This manner you possibly can take a break from working and travelling in Europe without spending quite a lot of money

In 2023, Rowena Hennigan got here to a difficult but mandatory conclusion: she needed a protracted break from work.

Hennigan struggled with sleep disturbances, anxiety and difficulty concentrating – all normal symptoms of menopause – but they were negatively impacting her work and mental health.

She said she had tried exercise, a brand new weight loss program, hormone supplements, therapy and occasional rest days, but several nights of interrupted sleep had triggered stress – and made her feel like she was running on a hamster wheel.

But as a contract distant work consultant, making time is less complicated said than done.

“The fear that what I had built from nothing in six years – my business, my clients, my audience, my life with the freedom to work from anywhere – could be at risk made me hesitate. If I quit, would I lose everything?” Hennigan said.

“Then I realized…how could I be a whole, productive, healthy person without my health? I accepted the reality that only proper rest would recover me.”

Hennigan's four-month hiatus from her company RoRemote began in December 2023. Although her husband continued to work, she set a strict budget for her absence because she had no income of her own, she said.

Hennigan, originally from Dublin and now living in Zaragoza, Spain, and her family spent the end-of-year holidays on Gran Canaria, the most important of Spain's Canary Islands. They stayed with friends, saving on accommodation costs, and stuck to a budget of 20 euros (about $21.50) per person per day for food and drinks.

The journey lasted 15 days.

Back in Zaragoza, Hennigan budgeted for her share of her family's fixed costs for rent, bills and groceries.

In total, the quantity was about $860 per thirty days, or $3,440 for the 4 months of her sabbatical.

That didn't leave much for her travel budget, but Hennigan had a plan, she said.

In mid-January, Hennigan set out on a budget of about $54 a day for an almost four-week stay within the Spanish Pyrenees.

Her biggest expense was a one-bedroom Airbnb apartment: $915, or about $32 an evening. But she was capable of eat and drink for a mean of just $16 a day by shopping at local supermarkets.

Eating out can be inexpensive in Spain, she said. A coffee and sandwich at a restaurant costs a mean of $11 to $13, while a three-course “menu del dia” (lunch of the day) at a restaurant starts at about $21.50 per person.

Her foremost activity, mountaineering, was free. Hennigan said she had planned to ski since she still had credit on her ski pass from last 12 months, but there was little snow this 12 months due to warmer weather.

The better part: Hennigan's husband and ten-year-old daughter accompanied her on the weekends.

“I am so grateful to my family for their support. It makes a big difference to know that a compromise could be found,” she said.

Hennigan returned home for a couple of month, spending weekends with a friend in Valencia, about three hours away, and skiing in Formigal, about two hours away. In Formigal, she split her time between staying with friends and in a hotel (the latter was a Christmas gift from her husband), using a ski credit she purchased in 2023. Her biggest expense during that point: about $170 for gas, she said.

At the top of March she set off on a month-long trip to Villembits in France. Trustworthy Housesittersshe found a four-bedroom farmhouse that she got without cost in return for taking care of the owner's chickens, cats and gardens.

She arrived two days before the owners left to familiarize herself with the home and the tasks she had to finish. Completing all of those tasks took about five hours a day, she said, split between the morning and evening, leaving her time in the course of the day to hike and explore the realm.

Hennigan spent the primary few days alone before her husband and daughter joined her.

“The vibe and feel was very different to a normal rental,” she said. “It was a home with lots of bedrooms, a garden, outbuildings, a library, a summer room, a full kitchen, a loft, an art room and two offices. There was so much space to explore and enjoy all the different nooks and crannies.”

Hennigan spent about $11 a day on food here, subsisting totally on eggs from the property's chickens and vegetables from the garden, she said. Her daughter used the eggs and ingredients from the kitchen to bake cakes, and each used mint from the herb garden to make tea.

The family plans to work as house-sitters in France again during their summer vacation this 12 months, she said.

Hennigan spent nearly $6,000 during her four-month sabbatical, spending most of her time on free activities like mountaineering and sightseeing.

She was capable of detach herself from work, but said she put aside an hour every Monday to envision her email inbox and an easy messaging channel where her virtual assistant relayed any necessary messages.

She is now back at work and, along with her work as a management consultant, has taken on a part-time position as head of distant operations for a startup within the cryptocurrency and cloud computing space.

“My energy and focus have returned,” she said. “The biggest takeaway is that I can now incorporate many of the lessons from assisted rest into my daily work and schedule.”

In addition, she said, she realized that her fears of separation were unfounded and that her clients understood and supported her decision.

“Being open about my need to rest, while also asking for help and receiving a lot of support, was a real lesson in human understanding and kindness,” she said. “Once I knew I had support, I got better at planning and organizing and realized I could actually close the laptop and rest as planned.”