If you’re a fan of Microsoft, or at least watch the company’s press events, you’ve probably come to know the face of Joe Belfiore, the company’s VP of its operating systems group. He frequently brings his exuberant, dorky personality to Windows 10 presentations, making him a match for Apple’s charismatic Craig Federighi.
Alas, Microsoft fans will have to get by without Joe’s presence for a time. He’s decided to head out to sea. Really. Literally.
According to a blurb on his Facebook page, Mr. Belfiore is looking to spend time with his family. And if you’re a Microsoft VP with a stressful schedule, a few hours at Chuck-E-Cheese isn’t going to do the trick. Instead he’s taking his children out for an educational “semester at sea” that includes a long list of cities across the globe, starting at San Diego, and including stops in Asia, India and Africa, before debarking in England. The trip will begin in early January of 2016, but it seems Belfiore is taking some time off early to prepare.
To be clear, this isn’t a private yacht tour. The Semester at Sea is an educational voyage that occurs twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Approximately 600 students will be a part of the voyage, along with faculty members, parents, and “lifelong learners.”
Or, as Joe Belfiore puts it on his Facebook page, “SO … after dreaming about the idea for years … and with our kids getting ALMOST too old for something crazy … we’ve decided that we are going to take our family on the EDUCATIONAL TRIP OF OUR LIFETIME.”
While the vacation will be long, neither Microsoft nor Belfiore has given indication it’s anything aside from a vacation. Belfiore should resume his duties when he returns in late April of 2016. In the meantime, Microsoft fans may want to wish him bon voyage, and be prepared to see someone else giving demos of Windows 10.
