I can recommend a big stupid project where it’s not a big deal if you fail.

Until recently, for me that would’ve meant “run Windows programs on Android,” mashing together Wine and e.g. Unicorn Engine… but now there’s like six different “userland emulators” vying for preference. FEX-emu, Box86, others with even sillier names.

I did manage a bespoke 8-bit FPS. That only took about two months. And then I’ve been idly tweaking it over the last two years. Splitscreen multiplayer, as a joke, was maybe not the best idea.

What’d take both time and space is some extremely low-end VR. I am convinced that Quest-ish headsets could cost, like, fifty bucks. The big players keep iterating clever hacks from a decade ago. Solving those problem, instead of avoiding those problems. Light should be collimated by default, which means a point source, which is any single LED. Rendering has to be detached from software performance, which means projecting the nearby world to e.g. floating dots instead of directly making a flat image. Inside-out tracking is at least the right idea, but it doesn’t have to be especially good in order to ground an inertial estimate.

A full year of multi month hikes across the world. I want to see it all and meet new people.

Technically not a sabbatical, but I saved up a bunch of money, quit my job, and have been studying abroad in Japan.

Probably a bikini inspector at my favourite beach… Seriously though the Bibbulmun Track.

I’d probably start designing and building a rolling ball clock/ sculpture, then hit some sort of obstacle and switch to making a self recirculating eddy current tube, get frustrated and try to design and build an electronically commutated counter rotating propeller driver, get frustrated and try to build a garage sized 3d printer, get frustrated and try to build a delayed action door closer get frustrated and try to build a co-planar compound cycloidal reducer, get frustrated and then forget my wife’s anniversary until 4pm the day before.

I’ll go nuts and get myself hospitalized in a psych ward

I would spend my year trying to turn my side business into my actual business then I couldn’t quite my job and work for myself doing what I do now but for more money

I would absolutely have a blast being a full time stay-at-home Dad. We would hit every Park, library, zoo, and aquarium within a days drive.

Then during the summer, I’d pass their kids to their grandparents house so my wife and I could find a place to SCUBA for 2 weeks straight.

Travel somewhere nice

Two chicks at the same time, man…

• Do a food tour of Vietnam
• Experience more of South East Asia
• Volunteer my time at the City Mission
• Get more sleep
• Workout more
• Spend more time with the girlfriend
• Spend more time with Family
• Work on some personal Web Projects

Not in any particular order.

Our dream (my SO and me) is to ride our motorcycles to Japan (from Central Europe). At this time the northern route is politically difficult. The southern route has always been difficult but would be the better option at this time, I think. We even discussed ideas of plans. She could take a half year off, for me it would be more difficult. But the funds would be the biggest issue. So plan B is to rent motorcycles for a week or two, next time we’re in Japan.

I’d hike the Appalachian Trail.

My question to anyone able to answer this: how can you afford to take a sabbatical period??? I can’t even afford to take a weeks vacation. It would wreck me financially not receiving pay for a whole week. Let alone a year??? What’s going on in this thread?

Sleep, play with my cats, hang out with my wife, organize all my shit, prune my emails and pictures, finish my homelab and the other tech projects I have going on, go to Disney a bunch.