Wanderlust: For the Young, Broke Professional

The 5 Most Employable Skills I Learned From Traveling During My Gap Year After graduating with my master’s degree, I decided that I wanted to take some time off from work and life to complete a gap year- a year full of traveling, writing a book, and discovering my life’s passions. I feared many people would think a gap year at that point of my life was crazy considering I was a 26 year old recent graduate who had the type of job my parents would have described as a ‘good government job’, but I wasn’t happy or fulfilled. I had been in school since age 6 and I had done everything I was supposed to in life by that point- so I decided I would finally embark on something that I truly wanted to do. I took every penny I had to my name and financed a year doing things that only brought fulfillment, meaning, and pleasure to my life. If I told you I wasn’t scared or nervous I would have been telling a big lie and the fact that I had never met anyone else who looked like me do something like this made me even more fearful- but I knew I had to do this. I budgeted, planned, made phone calls, consulted with friends and mentors, started a blog and put a plan in action. During my gap year I traveled to South Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, New Orleans, Bahamas, Key West, California, Georgia and ended by planning a 40 day solo travel trip throughout Thailand, Bali, Australia and Fiji. Words can’t express how much I learned last year, no I didn’t go to a formal “9 to 5” everyday nor did I have a boss or coworkers, but the lessons I learned from traveling far exceeded anything I could have learned working in a corporate setting for 12 months. 1) Budgeting This is the question I get asked the most: ‘How could you afford to not work for a year?’ Well the short answer to that question is extreme saving and budgeting. I worked full time while in graduate school and lived below my means for quite some time which helped me save a significant amount of money. I also cut down on cable, cell phone bills, car insurance etc. I took advantage of every discount and promotion I could. Smart budgeting was very important to the success of my gap year so I gave myself a monthly allowance, I got rid of all major bills (read more about this in my book), and I only traveled if I found a great deal. Now, I can most certainly use my budgeting skills in any career role I wish. 2) Time Management Skills A job skill I see on almost every vacancy posting is great multi-tasking and time management skills- What better way to prove that you have this acquired skill than by showing you took the time to research, make an outline, plan and execute time to travel, volunteer, or whatever else you decided to do. Not only that, but when traveling you have to be punctual to ensure you don’t miss buses, planes, and trains you must also be very organized with your passport, hotel reservations, transfer tickets and more! A gap year of traveling definitely builds universal time management skills.