My husband and I are at in a position right now to take a 1-2 month sabbatical and would like to start planning our adventure. We are looking at January and February to be gone. We have a 20 month old son and live in Chicago, are very well traveled and enjoy immersing ourselves in other cultures. So, the million dollar question, where should we go? We will be looking to rent an apartment or home and I am already looking into home exchanges, but haven't found anything that fit just yet. Please share any great finds! We wouldn't be looking to travel a bunch of places, rather soaking up local culture with wherever we land. We are up for any type of weather (living in Chicago prepares us for anything!)

Actually the Million Dollar questions is what are your expectations of this 2-month sabatical? You probaly need to be a little more specific than "enjoy immersing (sic) in other cultures"...

Are you hoping to just relax? brush on a language skill? write? research a topic? want to learn about wine? If I were you I would head out to the Southern Hemisphere (Jan-Feb summer months). My top choices would be Chile (Santiago), New Zealand (Auckland), and Australia (Darwin). Then again, the Greek Isles are always a pleasant destination.

I love Spain :
a large country with diverse scenery, languages, cuisine, history, and the mild weather ( in the south) does not hurt. Portugal is next door !

marking

HI J,

For that time of year
Paris
Paris
Paris
Rome
London
Madrid
Lisbon
in that order.

Enjoy your visit.

Actually, the the South America options would be attractive to me---Santiago or Buenos Aires--or both.
If Europe is your choice then Rome is my first choice.

Thanks everyone! Ideally we are looking to just relax, catch up on reading and rejuvenate. I do speak French and could use some brushing up on my skills so Paris would be an easier option. As I said the perfect situation would be one where we could exchange a home with someone wanting to come to Chicago. But that may be a tall order in January/February Of course if people want to experience Obama mania up close and personal then its the perfect place to visit right now. I'd love to do New Zealand, just not sure how pricing would be at high season, that scares me a bit.

I'd likely split my time between Paris, and maybe Prague.

For relaxing and rejuvenating, then South America is the way to go. Take in Buenos Aires, maybe go to Mendoza and wine country, check out the lake district, perhaps even Patagonia or Iguazu Falls. And it will likely be cheaper than Europe and the weather will be significantly better.

Jen: We have done a 6-month sabbatical with a 3 year old. If you are going to spend the entire time with your little one, I would suggest that you limit yourself to one or two places. At that age, they don't like to be on the go all the time. We spent the month of January on South Padre Island, Texas. When the weather was good, we had fun on the beach. When it rained, well - we hung out in the condo or Walmart. But the rent for a month was very reasonable. Although we also did go to Europe on our own that time while our daughter stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, I have since traveled to Europe with little ones, and I would do the same thing there: limit yourself to one or two places and plan one or two activities a day. If you rent a place in Paris, I would find something near a playground - Luxembourg Gardens? (Frankly, I think a trip to the supermarche or the parc is a cultural experience!) You may be rather late for a home exchange for January or February, but you have the advantage of offering a place in Chicago.