Time for reflection
One of the good things about a trip like this (sabbatical or equivalent) is the 'thinking time' that it provides.

Florianopolis is very conducive to good 'thinking time'. There never seems to be enough of this in England.

Recently I have been doing lots of reading on 'leadership' and have been struck by the life and work of Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), one of Japan's most successful entrepreneurs - in particular by what he achieved between the ages of 60 and 90, when he established himself as a global institutional leader, philosopher and educator. Here is a link to more information about his remarkable life. http://matsushita-library.jp/en/history/index.html

'Retirement' doesn't seem to have been a word in his vocabulary!