10 Oct 2019

Choosing to take a working gap year was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Most of my mates went backpacking through Europe, spending a couple of days in each city before moving on to the next.

They claimed they were seeing the world, experiencing a range of cultures, and learning about other ways of life. But from what I saw on Instagram, all they were doing was partying in different locations. Drinking under the disguise of travel.

Working overseas let me to do a bunch of things that my mates couldn’t. For starters, I didn’t have to save as much beforehand, so I was able to leave earlier than all my mates.

But the best thing working did was allow me to experience a culture properly. To legitimately see life through a different lens, to immerse myself in a foreign community and make a bunch of great friends within it; to become a part of it all, ya know?

Plus, I still got to travel around to other countries (and maybe party a little bit too).

However great my working gap year was, though, there’s a bunch of stuff I wish I was told before I went. If I did it properly, I could’ve started my trip way earlier, stayed a lot longer, stressed a whole lot less, and just enjoyed my time even more in general.

1. Getting a visa is not as easy as you think

I went to the UK for my gap year and let me tell ya that getting my visa sorted was not easy. UK Visas & Immigration can be super tricky to work with and there was the constant fear that I was going to make a mistake in my application and get rejected.

From getting allllllllll of my paperwork together for the application, to hysterically racing deadlines, to the stress of waiting to see if it’d been approved, it was not a good time. A tiny mistake can mean your entire application gets rejected and your entire gap year plan can be ruined.

The advice I wish I’d heard? Get onto it early, and get someone to help you– like Restless World. They sort out visas for people travelling to the UK, and literally look after everything for you – from application to approval.

There’s so much stuff to organise for a visa. If you’re like I was and working full time just to save up for your flight over, it’s hard to find the time and motivation to start sifting through all the paperwork. And, If you’re not 100% sure of what you’re meant to be doing or how to fill out the forms, it’s easy to mess it up.

While Restless World does cost a little more than if ya did it yourself, I’d definitely recommend letting them take care of your visa application if you’re worried you might mess it up and miss your chance to work overseas.

2. Work out a realistic budget

Look, it may be a “paid work” gap year, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna be earning serious dollars.

There’s a decent chance that the wage you’re earning overseas might just get you the bare minimum, so you may have to save up a bit of cash to take with you too.

The best way to do this is to make a thorough travel budget and stick to it. Evaluate how much you think you can save, and how much you think you’ll be earning once you’re over there, and then compare that against the cost of living wherever you’re going.

Look at the prices of things like rent, food, coffee, buses, a Friday night bevvie or two…literally everything.

3. Be aware of how long you can work and where

Usually, working overseas isn’t as easy as simply getting your visa approved, then being able to work wherever you want, for as long as you want. Visas are complicated enough as it is, let alone when you decide you want to work in the country you’re visiting too.

There are often restrictions around what types of jobs you can get, how many hours per week you’re allowed to work, and in what cities or regions you can or can’t work. Your grand plans of working in a bar by the sea could be foiled if you’re limited to working only in the city.

This is another area where Restless World can really help ya out. Along with knowing how to get a visa approved, they also know all there is to about the actual visas themselves. So, you could actually go to them with the trip you had in mind, and they could tell you which visa will best allow you to live out your dreams – suss out all the details over here.

You’ll never regret your gap year, but make sure you plan it properly so you’re not stuck thinking about how you could have done it better.