So you have decided to take a gap year and explore the world, it is a brave choice and a fun one too. With gap years you never know what could happen, what you do know is that you will make many memories throughout the year long break so you can be ready for college life by the time you get back (maybe).
With a gap year, you can learn new skills, pick up a new language, work in local communities, and meet other gap year students that are forging a new path like you are.
However, if you are stuck on gap year ideas and are not sure what to do with your year abroad, then you may want to read on for some activities that you could think about doing for your gap year trip.
Can a Gap Year Help Your Career?
Taking a gap year is not just all fun and games, you can use your gap year to do a specific gap year program or take a look at gap year internships to see what you can learn. This will not only help you make memories but it would look great on your resume and support your college application too when you start applying.
How good will learning a new language look, as well as the fact that you decided on international travel to broaden your mind and build, not only on your personal growth, but your drive to improve your academic performance.
Approach your gap year with wonder at what you can learn about local culture and different countries. You could find your calling there and plan your education around things you have learned. Potential employers will love this and the positive impact it will have could carry you forward.
Benefits & Drawbacks To a Gap Year
With anything and everything, there will be some benefits and a handful of drawbacks that come along with it. This doesn’t mean that this should stop you in your tracks on your journey of self discovery, but it just means that taking these into consideration can prove to be advantageous when planning where to go.
Taking a gap year abroad may have been on your list for a while now, but you still need to approach it with fresh eyes.
Benefits
New Perspective
Gap years can be great for people to gain a new perspective on life and what the world has to offer. Discovering a new culture, learning a foreign language, and understanding the local community, can help gap year students like yourself to appreciate what is going on around them.
Improved Academic performance
Independence is a key part of taking a gap year, this can support you in becoming a better student and helping you learn skills that you may not have picked up if you hadn’t of gone on a gap year.
You can combine travel with work experience and be part of gap year programs that can provide you with an internship that will benefit your studies.
Learning Life Skills
A few weeks with a job abroad or an entire year will definitely help you with getting ready for life. However you want to spend your gap year, whether it is off your own back, seeing where your feet take you, or you are part of one of the gap year travel programs, you will be able to be part of something that adds to your life.
Drawbacks
Expensive
Even if you are on a gap year internship abroad with your accommodation paid for, it will still cost you to go live abroad. Your living expenses will fluctuate depending on where you are residing.
A host family may not require any expenses from you which can help you save money, but if you are worried, you can apply for financial aid and find other ways at making money whilst you are there.
Falling Behind
If you are the only one of your friends taking a gap year, then you may feel like you are behind compared with other college students. It puts you a year behind the class you would have graduated in. However, some people would say that taking a gap year job is worth it for the experience.
Stress
A gap year can be one of the most fun and rewarding experiences a person can have, but it can also be a source of stress, especially as everything is new and completely different from what you are used to. The worry of medical care, emergencies, travel insurance, and missing your home country, is very normal for someone taking a chance in another country.
Gap Year Ideas
Now that you have gone over what a gap year can do for you and if it’s worth it, it’s now time to see what you can do with your gap year and what would suit you best with this free year of yours.
Travel The World
One of the most popular ones is traveling abroad and picking up various gap year jobs along the way to help with supporting your traveling lifestyle. You can speak to gap year counselors and discuss with them what type of gap year program would suit you as you travel the world. They can be quite costly, so if you want to save money, then you may need to look at another option.
The best thing about traveling the world is that you can learn the local language of different countries as well as try out the local cuisines. You get to experience it all firsthand.
Volunteering
Volunteer work is great for those who don’t need to work for money and can do whatever they want when they take a gap year. You can teach English in schools, develop leadership skills, and figure out your path.
You may even want to think about becoming a camp counselor for the summer to help you build on your resume.
Start a Home Business
Starting a business from home could be an excellent way to gain experience, learn new skills, and earn some extra money during a gap year. However, to create a successful home-based business, you will need to set up a functional and comfortable workspace with appropriate office furniture. You could get affordable options for desks and chairs at Office Monster (officemonster.co.uk/office-furniture) or similar web stores. You can choose a dedicated room or a corner of your existing space to create an organized and efficient workspace.
Learn Self-Defence
There are plenty of skills to choose from if you want to learn something new. But it will likely benefit you in the future if you learn self-defence. You can purchase a membership in a nearby gym where you could learn kickboxing or other similar martial arts. That could equip you with the knowledge to deal with confrontational situations, and to protect yourself effectively. Alternatively, you could consider getting started with gun training and shooting for armed self-defence if unarmed combat isn’t your cup of tea. This could especially be practical in the case of a home invasion.
Working Holiday
There are work exchange programs that you can go for with your gap year. You can think about becoming an au pair for your work abroad or perhaps decide to become a teaching assistant. Many schools in countries that don’t speak English will welcome English-speaking students to help teach the children.
This can be paid work which you can sort out through the gap year program so you can have the necessary expenses to do this. This can also help with figuring out what you want to do with your career and build on your professional skills.
Resting
If you have put your heart and soul into your academic work and you really need a break before stepping into college life, then a gap year is a perfect time to complete rest and just spend this time focusing on yourself and who you are. It is increasingly important that people take a gap year to support their mental health if needed.
Pick What You Want To Do
If you want to spend your gap year doing work exchange programs or taking on work experience to help with college admissions, then that’s perfectly fine, just don’t push yourself to do it because you think you have to.
This is your time. You can also utilize this time to take up a professional course at an online college. Aside from offering top-notch accredited programs, online colleges now recognize the benefits of gaining real-world life experience (take a look at these Life Experience Colleges, if interested) by granting credits for professional accomplishments or other relevant experiences. Additionally, these colleges allow students to accelerate their education and develop new skills while at the same time focusing on their education. Young adults often put enough pressure on themselves to work hard, so some time away won’t cause the world to fall apart. Then, when you are finally ready to get back into education, you’ll be walking to your college graduation before you know it.
When Should You Take a Gap Year?
Taking a gap year is a big decision, and many students will take a gap year after high school and before college, nonetheless, just because that is seen as the time to do it, doesn’t mean that you have to be that age to take a gap year.
Gap years can be taken at any time really, so whether you are young or older, you may want to think about why you want to take a gap year and what that could mean for your journey.
After High School 17-18 Years Old
This is seen as the optimal age to take a gap year, and in a way it is. It is on the cusp of adulthood, just leaving school but not technically a full adult, but able to apply for college and start a life.
A full year of doing something fun before settling back into academia may be just the thing for teenagers who want to ‘live a little’.
College Students 18-21 Years Old
If you are in college and you take a gap year, people may frown upon this as you are already in full-time education, however, you can work around it by speaking to your professors about going on a gap year program or a gap year internship abroad that mixes with what you are currently learning, so you can enrich your education through your gap year trip.
You can make sure that your chosen program covers the topics you need so that your course is not too affected. You may even want to check out some online courses when abroad to keep you fresh.
In the event that you don’t want to take a trip abroad for some reason, then you can also dedicate this time to learning a new language, taking up a new online course, or trying your hands on some freelancing gig, all from the comfort of your own home. These are some of the options that happen to be very popular among youth across the world as it requires just two tools, that is a PC and a high-speed internet connection. While you may already have a computer, for the latter, you can check out this Internet Buyer’s Guide, so that you can select the best internet option. This is crucial because a disturbance in the connection can make the classes lag, and you won’t be able to understand anything clearly.
College Graduates 21-22 Years Old
A year abroad right after your education has finished may just be what you are looking for. Your life is about to start. You have finished education and now the real world is stretched out in front of you.
This can be quite daunting so you may want to think about some gap year ideas that have you investing in yourself, especially after going through a lot of education with no break in between. There is a lot of pressure on graduates, so it’s understandable that you want to take some time out before going into real life.
Adults 24+
You have a job, and you are living an adult life, but, something is missing. If you are not happy with the particular field that your career is in, why not take some time out for a year to volunteer and see what else is out there?
You can learn some important skills and maybe find what you’ve been looking for. This can help you become focused and search for something fulfilling. You can volunteer in various capacities, so you won’t have to put yourself into one area, you can mix it up and explore.
Conclusion
After reading this article, maybe you have a better idea about what to do in your gap year as well as how you are going to approach it. If you do decide to take a gap year abroad and are bubbling with excitement, just remember that this is your year to do what you want.
