It feels really weird.
I travel almost every summer. I love teaching, but, not gonna lie, the two months off in the summer to recharge the way I do best (by exploring the world), is one of the major perks of my chosen career.
The last week or so of August, no matter where I am in the world, I get that little longing to be back in the routine. I start to get excited to see my little darlings. I wonder who might have practiced over the summer (cause whoops…I definitely did not…), who went to band camp (I had some super keen kids this last year), and start to plan and think about new things I’ll try, new pieces I’m excited for, etc.
But this August, I’m not headed back to the classroom.
Any usual summer, I’d be home by now, landing in my city mere hours before the pre-student week of teacher time starts. But this year, I’ve taken a years leave to do some travelling.
There are some places you just can’t really explore in July and August, I and didn’t want to wait 30 years to finally check Antarctica off my list (at the sad rate the world is warming, who knows how long it will be its pristine, isolated world?!)
And really, who knows how much time we have to explore the world.
Wait for retirement to start a big adventure?
A teacher I taught with briefly over the course of my relatively short career retired in June of this year. She made big plans to do the trip of a lifetime in October, heading to the Holy Land and the Greek Islands on a cruise, followed by a week in Italy.
Dreamy, right?
A month before she retired, she was complaining about a stomach pain that wouldn’t go away. It turned out to be cancer, and she was gone less than month after school ended.
You always want to hope that, after retirement, you’ll be able to adventure and travel and spend that hard-earned pension, but what if all of a sudden, you don’t get those years?
Even though I feel very fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to have an extended time to travel, and I definitely wouldn’t trade it to be headed back to teaching next week, September definitely won’t feel the same.
Teaching on the road
Throughout my adventures, I’ve always loved this last bit of August, because some students are already back in school. You can see student uniforms appearing on public transport, shiny new backpacks ready to go, and teachers hitting up the coffee shops in the early morning.
Because I’ll be on the road in many places during the year, I’m hoping to be able to experience different classroom environments, or even maybe do some volunteering in a classroom for a bit.
What on earth am I going to do without my little darlings for 14 months?
Teaching is, just in case you didn’t know, a bit of a demanding profession. Anyone who thinks we work 9-3:30 is kidding themselves. I don’t want to think about how much of my own money I’ve spent on my students, my classroom, or my education, just to make their learning that much better (let’s just say I could have done this trip probably earlier if I hadn’t 😝).
It requires evening and weekend commitment. I don’t have my own family yet, but every time I leave my dog for another evening at school or a Saturday spent photocopying music, the sad little look she gives me… just a hint of things to come.
And I still love it. I still can’t imagine doing anything else. How lucky am I to be able to inspire and create the next future of band nerds? To give kids a safe place to make music and be creative? No homeroom teacher has quite the same opportunity.
But I do plan to use my year off for some other pursuits. Like…
Reading for fun
I hate to say it, but my university degree killed my love of reading for a solid 5-7 years. For five years, I didn’t really read anything ‘for fun’. After I graduated, I still couldn’t pick up a book.
I finally started reading again about a year after my degree, and I’ve given myself a goal of reading 14 books in 14 months.
Furthermore, my goal is to read each book either based in, or written by someone, from one of the countries or cities I will travel to.
Awesome? Very much so.
Exploring some World Music
Bring ‘the musical meanderess’, I’ve made it my mission to experience as many musical opportunities as possible.
Playing a dulcimer in Budapest? Done.
Learning to play this awesome South African marimba-type instrument? Sign me up.
Who knows what musical adventures lie ahead!
Festivals Galore!
Seven years ago, I had a tiny opportunity to check out Oktoberfest. I had a hotel booked and everything. But I cancelled my trip because I completely ran out of money. I vowed then that I would get back to Munich for the festival the first chance I had.
This chance is this year. Munich, I’ll see you September 20!
I also plan to hit up Rio during Carnivale, Myanmar for the fireworks+hot air balloon festival, and a Pyongyang for some wild birthday celebrations…
Extended summer holiday
In the meantime though, I plan to even more fully-recharge. Already I’ve been traveling slower, spending days at a cafe reading (for fun! 😝), and enjoying a more relaxed pace of life for a while.
It feels weird not to be going back, but, rest assured teacher-friends, I’m there in spirit. 😊
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