Sabbatical at eos.uptrade GmbH

Hanna: Hello Arne, thank you for your time. Before we talk about your sabbatical: Why don't you briefly tell us what you do at eos.uptrade?    

Arne: I've been at eos.uptrade for almost eleven years now and am part of First Level Support. Together with my four colleagues, I am the first point of contact for various customer inquiries. We try to solve as many queries and requirements or errors in the backend first. If that doesn't work, we create technical tickets for the relevant squad (= team). All communication with customers goes through us.  

Hanna: You returned from your sabbatical a few weeks ago. How long did you travel and where did you go to?   

Arne: Yes, that's right. We left on December 30th and were back in Hamburg on June 24th - I was on the road for almost six months! “On the road” means: Singapore, Malaysia, South Australia, New Zealand, Bolivia and Mexico. 

Hanna: Wow, these are really a lot of countries. How did you come up with the idea, and why these countries in particular? Did you decide on an exact itinerary in advance, or did you let yourself drift along the way?   

Arne: We had always wanted to go to New Zealand, and with certain “anchor points”, the route almost worked itself out.  

One of these points was Singapore, for example - my husband's family lives here. With sibling friends in Kuala Lumpur, nephews and nieces in Adelaide and Auckland, as well as good friends of ours in Bolivia and Mexico.  

With these anchor points, we naturally had a route in mind and had booked flights. In New Zealand, we were traveling with a camper van in the south of the country and of course we didn't have a fixed itinerary, but just let ourselves drift.  

When it got very cold at night, we didn't go any further south but headed back to the warm north. 

In the other countries, we traveled a lot with friends/family, or sometimes stayed in the same place for a few weeks to visit friends and get to know the country. 

Hanna: Does everyone at eos.uptrade have the opportunity to take a sabbatical? 

Arne: Everyone who has been with eos.uptrade for 5 years has the opportunity to take a sabbatical of up to 6 months. Part of the salary can be saved in advance and paid out during the sabbatical. We have exhausted the 6 months. 

Hanna: What have you done with your apartment in the meantime?  

Arne: We sublet our apartment during this time. Fortunately, we were able to rent it out to a friend and knew it was in good hands.  

Hanna: Between us travelers: How heavy was your backpack or suitcase?   

Arne: 20 kg + 6 kg hand luggage per person. As we had two domestic flights in Bolivia, we had to be very careful not to exceed the upper limit of 20 kg; that's why there are hardly any souvenirs.  

Our large items of luggage were each a wheeled suitcase, which can also be used as a rucksack. This meant that we had the option of pulling them, but also carrying them on our backs if necessary.  

Hanna: As I like traveling myself, I know that you always pack too much. What could have stayed at home?   

Arne: Not that much. Maybe the bathing shoes. 

Hanna: Was returning to work a challenge for you, or were you perhaps even looking forward going back to work? And in your opinion, have there been any major changes in the last six months or has everything stayed the same?   

Arne: The return wasn't a big challenge for me, as the processes were already familiar. But it's always a bit exhausting to adjust to the eight hours in front of the screen again. It was also quite exciting for me to come back to the company and see what has changed in the last six months. There have been very positive changes in the department thanks to new colleagues who started during this time.  

Hanna: Would you recommend a sabbatical to other colleagues or friends?   

Arne: Absolutely! It's definitely something different to leave everything completely behind and then start again unencumbered. I can really recommend it to anyone! 

Hanna: Thank you very much for your time and it's great to have you back!