More putting careers on hold to hit the road

By Joe Guy Collier
Detroit Free Press

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Bert and Theresa Sherman sit at the kitchen table in their Grand Rapids home — Domino's pizza spread across the counter. Their dog, Shadow, a Lab mix, is sprawled out on the linoleum floor.

By taking a 16-month sabbatical from their successful careers, Bert and Theresa Sherman of Grand Rapids, Mich., have learned how to get by on less money and find more time to spend together. Mark Bialek • Detroit Free Press

A few years ago, the Shermans, now both in their 30s, were too busy to take care of a dog. Bert was running his own engineering company. As a manager at Ford Motor Co., Theresa was gone most weeks visiting car dealerships.

With the stresses of daily life mounting, the Shermans decided to take a break. They quit their jobs, sold their house and hit the road, with no set agenda, in a Ford pickup truck and 19-foot camper. They created a sabbatical from work and real life.

"I wanted to get my priorities straight," Theresa says. "I wasn't really happy. I loved Bert. I loved success. I loved doing well. But I was never with my husband. I thought,

'I don't want to do this for the rest of my life.' "

The Shermans aren't the only ones who needed a break. Formal sabbaticals are rare outside the academic sector, but experts say more people in the business world are seeking time to reassess their lives.

They're working longer hours, moving up in their careers and not feeling satisfied, says Mary Lou Quinlan, author of "Time Off for Good Behavior" (Broadway Books, $23.95). The book tells the stories of 37 women who took time off from work.

"In this modern world, what we're talking about is a remedy so you can get your mojo back," Quinlan says.

When the Shermans decided to take their sabbatical, friends and family told them they were crazy. People said they would last three months, six months tops, away from the corporate world.

The Shermans held out for 16 months. Today, three years after the trip, their lives are still affected by the time away. They learned how to get by on less money, make more time for each other and slow down long enough to enjoy what's around them.

"Our quality of life right now is 100 times better than it was before," says Bert, who wrote a book about the journey with his wife, "Goodbye Careers Hello American Adventure" (iUniverse, $14.95).

Success comes early

In 2000, before their adventure, life looked good for Theresa and Bert. Both Michigan State University graduates, they met in East Lansing in 1994 and married four years later.

Bert and Theresa Sherman make just half what they used to earn before their odyssey, but they say they've learned to enjoy life more. Mark Bialek • Detroit Free Press

Bert ran his own one-man engineering consulting firm. Theresa was in charge of retail development at Ford for about 200 Kansas City-area Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.

The couple was so busy, they seldom saw each other.

"There were plenty of weeks where Monday morning would come, she'd leave and I wouldn't see her again until Friday night," Bert says.

In March 2000, over dinner one random Friday night, Bert suggested they take a sabbatical. His father, an English professor at Michigan State, had taken a sabbatical when Bert was a child. Why couldn't they do the same thing?

"I just started laughing," Theresa says. "I thought he was joking."

Taking it on the road

But in a few weeks, they were convinced it was something they needed to do. They told their families about their intentions over Easter weekend.

They set aside $25,000 for travel; they would go as far as that would take them.

In June 2000, they pulled out of Overland Park, Kan. Not long into the trip, reality returned. At the first stop, about 150 miles into the trip, Bert returned to the truck cab, stunned by rising gas prices. They'd spent $45 and barely gotten into Missouri. He told Theresa he wasn't sure if they had thought this trip through.

"I about fell out of the truck," Theresa says.

Their concerns soon eased; their lives wound down. They kept journals. They chatted with locals and fellow travelers. They took Shadow on walks through the woods.

They have scrapbooks and albums filled with mementos and photos of their journey — prairie dogs in Nebraska, elk in South Dakota, whales off the Alaskan coast.

Crisscrossing America

They traveled cheaply and simply — stopping at grocery stores to stock up on food and camping mostly at state and national parks. They learned that Wal-Mart parking lots also provide a friendly place for overnight stays.

Along the way, they visited friends all over the United States — Ohio, Michigan, Montana, Alaska and North Carolina. Before the trip was over, the Shermans had crisscrossed North America, heading first up to Alaska, then south along the West Coast.

They crossed the continental United States to Florida and drove along the East Coast for fall.

"Every day we would wake up and say, 'Where do you want to go?' " Theresa says.

After a year on the road, the Shermans landed in Wyoming and decided it was time to find work again. "We felt fulfilled," Theresa says. "We were ready to come back."

They also were running out of money in their travel fund.

He works, she doesn't

In the fall of 2001, Bert applied for a job at a Grand Rapids engineering firm, where he still works.

Theresa landed a job in marketing and customer service with a furniture maker in Grand Rapids. Three months after getting the job, she quit.

"It was structure and I didn't like that," Theresa says. "I wanted to be outside. I wanted to be with Shadow."

On a typical day now, Theresa takes Shadow for a walk, cleans the house, goes to the grocery store and prepares their meals. She takes care of the errands that used to fill their weekends and weeknights.

She also takes art lessons from a neighbor and attends a weekly scripture and current affairs class at St. Stephen Catholic Church.

Theresa does temp work at times, but the Shermans decided they could get by on one full-time salary.

Living simply

Before the trip, they had a combined six-figure income. They're making half what they were before, but they say they enjoy their lives more.

They spend less money. They drive used cars, a 1997 Mercury Villager and a 2001 Ford F150. They live in a smaller house, a 1,900-square-foot Cape Cod-style home, in a smaller city, Grand Rapids.

And they don't bother keeping up with the latest fashion trends.

"I wear a lot of T-shirts and sweats," Theresa says. "Jeans is dressing up for me."

The Shermans spend more time together. Bert comes home for lunch most days. Theresa makes them cold-cut sandwiches. She usually has dinner in the oven when Bert comes home from work, so they have time for an evening walk. They order pizza at least once a week, although Theresa has become picky lately about toppings: She's in the early stages of pregnancy with their first child. Now a plain cheese pizza is most palatable to her.

A pot of fresh flowers sits on their kitchen table. Bert brought them home the other day as a pick-me-up.

The Shermans say they're glad they took the sabbatical. "Now, just having a roof over my head and having a wife and dog and a baby on the way, that's all I need," Bert says.

Theresa says she never thought she'd want to be a stay-at-home wife or mom, but she's changed her outlook on life.

"I don't want to go back to the high-stress, fast-paced world," she says. "Now, my goal is to do what makes us happy."