It’s just ticked over into 2018 which is sounding more and more like a year that’s actually in ‘the future’. Sadly there are no flying cars yet but we’re getting there. Time seems to march on by and it’s been 5 years now since I first packed my bag and abandoned ship, taking a gap year to travel the world. Interestingly I wrote a long post titled: 4 Steps to quit your job and long term travel before I left that’s been useful to reference now looking back.

Before I left I had a lot of advice from well-meaning people both pushing me to go and begging me to stay. So was it worth taking a gap year to travel, looking back 5 years down the track, and do I have any advice myself for anyone looking at taking a gap year or do some serious time away?

Taking a Gap Year to Travel – Career

Taking a gap year to travel had no impact on my career at all. I mean no impact as in neither positive or negative. It was just like hitting pause on things. I picked up work pretty much right where I left off and things have rolled over to be pretty much exactly as I imagine they would have been if I’d never gone at all. On the flip side, my gap year didn’t positively impacted my career either. As in, I didn’t find my calling working abroad and decide to stay overseas or pivot the direction of my career etc.. it basically had no impact.

Verdict: No impact in my books is a big tick in the affirmative for taking a gap year. Especially given the number of people who flag ‘career’ as the biggest blocker to stopping them from leaving. Did I gain any crazy new career skills while aboard? Not really but picking up right where I left off is still a big win.

Taking a Gap Year to Travel – Experiences

Where to start. This is what it’s all about in the end really isn’t it. Looking back taking a gap year to travel was one of the best years of my life. The experience of travelling the world with no fixed plan and nothing holding me down was as unique and amazing as it sounds. I went hot air ballooning in Cappadocia, drank a Kilkenny in Kilkenny, watched In Bruges in Bruges, hung out with hippies in Colorado, got yelled at in Paris, sipped espresso’s in Rome, lived in a van for a bit in Scotland.. the list goes on, and had an absolute ball every step of the way.

Verdict: This is the reason you go in the first place and if my experiences were anything to go on, it’s every bit as awesome as you think it will be and way better in many unexpected ways. Get ready to tick a bunch of stuff off your bucket list (and then add a whole lot more in…). This is the reason you’re going in the first place, ’nuff said.

Taking a Gap Year to Travel – Friends

Met some great people while I was away. Met some absolute dropkicks to. So it was pretty much just like being at home really. But I did make some friends that I’ve kept in touch with over the years and given the circumstances of traveling, you’re far more likely to make friends on the road then you would at home. We don’t call each other 4 times a week but I’ll always have somewhere to stay in London or Vancouver. Didn’t lose any friends while I was gone either, so kind of just like work, things pretty much just get picked up from where they were left off. Sure there were changes, taking a gap year to travel meant that I missed a couple of weddings and that sort of thing but if that’s enough to end a ‘friendship’ they were never your mates anyway.

Verdict: You will meet people, you have no choice and some of them will remain good friends. Another big tick in the affirmative here.

Taking a Gap Year to Travel – Finances

I travelled on a budget of $20k AUD ($15.5k USD) for the whole year’s worth of expenses including flights, accommodation and food etc… not a lot in retrospect but you can travel really cheaply if you try. I didn’t work while I was away (actually a regret, as I feel I would have had quite a different set of experiences if I’d done something like WorkX or volunteered somewhere for a while), so I came back with less money then I left with, but you trade cash for the experience (that’s the point remember). Also given you can just pick up where you left off with work, no long term harm done. Just go easy on the credit cards, you don’t want to come back with a travel ‘hangover’ that you have to pay off for the next few years. What about the opportunity cost of that $20K? This was a personal choice I went into with eyes wide open, I chose the experiences of a gap year over something else like upgrading my car or putting a deposit on a house 6 months sooner than I did. As I said before though, no long term harm done and would I trade a car upgrade for taking a gap year to travel? 100% yes, absolute no brainer.

Verdict: I traded cash for experiences, totally worth it in my eyes. $20k isn’t that much money really in the grand scheme of things and you could greatly reduce that cost by working while you’re away if you were so inclined.

Conclusion

All up that’s a pretty resounding YES to the question of was it worth taking a gap year to travel. In fact I’d love to do another gap year soon before things like kids add another level of complexity to things. Netflights did a survey of over 2,000 people and found that among other things, taking a gap year can boost your confidence and help to develop problem solving skills (both 100% true from my point of view).

You can pick your life right back up when you get home, no harm done and the experiences you will have will stay with you forever. I know, I’ve done it. Will a gap year totally change your life? Probably not (or perhaps you’ll meet a matador in Barcelona, fall madly in love, have 15 kids together and then move to the Greek islands.. who knows) but you will have seen things and experienced things that will broaden your mind forever so maybe your time away will have changed you ways you never expected. My advice is to just go, you will never regret it, 5 years on I have no regrets about taking a gap year to travel, only awesome memories. I’d love to do another one.. in fact I just might.