I've spent 24 years as a teacher and principal in public schools. This work never feels like a burden to me because I provide myself with opportunities to step away from the job. I spend our school breaks traveling to new places, such as Australia, Mexico, England, and Paris, which allows me to view things other than the day-to-day dramas and challenges of school and to focus on being a wife and a mother to my own children. These trips are my brain breaks from the "regular."
Travel reinforces why my work is so critical. These learning opportunities are a chance to educate myself about the world, and since education is the cornerstone of everything I do, traveling helps to reinforce the mission of my work while exposing me to the beauty of the world. The day I return from a journey is an opportunity to come "home," to where my students and colleagues are, and to embrace the familiarity. I can then look at the work of educating children with a slightly different perspective than I had before I left.
Some skeptics suggest traveling is too expensive on an educator's salary. I would argue it's too expensive not to use our breaks to pour experiences and knowledge into ourselves rather than just into others. I budget for travel like I do for all the important things in life, and if it means I drive a seven-year-old car instead of a new one, then that is a good payoff for me. It keeps me grounded, optimistic, and fresh, and that is the best preventative medicine against burnout.
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Susan Stone Kessler traveled to Ketchikan, Alaska, with her family. She says travel helps to reinforce the mission of her work as an educator. Photo courtesy of Susan Stone Kessler
