Hello! Welcome to Sabbatical Studio.
My name is Liz Delia. I’m an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and I’ve spent over a decade researching identity and how we find meaning in our lives. I’m also drawn to travel, adventure, and the kind of experiences that create space to think differently. Sabbatical Studio sits at the intersection of these worlds. My work on sabbaticals has been featured in Inside Higher Ed.
The Story of Sabbatical Studio
In a relatively short period of time, several significant life and career moments converged for me. I turned 40, lost both of my parents, applied for a major promotion, and received an endowed fellowship in a matter of months.
Individually, each of those things invited reflection. Strung together, they created a sustained period of stepping back and rethinking my relationship to work and time.
That period clarified something important for me: how much can shift when you create space to pause and reassess what you want your work and life to look like moving forward.
That experience reshaped my priorities in life, and also led me to create Sabbatical Studio. This project began with a simple idea: space away from the day-to-day of work is rare and deeply valuable, and yet it’s often treated as an isolated (or even risky) pause rather than a meaningful part of our lives and careers.
Over the past decade, I’ve experienced several forms of stepping away. Each has shaped how I think about creating space within a career, and what it really means to pause intentionally when it feels necessary.
Through these experiences, I’ve come to see both the potential and the gaps around time away from work. While career paths offer guidance for growth and productivity, there’s often little structured support for stepping back and reconsidering our goals and priorities—something I see as especially important in the mid-career phase and beyond.
Sabbatical Studio grew out of these realizations. I offer practical resources and thoughtful support to help accomplished professionals approach sabbaticals and work breaks with greater clarity, intention, and purpose. At the center of this work is the belief that stepping back can help us see our work—and ourselves—more clearly.
Sabbatical Studio is a resource and support space for people who want to approach sabbaticals, career breaks, and intentional time away with greater clarity and purpose.
Here, you’ll find practical guidance, reflective tools, and personal insights for planning, navigating, and making the most of periods of intentional interruption—whether through formal sabbatical, a self-directed break, or a smaller pause within your current work.
This work is grounded in the belief that stepping away can help us reconnect with what matters, reassess where we’re headed, and create space for renewal, creativity, and change.
At Sabbatical Studio, I share resources, reflections, and practical guidance for approaching sabbaticals and international time away with greater clarity and purpose. Some resources focus on planning and navigating sabbaticals, while others explore deeper questions that often surface when we step back from work and routine.
I also offer one-on-one sabbatical coaching and support for people looking to create more meaningful, intentional space in their lives and careers.
My approach combines research, lived experience, and conversations with people navigating different forms of leave, pause, and transition.