And I’m Off
A sabbatical, particularly mine, is an odd thing. In my entire almost 18 years at IPF, I haven’t really ever unplugged. There’s always been something to do, an email to respond to, some decision to make, even if I was on a vacation. The timing of this sabbatical correlates directly with the current state of IPF, the strength of the staff and demonstrated initiative and leadership of the entire team. Heck, we onboarded two new staffers this week at the same time as I was sleeping on a plane bound for Europe. That would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. In short, this opportunity for me is only possible because of our incredible staff at IPF!
The last two days have been a whirlwind: the emotions of saying goodbye to my family for six weeks, a long day of travel to get to Paris, and being in Paris for less than 24 hours but having an absolutely delightful dinner with my Parisian cousins filled with good food and no shortage of libations. And then early train to St. Jean Pied-de-Port, the starting point of my walk, made complicated by what is almost certainly an unexpected case of pink eye and a delayed departure due to a passenger having a medical emergency upon boarding the train. An inauspicious start for sure.