In my opinion, taking a gap year at any point in your life is worthwhile for many reasons. You may have just finished your A Levels and are wondering whether you should go to University or go straight into the job market; you may have finished university and want to take a break to think about your career options before you jump into the first 9 – 5 job that comes along; or you may have been in the job market for a number of years and have become disillusioned due to lack of work / life balance.
Whilst I have never taken a gap ‘year’ as such, I have taken 6 months out from my career to allow me to indulge in my obsession with travel, and to also give me some thinking time to make decisions about my life/career.
When I was younger I always longed to travel, and during the summer holidays in my second year at University I got to travel to China and SE Asia with two of my friends for 2 months, then after I had finished university I took a month long G Adventures tour to Central America. Most recently, I decided to take 6 months out after I had finished my chartered accounting exams to see some more of the world.
Gap years can be frowned upon by some people as they see them as running away from your problems, however I think they can provide you with a great deal of perspective on life, build your confidence and allow you to learn new skills.
In order to get the most out of your gap year you need to think about what you want to get out of it and make a list of what you want to achieve so that you can refer back to the list regularly. Your list may look something like this:
- Travel to South America, learn conversational Spanish and hike the Inca Trail.
- Travel to India and work for a charity for 2 months.
- Travel to New Zealand – hire a campervan, skydive, woofing.
You can make your list more detailed as you go along, adding information on how you are actually going to achieve the above things.
Out of a well-planned gap year you can hope to get out of it many things including:
- A new sense of perspective on life and what is important – seeing immense poverty in India, making new friends and being submersed in different cultures certainly gave me a new viewpoint on my own problems.
- Gives you the thinking time needed to consider future career options – hitting the pause button for a few months on my career gave me the time and space to think about where I wanted to be in 5 – 10 years, rather than trying to think whilst still in the corporate culture.
- Gives you a better understanding of other cultures – travelling to many different countries has allowed me to relate better to others, and has generally made me a better person.
- Provides you with the opportunity to be independent and builds your confidence – travelling independently rather than on an organised tour, or packaged holiday certainly built my confidence to deal with problems head on.
- Allows you the opportunity to learn new skills and languages – Whilst on my 6 month career break, I did my PADI diver refreshers course (after not diving for 5 years!), completed a rock climbing course, did a Indian cooking class, and learnt some conversation Spanish – ‘Ola!
Agness says
I absolutely agree with everything you’re saying here. When I was 18 I left Poland and moved to England to study for 3 years. During that time I got my first job, became so independent and started relying on myself. I became financially independent and built my confidence. That shaped my personality and made me even stronger. Great experience, EVER!
Agness recently posted..Budget Travel Guide to Guilin, China
Selena Whitecloud says
hey, it’s good to hear that you’ve spent half of year traveling, you won’t probably have so much time any time soon
Selena Whitecloud recently posted..Wpisy o Biznesie
Arianwen says
Ah, you were sensible and did the Colca Canyon hike in 2 days! I did it in 1 and got lost. It was a tough day! Love the post. I think a gap year, no matter when in your life you take it, is incredibly valuable.
Arianwen recently posted..How to plan a gap year
Travelbllgr says
Completely agree - I sometimes wish my life was a gap year!
Auston says
Great thoughts! I totally agree. The funny thing is that our gap year was supposed to end in February. Now we have no definite end date and we have a totally new way of life in Spain. Living the life as poor travel bloggers 🙂
Auston recently posted..Five Northern England Destinations
Sam says
I’m really glad someone put this into words. I really want to take a gap year but everyone around me calls it running away.
Travelbllgr says
Thanks for your comment Sam. If you want to take a gap year, then do it, don’t let anyone else tell you that you cant. Its one of the most worthwhile things you can do
Digital Nomads says
Nice ideas and totally agree with, it’s always good to borden your mind through travel. Unfortunately I didn’t have that option back when I graduate (my wife did and ended living in Egypt for 15 years) but now we accomplished our dream and started our indefinite journey around the world.
Digital Nomads recently posted..Tractor Pulling Contest in Bernay
eemusings says
When younger I thought I would do mine between high school and uni. That didn’t happen. I didn’t do a travel exchange while at uni, and then I went straight to work. Three years later, my husband and I are on a six-month RTW trip. It’s never too late!
Travelbllgr says
thanks for your comment - no its definitely never too late. ‘Gap Years’ are not just for the twenty somethings out there, but for everyone. I hope you and your husband are enjoying your trip?
eemusings says
Ha, well, we’re still firmly mid 20s but we’re not of the partying and getting wasted ilk! It’s going well, though Vietnam hasn’t been so great for him as he’s spent a lot of it sick.
eemusings recently posted..Foodie Friday: Asian food in the spotlight
Travelbllgr says
Yeah we’re not really into partying either - we joke that we’re like grandma and granddad! Hope your partner feels better soon!