and beyond seem less and less inclined to travel for any great period of time, especially not solo, instead relying on the Sunday League Whatsapp group and never-ending slew of inexpensive European city stag do locations to choose their destinations for them. Women, on the other hand, are in the general scheme of things more adventurous, more open-minded in taking to the skies and downing tools for pure escapism , leaving men lagging behind. Just look at the groups of people you know in everyday life and ask yourself if these generalisations are all that far from the truth. Probably not.<\/p>\n Tellingly, of the 2000 men interviewed for UCL’s study of UK masculinity, the majority placed the most importance on four main attributes: \u2018dependability\u2019, \u2018reliability\u2019, \u2018honesty\u2019 and \u2018loyalty\u2019, each scoring well above \u2018romance\u2019 and \u2018adventure\u2019. Admirable notions, yes, but fun, no. Have we become that boring? Are we severely lacking spontaneity? Do we need to be a little selfish and listen to ourselves? The answer is clearly ‘yes’, and if you yourself have been feeling lost lately, stuck in a perpetual cycle of early alarms and late nights in the office, or simply more stressed than you should be, don\u2019t be another statistic. Be more, be yourself, live a little, branch out from your comfort zone and \u2013 you know what \u2013 take a sabbatical.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0The challenges and delights of dining alone\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Sabbaticals are a travel trend well on the rise among high-flyers of industry. Not all companies are as open to the idea of a \u2018grown up gap year\u2019, of course, but there may be middle ground to be found. As Real Business<\/em><\/a> puts it, \u201cThe rising trend in both a sabbatical and a career break is testament that people work too hard and as such require a longer time to rejuvenate\u201d, meaning there\u2019s no doubting the mutual benefits for both parties: firms don\u2019t want a burnt-out employee, nor do you want to feel enslaved to the desk, so in many ways cutting a deal for an extensive travel break with your employer could make perfect sense.<\/p>\n One man who knows this first-hand is Emanuele Barrasso [above], a 32-year-old from Naples who had been working in food and drink PR in London for just under a decade, until last year when he took what he called a \u201clife-changing\u201d sabbatical, journeying to Singapore, NZ, Australia and Japan in a two month break from work.<\/p>\n \u201cMy bosses took it better than I had expected,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to go away for a little longer but then we settled on two months so that I could have my job back when I returned. The first few weeks were paid, because I left in January, and I used only some of my annual leave but not all of it, so I could have some more time off towards summer and the end of the year. I love travel but had never thought of actually going for a proper long sabbatical on my own, for some reason the thought had never seemed possible. I\u2019d reached a point in my life where I wanted to do something different, to get out of my comfort zone and push my boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n A lengthy break from the office aside, Emanuele claims the fact he was also newly single also played a big part in plucking the courage to travel solo: \u201cI had the freedom to go to the places I wanted to see and meet new people. On my final day in Sydney before flying to Japan, I met a special someone. A week after, I was thinking \u2018I must see her again before I fly home!\u2019, and I did. I changed my itinerary and visited her again before I left. Since then she’s flown to visit me in the UK and I’ve been back to Australia.”<\/p>\n Who knows, as well as giving you a chance to clear your mind and ruminate about your next steps in life, a sabbatical might help you get to know yourself a bit better, teaching you to connect better with others, too. Grasp the opportunities to explore the world and you won’t regret it: when 500 people interviewed for a 2011 book entitled Reboot Your Life<\/em><\/a>, not one regretted their decision to take a substantial work break, which lasted anywhere from one month to two years. \u201cEveryone reported that their careers were enhanced as they were enhanced in their attitudes and work ethic,\u201d said co-author Jaye Smith.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Needless to say, Emanuele wouldn\u2019t swap his own experiences in a hurry: \u201cI\u2019ll never regret taking the break. I went skydiving [pictured], jet-boating \u2013 twice – whitewater rafting and scuba diving; activities that I had thought I\u2019d never ever have the guts to do. All of this made me realise that I am a thrill-seeker at heart. The entire experience made me grow as a person, as a man, as a traveller, and built my confidence. It made me see the world from a different perspective, and if I can say it, it made me live the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that really would have been music to Mozart’s ears.<\/p>\n Images: Flash Pack,\u00a0Emanuele Barrasso\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cA man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9031,9040],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_563283976.jpg\")
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