May Measures (Tips for Planning a Gap Year!)
Ah, this is a blog post that is long overdue. I’d like to dedicate this month’s post to all the kids in high school right now that message me constantly asking me questions about my past year & the traveling I did!
I guess I’ll start by answering a question that everyone — seriously EVERYONE — asks me: WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU GET THE MONEY TO TRAVEL FOR A YEAR FROM? So, here’s my first tip: save your money! If you are lucky enough to have a job, which I wasn’t until the end of my Junior year in high school, you need to start saving as soon as possible! Almost all my funds for my gap year came from money I had saved from working in high school. I worked on the weekends bagging groceries, and during the week babysitting whenever I could. A common misconception of traveling is that you HAVE to have a lot of money to do so. My travel partner for the first six months of our trip started out with $800. Do you have to prepare more thoroughly if you don’t have as much money? Of course. But, is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY.
My second tip is to stop being afraid! A lot of people that talk to me about wanting to take a gap year tell me that they’re too afraid to do so. Whether it’s because it isn’t what society tells them to do, or they’re worried to step outside their personal comfort zone, the key is to stop fearing. A suggestion I would make would be to see if any friends are considering taking a gap year as well, and possibly taking a trip together. This is what I did, and I don’t think I would’ve survived if I hadn’t. I was terrified starting my trip, but I was lucky enough to have a friend (and make a lot more along the way) that helped me remember exactly why I was traveling in the first place.
A very important tip that I would suggest for graduating seniors or anyone thinking of taking a gap year is to still think of college! Send your applications, defer your enrollment — trust me, it will make things a lot easier for you while you are traveling. Never forget that a gap year doesn’t mean you won’t ever go to college, it’s a break to gather your thoughts & help you decide what you WANT to do with your future! Don’t take your gap year for granted; learn about yourself and your interests and keep these things in mind for when you attend college the following year.
This tip was truly my life saver/life line throughout my travels: signing up for Workaway & Couchsurf. If you are traveling on a budget, these websites are heaven sent. Couchsurf allows you to asks hosts in whatever area you desire to travel to if you can literally crash at their place. They can accept or decline you (and you might have to message A LOT of people before someone accepts you), but if I didn’t have an account on this site, I would’ve slept on the streets in a big city for more than just one night. Workaway is even better — probably a bit more credible & safe as well. You volunteer your work and get accommodation and sometimes food. How does that saying go? You kill two expenses with one stone? Something of the sort.
With that previous tip, I’m going to end this post by begging you all to follow this last piece of advice: be safe and be smart. Not smart as in book smarts or academics, but as in common sense. Don’t go down that dark alleyway past midnight alone. Don’t respond to the catcalls no matter how ticked off you may be. Nothing is worth the cost of your life or safety & being a foreigner can attract a lot of attention, good and bad. So, just be careful and play it safe always!
