Tips for Planning a Gap Year
- College
Before you can jump into a gap year, you have to know how your future university handles gap years. When I decided to take a gap year, I had no idea where I would end up going to school, but I researched how different schools handle them and even considered applying to schools after my gap year. Find out if you have to apply to defer and if they offer their own programs. My University offered a scholarship to certain gap year students, and with accepting the money we write an assigned monthly blog. Knowing you can get any kind of money towards your gap year will help with planning a budget as well.
2. Research Your Options
There are a lot of blogs about people’s personal gap years online which can provide some great ideas, but there are accredited websites that offer programs and help for anything you could think of and so much more. I felt more comfortable beginning my gap year volunteering in a group before I ventured out alone. I used an accredited program online to find where I wanted to volunteer and what kind of work I wanted to do. Go Overseas, Go Abroad, and American Gap Association offer great programs worldwide and have reviews from people who have been through them. Another thing to think about is how long you want to be gone for. The idea of leaving for a full year was too much for me, so between each trip I returned home for a month or so.
3. Have a Plan- But Be OK with Changing it.
Some websites emphasize structure and order to get the most personal growth from your gap year, but I think a lot of students, like myself, take a gap year to escape structure. I wanted to find out what it was like to make impulsive decisions, go with the flow, and lose the routine for awhile. Having an overall plan and booking big things like flights across oceans and any programs you want to join are important, for you and your parents, but don’t be afraid to leave some time open and see where you end up. The world really is your oyster.
Random Tips
- Under pack like a pro.
- Research where you are going and what you will be doing so you have a firm idea of the types of clothes to bring. If you’re volunteering in a warm weathered country, don’t even think about bringing your favorite leather jacket that you just might want to wear one night. Most of the clothes you bring will be ruined anyways.
- Research how to pack your clothes in a bag. That sounds ridiculous but tightly rolling clothes into cylinders makes a huge difference.
- Research what type of bag you’ll want to have all year. Backpacks are easy to move around with, but don’t hurt your back by over stuffing it (like I did).
- Traveling as a girl alone is different than traveling as a guy alone.
- There are tons of back packer apps and websites for finding a room for cheap in someone else’s home, there are cool night busses around Asia, and fun times to be had on the night streets of Europe, but those are group activities. Even then, keep your wits about you and be aware that you are a target.
- Stop over thinking and worrying, just go!
