The sabbatical is over, and what a profound experience it was. I’m writing this from Cape Town and Knysna; happily settled back in at home, with an unpacked bag and a bed that I call my own. I’m feeling inspired, invigorated and healthy. I’ve charged head first into my life here, although there’s been one piece of unfinished business; this last blog post from the sabbatical.
These three months were extremely significant for me. While I could have simply sat down upon returning to Cape Town and written this last post, I had felt that it would be doing injustice to the whole experience. I was genuinely thriving when I returned, and didn’t want to jump to conclusions; knowing that with every peak there is a trough. So I’ve given it a few months to simmer and now - still thriving - I think that it’s worth cementing into words. So this is the story about London, coming home and everything the sabbatical meant to me.
After Malawi, Jordan and I had a one night stopover in Johannesburg to sleep and repack bags. The very next morning we flew to London for what would be an incredible last two weeks of the sabbatical and our relationship. The end of your relationship? You ask - confused as Malawi had been so honeymoon-esque. I’ll give a brief explanation, feel free to reach out to me personally if you’d like to hear more.
Before we left for Malawi, Jordan and I decided that upon returning back to Cape Town we would part ways. The reason for this decision was due to the fact that we would no longer be living in the same city, and after many stints of long distance in the past; we had reconciled to never do long distance without an end date. As tough a decision as it was, it came from a place of mutual love and respect.
Through Malawi we had a daily reflections on the journey that we had shared. Throw some trauma bonding in there by way of a motorcycle accident, a glug of conscious uncoupling and you have a recipe for the perfect way to end a relationship with someone who could easily be a life partner. The sabbatical was the beautiful sunset of our relationship, and the green flash being our journey through London.
A friend of ours made the comment that it was the “most progressive, bohemian way to part ways with someone” (There’s a 60% change I made up most of that quote). And yes, that might be the case. There is no way that Leo from a few years ago would have been able go through - or even want - this kind of ending for a relationship. And I really think that I have the two months of solo travelling around South Africa to thank for the way that I personally was able to handle Jordan and my parting of ways.
If you read the travel journals as incessantly as my mother you may have noticed sprinklings of Alan Watts, Sam Harris, Stoicism and other Eastern philosophies mentioned here and there. I have read, listened and practiced in many different ways throughout the years, but this sabbatical really allowed for dedicated time to listen to what was being taught.
A few days before the start of the sabbatical I sat down to think about some intentions for the trip. I cemented that fact in my first blog post with the following list: surf, run, hike, meet people and write. I can say with confidence that I managed to do all those things and more. One thing that I omitted from the list was that I wanted to learn more about myself, call it self-study. Upon writing that first post I remember thinking that it was potentially a touch esoteric to throw in there. Three months later I don’t view it as esoteric in the slightest - which is definitely testimony to some successful self-study and a refreshed understanding for the person that I am.
I can say that with some healthy words of wisdom from a few people - all speaking the same truth in their own words - I was able to find a huge amount of peace in life. This really formed the foundations of a state of mind for allowing the parting of ways with Jordan to be something beautiful and uplifting rather than a great loss.
Throughout my journey I met a myriad of fascinating characters who all provided a dose of perspective, insight and conversation that have provided wonderful influence to me. Coming back home, to my comforts and community is incredible, but I want to ensure that I don’t lose the surprising conversations and insights that strangers bring. My friend Julian and I conceived the idea of dinner conversations that could allow for a forum of similar value - have a look at the link and sign up if you are interested to join.
Let’s talk London: I am enamoured by it. To put it simply, the city held so many parallels to Afrikaburn: It’s chaos at scale - infrastructure, sprawling structures, roads and people ramifying off in every direction. You can look at it as a whole and it seems to have life, the city breathing and expressing its moods throughout the day and night. Yet when you zoom right in; walk over the street and into a small building, there is a microcosm of the whole, in the form of a beautiful eclectic space immaculately curated by some quirky characters. Here is a little video that offers a glimpse into that world:
Below are a few of my favourite days in the United Kingdom, but if you care to - you can find all the daily updates in the travel journal (excuse the quality of writing dropping off slightly towards the end).
Brisk streets of London
Our first day in London: museums, rose gardens, Mich Burn, community saunas and dinner with Robynne.
A party
Dave and Molly, the Science museum and a surprising party with old friends.
Bikes
The most decadent toasted cheese in existence, electric bicycles, a massive market, Benji and a movie.
Tate Modern
The gallery and excitedly preparing to go back to to work.
Men’s fashion and the country
Fashioning masculinity - the Art of Menswear an exhibition by Gucci. Taking a train off to a small village near Oxford to visit my cousins and discovering that sleep is actually just a hallucination.
The engineer in me has always loved transportation machines: trains, busses, bicycles, cars, boats aeroplanes and tractors (not transportation, but I do love them). London - as you can imagine - provided more than enough stimulation in this department.
Every journey through the city, using Citymapper to construct a route from A to B using all the incredible public transport that was available, was as much a highlight as the destination was. I put together this little video dedicated to transit around the United Kingdom:
I committed fully to the writing process throughout the sabbatical. My brother joked that I was putting out more content than most influencers and, well, that’s probably true. I found that the daily journalling not only made each experience that much more real, but I was able to surface some interesting realisations about myself as I travelled through places and experiences. It’s definitely something that I’m going to keep up.
Solo travelling reveals so much about yourself. I’ve pondered the reason for it many times and I’ve come up with a hypothesis: It’s so difficult to define the boundaries of yourself against a consistent environment. It’s easy to confuse what is you and what is the people you surround yourself by, the culture, society and general way of life. Yet when you travel by yourself you are able to look at yourself against the background of vastly different environments. Through observing yourself in many different environments you’re able to clearly see what changes and what stays the same; these snapshots allow oneself to construct clearer image of what is truly you.
I remember a time when watching television as a child there was an advert that appeared. It captivated me and delivered a message and experience that changed my mind on a few things. For the life of me I cannot remember what the advert was or what in my mind changed. One minute I was watching cartoons and the next I was thrown into a completely different reality and had an experience that changed me. This sabbatical was analogous to the commercial. I’m coming back into the TV show after the break with a renewed sense of self and a healthy dose of fresh perspective.
This sabbatical was only possible due to the fantastic people at MOHARA. A perk that they introduced to ensure that people could have both a fulfilling career and life. I had worked at the company for over three years and learned things far beyond my years. I had helped build fantastic startups that brought great value to this world. And I was tired.
The ability to take off three months without worrying about finances or having to find a new job is something that I am so grateful for. I do know that I am in the lucky position where I am able to take this time off and not drop any other balls of responsibility. I’m also proud of myself for taking the leap and jumping into this adventure and really making the most of it.
It took me two months to properly relax and get to a point where I was excited to go back to work. The last month was pure enjoyment, feeling like dessert after a delicious meal. During that last month - during which I began to get excited about going back to work at MOHARA - I spent quite a bit of time thinking about work, my career and what it means.
I came across William MacAskill and then Effective Altruism and 80000 Hours a while back, and really dived into it during the sabbatical. It filled me with inspiration and passion to make an effort to ensure that the work that I do is benefiting the world. I’ve come back to work with a huge amount of passion, and I feel like a new version of myself in a my role at MOHARA. You could definitely say that the sabbatical had exactly the desired affect.
Lastly; I’d like to write more. I will let it happen organically but do aspire to have another blog in your mailbox some day.
With love,
Leo