I’m not old enough to retire, but I’m definitely old enough to appreciate a change of scenery every once in a while. Thus, I’m fortunate to work for a company that gives employees the opportunity to take a six-week (paid!) sabbatical once every four years. People at

Morningstar typically use this time to travel, pursue other interests, test out how more permanent time off might work in retirement, or just recharge and spend time with family and friends. I recently returned to the office after spending six weeks doing a little bit of each of these.

Here are some of my observations.

1. Appreciate what you have

I spent about half my time off traveling, and every single person I talked to was blown away by Morningstar’s sabbatical program. When you’ve been with the same company for two or three decades, it’s easy to take perks like this for granted. But my conversations with fellow travelers were a helpful reminder of how unusual paid sabbaticals are in the corporate world and how well they work as a retention tool for long-term employees.

My time away also gave me a renewed appreciation for the nature of my work. While I tried to disengage from the daily flow of emails, projects, and deadlines, I continued poring over The Wall Street Journal most mornings, reading my favorite finance and investing blogs, and keeping up with my colleagues’ latest insights. I count myself lucky to work in a field that I find interesting enough to stay in touch with even during my time off.

2. Use money as a tool for your pursuits

As a writer focusing on finance and investing, it’s easy to get caught up in a scarcity mindset—that people should squirrel away every possible dollar to shore up savings for retirement, emergencies, and potentially catastrophic events like the need for long-term care later in life. Ultimately, though, the purpose of building wealth is to improve one’s own life and well-being. I tried to keep that in mind as I made a few big-ticket purchases for trips during my sabbatical.

3. Balance is key

From previous experience, I know that six weeks can fly by quickly. During the days that I wasn’t traveling, I tried to maintain a loose schedule to avoid frittering away too much time. I found it helpful to have something specific to do so that I would get out of the house by about 9 a.m. every day. Some days I went to a fitness class, some days I spent a few hours at the library working through a book on world history, and other days I met up with friends for lunch. I tried to balance productive time spent pursuing goals with plenty of leisure time to read and relax.

4. Enjoy the current season of life

Most of my previous sabbaticals took place when my kids were growing up and I was still in the throes of parenting. Fast-forward to now, when life is much quieter, and the empty nest feels too sad and empty at times. I still miss having kids at home, but I’ve also come to appreciate the freedom that comes with having grown-up children. It’s easier to travel, dinner times that were once sacrosanct are much more flexible, and there are fewer demands on my time when I’m not at work.

5. Plan ahead for functional fitness

I spent about 10 days hiking with a group of women in Italy, which was a loud wake-up call about the need to maintain strength, flexibility, and endurance as I get older. As a long-time Illinois resident, I can easily walk for miles on flat terrain, but steep hills are another story. A grueling hike with jagged trails and 1,400 feet of elevation gain made me realize that I’ll need to redouble my training efforts if I want to pursue similar trips in the future. At the same time, I was inspired by some other members of the group, who gracefully ascended the trails despite being 10 or 20 years older than me.

6. Build in a margin of safety

The concept of a margin of safety is a core part of Morningstar’s approach to stock investing. The idea is that a company’s value is inherently uncertain; factors like operating and financial leverage, overall economic trends, product concentration, and competitive pressures all make it difficult to pin down exactly how much a company’s stock is worth. Buying stock at a discount builds in a margin of safety that can help offset this uncertainty.

As a former stock analyst, I should have internalized this concept enough to apply it to my own life. Reader, I did not. My return to work involved a flight across the US on my first day back, followed by a one-hour speaking engagement on my second day and then a red-eye flight home the same night while still recovering from a time-zone change from a previous trip. Needless to say, this was more stressful and exhausting than it needed to be. As I look ahead to my next sabbatical in four or five years, I hope I can take that—and the other lessons above—to heart.

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