Taking a Year Off
February 15th, 2009 | Categories: Question of the Week, Travel | 8 CommentsI’ve been giving a lot of thought to my future lately, and researching what paths are currently available for me in life, both in terms of my career as well as my personal life. I have my current study plans worked out, which will hopefully result in job offers in my desired field, with the additional bonus of allowing me to both study abroad when I am in college as well as work overseas when I have received my degree. While having major elements of my future such as what type of degree I will have earned in four years figured out is incredibly helpful when it comes to mapping out my future, it’s also a bit daunting.
My general plan for my future is to get my undergraduate degree, and then depending on finances, either head out into the workforce or go to graduate school. And while that’s a fairly plausible plan and is most likely going to happen, I find myself wishing that I could take a year off and do whatever I wanted without any repercussions. I would love to just follow my dreams for a year without having to worry about my studies or finances, and then resume life again in the real world. I am lucky that I currently do not have any major barriers or worries in my future, but I still can’t risk deferring a year of my studies to do whatever I want without derailing my future. It’s unfortunate, but if the off chance that the opportunity for me to do anything I wanted for a year without it affecting my plans for the future, I know exactly what I would do.
I would spend six months of that year traveling. There are so many places in this world I want to see, and I would do anything to just take off and travel without a care in the world. My general outlook on travel is that I will never say no to the option of traveling to any one place, because every travel opportunity is one that should be embraced! I do have a list of places I would especially love to go to, but any place is good. There are also some places that I would like to return to, for one reason or another. Never say no to traveling to a new place is what I live by, and so I would love to just travel for six months and see what places I end up going to.
The other six months I would spend volunteering at either The School of St. Jude in Arusha, Tanzania, or at the nursery school I volunteered at in May. When I volunteered at the nursery school, I felt like I was making a difference in someone’s life, and that I was finally able to do something that wasn’t just for me, but for those around me. The kids were fantastic, and every day I wish I could go back to Tanzania and volunteer some more because it was such a powerful experience. The only thing is, if I ever get the chance to return to Tanzania, I’m not sure I would come back – it was hard enough to leave last time!
Question of the Week: If you could take a year off without it affecting any of your plans for the present or future, what would you want to do?
Tags: tanzania, the future is scary
Subscribe Feed (RSS)
Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
I think my plans would be the same; traveling and volunteering somewhere abroad. I just feel like those experiences would be so enriching, and I’d love the opportunity to do it.
Spending a year in London in order to improve my English. I’d love to.
Take your gap year next year and we can meet up somewhere while we both travel! :)
I think I’ve read on multiple occasions of people wanting to travel, or follow a dream, but always waiting in fear of what it would do to their plans. But when they finally just went for it, things worked out. So maybe you should give some real thought into your hopes of traveling — I’m sure a determined girl like you could make it work. ;)
Answer of the week ;P — I would probably spend most of that year backpacking around Europe. There are so many places I want to visit, languages to learn and practice, and cultures to study.
I could probably happily spend the twelve months in Italy, but I really want to experience others as well. :]
I’m in the same bandwagon as you: I wish I could do what I wanted before I turn the big 2-0 and follow the set path of college & career for the rest of my life, but life just doesn’t seem to work out like that. Hell (excuse my language), my parent would definitely not approve of that. And the repercussions of college, applications, acceptances (and rejection) would just crash down like tidal waves.
I would travel, definitely. I think seeing more of the world is most people’s dreams. Spend maybe 2-3 months in my top “want-to-stay” places on exchange, learning the native language while teaching English, then travel the rest of the world at leisure. And photography. Oh, I would love to get pictures of everything.
I say follow your dream to your greatest ability. You only live once, you need to do what you want to do! I think traveling is one of the most priceless things someone can do – it’s beautiful.
If I had a year to spare, I would travel and write. Maybe attend a 3-month long Buddhist retreat. See as much of the world as I can and write to my heart’s desire.
Those ideas sound wonderful… wish I could spend a year like that.
[...] two languages at school, even the young students I met at some of the schools I worked at/visited while in Tanzania, but most of my friends have no real interest in any language, not even [...]