The Benefits of a Gap Year
The Benefits of a Gap Year When leaving school or university, the natural next step for most is to enter the big bad world of work. However, diving into a full time job needn’t be the only option - with more and more people wanting to widen their travelling experience, it turns out there are more reasons than ever before to consider taking a gap year.
Firstly, if your family or friends are suggesting you actually get your
career off the ground before gallivanting around the world (their words,
not ours…), assure them that a gap year needn’t mean putting off gaining valuable experience in a working environment. Working abroad not only provides more opportunity to meet new people, but it can also be beneficial to your future chances of employment - it shows that you are hardworking and independent, and that you have a go-getting nature.
Secondly, it also solves the problem which stops most people from travelling in the first place: money. If you don’t have the savings or means to fund your trip, why not consider getting a job along the way in order to do so? Not only does a gap year provide the chance to see the world - and places that two weeks abroad just can’t cover - but it can also help shape you into a more mature, and generally well-rounded person.
There’s no doubt that a nine-to-five would provide you with stability, a work ethic and more responsibility than you’d probably care to have, but who’s to say that a gap year wouldn’t also benefit you – and in a more varied way?
Being exposed to different cultures, beliefs and experiences could help you be more accepting, worldly and emotionally intelligent. Furthermore, the experience of travelling could also be beneficial to your well-being and mental health; it is only by getting away from the general pressures of everyday life, and the people who remind us of it, that we are able to truly think clearly and reflect. If you’re struggling to find a particular path in life, this time away could be exactly what you need to determine what it is you do want. Lastly, a gap year could also leave you with lifelong friends.
(friends - a more popular kind)
Granted, we’re pretty sure that you’ve already got a decent group of fairly reliable and loveable mates, but it’s a well-known fact that by experiencing something as unique and ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ as sleeping in hostels, hitch-hiking across countries, and skinny-dipping in exotic seas… you’re likely to make everlasting bonds. Also, if you’re current pals are too busy with work or relationships to accompany you on a trip, it doesn’t mean you have to call it off. Why not go alone?
The prospect of travelling alone may appear daunting at first, but the great thing about backpacking is that you’re guaranteed to meet people along the way who are doing the exact same thing. Just make sure you research the best backpacking hostels and traveller destinations, and you’ll be making mates in no time.
If you’re sold on the idea of taking a gap year but not so enthusiastic about roughing it in cheap hostels, you can always rent or borrow a family members motorhome! This way you can have your home comforts with you where ever you decide to go (much like a snail, carrying it’s home on it’s back…). You get all the travelling freedom, without paying for accommodation every night. Just remember to check if the vehicle has some
sort of insurance, you can get this with The Caravan Club. There are also plenty of opportunities to make friends on a caravan road trip, picking up hitch hikers and sharing a night of comfort with your fellow travellers is a sure win way of meeting and getting to know new people!
There’s no reason to rule out a gap year or a few months abroad – it could end up being the best decision you ever made.
This is a guest post.
