How to Take a Gap Year

A gap year is a year that young adults take between graduation from high school and enrollment in college. Young adults can choose to spend their gap year in a number of ways, including traveling widely, spending it working, or volunteering. Gap years offer an exciting opportunity for young adults to grow and learn. Ultimately, by choosing a destination, thinking about ways to finance your gap year, and focusing on self-discovery, you’ll be better prepared to take a gap year.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Choosing Your Destination

1
Learn about gap years. While the concept of the gap year is increasingly popular, it’s been around for a while and many people have taken gap years. Make sure to draw on the wealth of experience that other people have gained during their gap years.
- Read books or magazine articles about the idea of the gap year. Consider books like The Complete Guide to the Gap Year.
- Consult friends or acquaintances who have taken a gap year or are planning on taking a gap year. These people will be able to provide you with a wealth of information about many things you might not have thought about.
2
Reflect on your priorities. Before moving forward and choosing a destination, you need to reflect on your priorities for your gap year. It's always important to be really intentional about your life goals, so you should answer some questions to understand what you want to accomplish in this year. Ask yourself:
- Do you want to be near friends or family?
- Do you want to live in a remote destination?
- Do you want to immerse yourself in a new language and a new culture?
- Do you want a practical experience?
3
Make a list. After you’ve learned about what people typically do on a gap year, spend a little time putting together a list of things you want to consider doing. When making your list, consider:
- Places to go and spend time. You may have dreamed of visiting Europe.
- People you want to meet. You may be interested in meeting people who are culturally different from yourself.
- Things you want to experience or skills you want to develop. For instance, you might want to spend time developing your outdoor skills or practical skills. You could spend part of your gap year volunteering at a summer camp or working for AmeriCorps.
- Did you study something in college that was not necessarily what you're trying to study in graduate school? In this case, it might be helpful to do some kind of a short term program or class during your gap year in order to show your interest and capacity in those different fields.
4
Research potential activities or destinations. Devote some time to researching potential activities or destinations on your list. Spend most time on those activities or destinations you are most interested in. You’ll find that you will learn a lot through this process.
- Take your top ten activities or destinations and research them.
- Rank them in order of how interested you are in them.
- After finishing your research, re-rank them. Don’t be afraid to move items up or down based on what you’ve learned.
- Take the top three items and take some time to reflect on them. Talk with family or friends to get their opinion.
- Pick the one that is most feasible and that you are most interested in.
Advertisement

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Financing Your Gap Year

1
Create a budget for your year. Your first step in planning your gap year is to create a budget. Without a budget, you won’t know what is within the realm of possibilities and how you’ll make your gap year plans come to fruition.
- Estimate travel expenses. Be realistic and make sure to build in 10% to 20% extra for unexpected travel costs. This money could cover the cost of extra bus, train, or plane tickets. Use popular travel websites like Travelocity or Expedia for quotes.
- Estimate lodging costs. Take some time to investigate whatever lodging you’ll need on your gap year. Depending on your choices, this could be the cost of hostels, Airbnb, short-term rentals, or more. Use websites like Craigslist, Hotels.com, Airbnb, and other websites to get quotes for housing.
- Estimate the cost of food. Depending on where you spend your gap year, the cost of food expenses will vary. Use internet search engines to google the country or region you’ll live in and to estimate the cost of food. Try to figure a daily cost, rather than weekly or monthly, as it will be more accurate and easier to track.
- Figure out how much you may spend on recreation
- Build in a 10% to 20% cushion for unexpected expenses.
- Based on your total estimated cost, you’ll either have to adjust expectations or change your plans (perhaps to a lower cost region), or try to acquire funds to cover your cost.
2
Work during your gap year. Many people increasingly choose to work during their gap year. This not only has the benefit of giving you a relatively stress-free time to earn money and gain experience, but it provides time for you to learn about yourself before enrolling in college. If you choose to work during your gap year, your financing problems will be a little different.
- Many people decide to work odd jobs as they backpack across Europe or North America. Chances are, with some research, you’ll be able to line up jobs in different locations.
- Choose a fun gap year location that is tied to a job that will pay your costs. Some activities might include being a ranch hand, being a whitewater rafting guide, or working at a lodge in the mountains.
- Consider spending your gap year as a paid intern or apprentice for a job you may be interested in after college. This way, you’ll earn money, experience, and learn whether you want to pursue that particular career path.^{[1]XResearch source}
3
Save money for your gap year. One option many people choose to take is to save money for their gap year as they finish high school or over the summer. This way, they'll have the money ready when they want to start their gap year.
- Work a part time job while you are in high school or during summers. Secure a job at a fast food franchise, mowing lawns around your neighborhood, or babysitting young children. Make sure to save as much money as you can.
- Put time aside after graduation to work. If you don’t have enough money from your part time job you worked during high school, you might consider setting aside some time immediately after graduation to work full time to finance your gap year.^{[2]XResearch source}
4
Ask your family for money. One way to finance your gap year is to ask whether your family will finance it. While this may seem like a hard sell, there are several arguments you can make to improve the odds of getting money from your family.
- Provide evidence of the beneficial nature of gap years. For instance, have them visit the CIEE.org website to see statistics about how gap years promote career and academic success.
- Explain how it will help you grow as a person. Consider saying: "My gap year will help me become more responsible and independent -- something I admit I need to work on."
- Let them know how a gap year will better prepare you for college or work. Consider saying: "My gap year will give me time to reflect on what my true interests are. After all, I have very few real world experiences and need perspective before I decide what I want to do in life."^{[3]XResearch source}
Advertisement

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Finding Yourself

1
Reflect on your goals. Before and while you take your gap year, you need to spend some time reflecting on your goals. This could be your goals in life or your goals for your gap year. Ultimately, determining your goals will help you better conceptualize, articulate, and experience your gap year. Consider:
- Whether you want to grow as a person.
- What your long term goals are. Do you want to devote your life to business, to family, or to philanthropy?
- What are your short term goals? Where do you want to be in one, three, or five years? Think about this in terms of career or family life.
- Whether you want to see and experience things you may not be able to do at any other time. For instance, after you enroll and then graduate from college, you may never be able to hike the entire Appalachian trail from Georgia to Maine.
2
Focus on your interests. Perhaps the most important element of finding yourself during your gap year is to spend it doing things and visiting places that interest you.
- If you're fascinated with nature and the environment, find an internship or a job in which you can spend your time exploring that interest.
- Don’t feel pressured to spend your gap year doing something that your parents, guardians, or others think will be good for you. However, make sure to listen attentively to anyone who does give you advice – especially others who have taken gap years.
- Avoid giving in to peer pressure. You may be tempted to spend your gap year with friends doing something that your social group thinks is hip and trendy. When it comes to evaluating this, you need to listen to your inner voice and let it guide you. If you think your friends' idea of a cool gap year is a bad idea, let them know that you support them but will do something else. For instance, say something like "I think I will be more fulfilled doing something different."
3
Travel to different places to broaden your perspective. An important part of finding yourself during your gap year is to experience a wide variety of things that are dramatically different from what you’ve already experienced. By visiting far-flung places, meeting new people, and seeing new sights, you’ll widen your perspective and gain a broader understanding of your place in the world.
- Consider a place you’ve never been but that fascinates you. For example, you may choose to spend your gap year in the Australian outback, China, or the desert Southwest of the United States.
- Think about a place you’ve visited and might want to attend college or live. For instance, if you’re from New England, the Mountain West might fascinate you.
- Reflect on spending your gap year traveling nonstop from region to region and from country to country. You may be able to expand your worldview – and better find yourself – after experiencing places vastly different than ones you know.
Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Question
When should I start planning? I'm going to be a freshman next year.
Tom De Backer
Top Answerer
It all depends on what you plan to do. If you have a place to live, e.g. with your parents, and you plan on doing nothing all year long, then it doesn't require much preparation. You can just linger by the pool all summer and ski all winter. If they expect you to pay rent, or you live by yourself, you'll need a way to pay the bills. But if you want to visit every country in Asia, then you're probably already too late applying for all the visas, etc.
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If How.com.vn has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support How.com.vn
Yes No
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 2

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Tips

A gap year can be a great asset for your application to graduate school. Freeing up time to focus on all the different aspects of the application that you're going to have to put together is usually a great idea, for instance. You can also use this time to brush up some skills, especially if you're switching disciplines.
Thanks
Helpful0 Not Helpful0