06 Jul 2020

Is taking a gap year worth it if travelling is kinda off the table? Hmm... let's dig in.

Whilst gap years are commonly associated with travelling, they’re not completely synonymous, and a gap year without travelling is still a viiiiiibe.

It’s understandable that you may want to wait to take a break later down the track since travelling may have been your priority, but here is why a gap year is still worth it (even if you can’t go overseas).

You can have some R & R time

It's time to refresh after 13 wild years of education! Let the pressures of sorting out your future slip away with some rest and relaxation time. I mean, why do people meditate? To clear their mind! Maybe during a break, you'll gain some epiphanies when it comes to future plans.

During this free time, you're able to muck around with hobbies, learn new skills, read insightful books. You can fill that beautiful brain of yours with knowledge and power baby.

You can work

A gap year is a solid opportunity to really commit yourself to work whether it's a job you're fascinated by or a job you can see leading you into your career path. You'll pick up some red hot skills, meet some fresh faces and of course, earn mulla!

With financial independence, you can start saving to go on a holiday later or rather set yourself up securely for when you start uni. More importantly, you can afford to do all the things you love, like road trips, brunches, takeaway, festivals and museums.

You can work on yourself

People don't go travelling to just see sites and get lit off cheap beer (although, that's a vibe). As cliché as it sounds, people travel during gap years to improve themselves and get some good ol' character development with new life experiences and environments.

Travelling is one way to grow, but that can be done at home. Invest in your hobbies, your self-care and your dang dreams! 

Take yourself to an art class, learn a language, read all sorts of books, research philosophy, buy a camera and learn about photography, start a band with your mates... look, these may all sound random, but you never know what will spark into a career, a new friend or a hilarious story.

You can figure out what you want to do

A lot of people take a gap year because they have absolutely no clue what they want to do with their life which is fair enough. And if you're still unsure, you should defs check out our Career Planner if you need a helping hand (just sign up over 'ere).

While you’re living life for yourself for the first time, and not for a school mark, there’s a lot of self-discovery. You’ll do new things, you’ll revisit old favourites, and you’ll realise what it is you love and why. Through working on yourself, working for dosh and having R & R time, you might just figure out what you want to pursue and how you can get there. And the best part is, you'll start uni, way more energised and ready to take on more study. You certainly don't need a plane ticket to do that, but it can help ;).