Need a Break After College? How to Travel, Work, and Grow on a Gap Year

After years of deadlines, exams and late night study sessions, a gap year after college can be a refreshing change! Whether you want to gain valuable work experience, learn a language, or see the world from a unique perspective, a gap year can be one of the most introspective and educational experiences of your life.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to make the most of your time abroad, share exciting gap year ideas, and explain why taking a gap year after college might just be the smartest move you make before launching into your career.

There are so many reasons why someone should consider taking a gap year after college. Whether you’re after personal, spiritual or professional benefits, here are some of the biggest reasons to set your sights overseas as a college graduate: 

• Minimize burnout: Going from one stressful environment to another - from relentless exams to tedious job hunting - can increase feelings of burnout. Defined as a pervasive state of physical and emotional depletion, many Americans are suffering from burnout in the workplace. Spending time away to slow down your life and travel the world can alleviate stress and give you the breathing room to recharge before planning your next steps.
• Personal development: Expanding your comfort zone will make you a better and more capable person. From meeting people from all over the world to navigating foreign cities, traveling exercises and develops your independence. Conquering your fear of venturing into the unknown and then establishing yourself among the international community will reveal much about yourself and boost your confidence.
• Cultural immersion: Not only does traveling expand your awareness of new places, cultures, and beliefs, but you’ll develop empathy, gratitude, critical thinking skills, and much more. Living among foreign communities allows you to cultivate a more holistic view of the world and approach to life in general.
• Realign your priorities: Traveling can be introspective. From paving new routes, forming new relationships, and gaining new skills, a gap year can help provide you with clarity on goals, ambitions, and what you want from life.

Read more: The Pros & Cons of Taking a Gap Year

Want to gain a skill that boosts your resume, sharpens your brain, and helps you connect with people around the world? Learn a new language and travel! Speaking multiple languages is a very valuable skill, especially in today’s globally connected world. Being bilingual not only makes you desirable for international companies, but language learning is also amazing for your brain health! And while formal lessons can take you far in language development, nothing beats language immersion in its host country.

Rather than logging an hour or so each week of studying, language immersion urges you to use the local language in real life situations. Maybe you want to order a cup of coffee, find the nearest train station, or form new friendships, language immersion will ensure that you’re constantly practising! Essentially, the world becomes your classroom! 

There are many ways that you can learn a language abroad:

• Study in a language school: Studying in a language school  will grant you access to a structured curriculum and experienced language teachers. When combined with language immersion outside the classroom, this is arguably the best way to accelerate your language development.
• Stay with a host family: Staying with a host family abroad not only offers language development, but also a high degree of cultural immersion. Your host family can teach you the language, but they’ll also teach you about their local culture, traditions, and you can also form a strong friendship with them as they become your family away from home!
• Language exchange: If you’re already abroad or want to learn a language informally, you can sign up for language exchange meet ups. Often, you can find websites or Facebook groups centred around language exchanges, and you can meet someone in a cafe, a park, or on the beach to improve your language skills while also improving their English skills.

Read more: The 10 Best Spanish Immersion Programs Around the World

Teaching English overseas offers you all of the benefits of traveling and working abroad. As an English teacher abroad, you’ll help students gain a skill that can open doors to global education and career opportunities. In return, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the culture, traditions, and daily life in your host country.

Many ESL teaching programs provide training, free housing and airfare, and a salary or stipend, making this an ideal gap year path for recent grads who want a structured, supported experience abroad! Countries such as China, Korea, Japan, and the UAE are just some examples of the places where teachers can save up while traveling the world.

Volunteering abroad allows you to gain insight into deeper issues in foreign communities. As a volunteer, you’ll ethically dedicate your time and energy to causes that matter and will benefit communities, while developing a range of new skills and a fresh perspective. If you want to work on projects within wildlife care, marine conservation, human rights, volunteering abroad is a great way to get your foot in the door. 

As a volunteer, you’ll collaborate with local organizations and communities, build experience, and connect with many like-minded travelers along the way, allowing you to form an international community abroad!

Refining your knowledge by interning or studying abroad is a great way to enhance your career prospects. Interning abroad is a great way to get your foot in the door of a competitive industry. While most internships are unpaid, a few months of experience is invaluable, especially at a reputable company in a foreign country. 

If your aim is to embrace unique foreign cultures and embark on unique excursions, you may be enticed by a gap year program. Gap year programs can offer structured itineraries that combine different aspects of traveling, such as volunteering and language learning, over the course of a few weeks or even months.  

Gap year programs are a great way to combine your travels with the development of personal and practical skills. Many programs incorporate a range of skill-building courses and workshops in addition to your travel excursions in order to make you more employable. 

If you want to work abroad without being tied down to a single place, consider becoming a digital nomad! As a digital nomad, you can work online from anywhere, taking your work with you as you travel the world.

In a post-pandemic age of connectivity, more companies are allowing workers to work remotely. If you’re already employed or have some form of work, it may be possible for you to pivot into becoming a digital nomad. 

Some of the best digital nomad jobs include content creation, blog writing, teaching online, and many more that are compatible with its liberating lifestyle. Or, you can take your current skills and experience and launch an online business! 

Read more: 12 Best Countries for Digital Nomad Visas: Work Remotely and Travel!

Traveling on a working holiday visa allows you plenty of flexibility. Countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand offer a working holiday visa which allows young people to live abroad for extended periods (up to 2-3 years in some cases!) while legally working to support their travels.  

Whether you want to hop between cities, pick up short-term gigs, or settle into a job for a few months, the flexibility is what makes working holiday programs so appealing. 

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the best countries for working holiday visas: 

• Australia: For travelers ages 18 to 30, valid for up to a year (can be extended in-country).
• Canada: For travellers ages 18 to 35, valid for 12 or 24 months.
• New Zealand: For travellers ages 18 to 30, valid for 12 to 36 months depending on nationality.
• Ireland: Recent graduates (within 12 months) can apply for a Working Holiday Authorization which is valid for up to a year.
• Singapore: The Work Holiday Pass allows students and young graduates (ages 18 to 25) to work in Singapore for 6 months.
• South Korea: For travelers ages 18 to 30 from select countries, to work up to 25 hours per week for a year.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Working Holiday Visas for US Citizens

With so many paths to take, getting started on your gap year can be the most difficult aspect. Here are the steps you can take to make the most of your gap year after college.

• Define your gap year goals: It’s important to ask yourself what you want to gain from your gap year. Do you want to increase your course or industry-specific knowledge, gain work experience, or simply immerse yourself in foreign cultures? While some travelers want to pave a way to a future career, others focus primarily on personal growth. Don’t feel compelled to align your objective with other people’s!
• Choose a region: You can go anywhere in the world during your gap year, but narrow it down by focusing on a specific region to begin with, whether it be Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, or so on. Spending more time in one region will be more immersive rather than frantically but barely scratching the surface of multiple places.
• Be flexible: While you want some structure, don’t be afraid to be flexible! Being flexible and open-minded with dates and locations allows you to extend your stay if you find your perfect home away from home!
• Set a budget: Budgeting for your gap year will set a clear picture of the lifestyle you can live abroad, for how long, and whether you’ll need to pick up work. You should also overestimate how much you’ll spend each month and allow a margin for error to be prepared for unexpected costs.
• Focus on yourself!: A gap year is the perfect time to understand more about what you want from life. You’ll meet new people, experience new cultures, and gain insight into vastly different paths. Don’t feel pressured to focus on a strictly career-oriented gap year if you want to work solely on personal development.

Read more: 15 Pro Tips for Doing Your Gap Year on a Budget

A gap year can be the best year (or years!) of your life. While you can go almost anywhere and do anything, planning your trip will help you make the most of your gap year after college. While you don’t have to be strict about the details, defining your goals will certainly point you in the right direction, whether you’re seeking personal development, career prospects, language learning, or something else!

Read more about taking a gap year:

• How to Plan a Gap Year
• Gap Year Scholarships & Grants to Apply For
• Most Affordable Gap Year Programs
• The 10 Best Gap Year Destinations