With every week that passed, my plans grew more and more concrete, and at the same time, my enthusiasm rose so much, it gave me sleepless nights. I was dying to finally get on that plane and start my adventure – my sabbatical. All the thinking and talking and researching and calculating eventually led to four areas that I wanted to dedicate my time and money too. Those would be areas I might have neglected for some time and wanted to give more weight in my life, areas that would help me plant seeds for potential future possibilities, areas I enjoy and thrive in, and new areas I want to discover.

The first one is learning and personal growth. I love learning new things, from typing with ten fingers instead of just three (looks much more elegant), to becoming a Certified Professional Coach (certainly more demanding than learning how to type), and a few other topics I had always wanted to dig my head into. Learning is what is at the top of my list and will consume probably most of my time.

The second item is improving my fitness level. Over the past several years, I went from holding a gym membership but never entering one, to exercising for at least 3-4 hours every week. I feel there is still potential for more, and since Chicago offers so many possibilities for working out, I can almost try out a new type of sport every week. Doing a few official 5-10k runs is at the top of my work-out agenda and something I will start training for immediately.

The third item on my list is giving back to those in need. I consider myself as very fortunate when it comes to the status of my health, educational background, and financial situation, but I know that there are millions of people around the world – and thousands of them in Chicago – who are not that lucky. Now that I have the time, I want to help where my resource and energy can make a difference. I worked through Chicago Cares to find a few very meaningful volunteer activities of things that are close to my heart and which I feel I want to commit to for a longer period.

The fourth and last item on my list is doing lots of fun things. This involves starting my own blog, exploring everything Chicago has to offer, traveling the country, learning to play an instrument (yep, you heard right, that is on my bucket list as well, and I am in the process of finding my best-fit music school), networking with the locals (easier than I thought) and sometimes just reading a book or simply doing nothing. There is a wealth of things to experience, and already now I feel that I do not have enough hours in the day.