How to pack up and go: gap year breakdown

A location independent lifestyle doesn’t have to be a permanent, jet-setting life. While some people are happy to always be on the move, soaking up new experiences and meeting new people, there are others – like me – who like having a base to come home to.

I went on my first gap holiday when I was 21. I travelled to Asia, Europe and the US. I worked as a lifeguard at a summer camp, which paid peanuts, but provided a home, food, transport, lifeguard and first aid training, and many friends who acted as my guides.

I’ve compiled a list of helpful hints for anyone thinking of planning a gap year – I hope you find it useful

• Know what experience you’re after: don’t get a job on the ski slopes if you hate the cold. Don’t work at a summer camp if you hate little kids. Don’t work outside picking fruit if you don’t like the great outdoors.
• Research, research, research: You can never know too much about where you’re going. Because, trust me, you’ll think you know everything, until you get there. Then you’ll realize how much you still have to learn.
• Don’t wait to have heaps of money: I did my trip for about 6 grand AU (about $4500 US), including a RTW airfare (half of my 6K) living expenses for 6 months abroad, lots of yummy food, side jaunts to Miami and New York, broadway shows, a ten-day tourist tour of the US west coast, and some swanky hotels along the way. Cut out the RTW part and you could easily do the same trip on your airfare cost and some emergency money. Especially if you’re working somewhere like a summer camp or winery that supplies food and accommodation, you’re really only forking out for your travel and some spending.
• Don’t feel like you’re “running away” or “avoiding life”: You deserve to have fun as much as the next person. So what if you quit your job and go travelling for a year (ir two, or three)? Get another job when you get home. If the economy is still in shambles in six months, keep travelling. It’s not like you’d be missing much at home.
• Choose travel companions carefully: I cannot stress this enough. If you are going with a friend, there should be NO DOUBT in your mind that you can and will get along with this person in small confines for an extended period of time. I went with a close friend, and I love her dearly, but we still fought a few times. We still went on bitch overdrive when we were tired and food-poisoned and suffering from malnutrition. It may break the relationship. Make sure you are prepared for that eventuality.
• Don’t overpack: This is probably the hardest thing to do. Backpacking is a good deterrent from taking too much junk with you – even if you take it, I guarantee you, every piece of non-essential stuff will make its way out of your backpack. Half my junk ended up staying in hotel rooms or being given to others.

• You can live with bare essentials and be happy: Take a look at the photo above. I was incredibly happy and enjoying life in that photo, and here is a list of my possessions: a few changes of clothes, flip-flops, sneakers, 3 pairs of socks, one going out dress, some makeup and minimal toiletries, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a notebook and some pens, a handbag, a purse, a document wallet with copies of everything, a passport, a small stack of photos of my loved ones back home, a water bottle, and some pyjamas. Oh, and underwear
• Get out of your comfort zone: I took a job as a lifeguard and I didn’t know how to swim. I spent the three months before my departure getting fit, toned and healthy – which helped me pass my lifeguard swimming test and carry a 15 kilo pack around the world
• Don’t scrimp on essentials: make sure your suitcase/pack, electronics, and any other essentials are high-quality and tough. There’s nothing worse than ripping a huge hole in your backpack halfway round the world.
• Don’t be afraid: The world is your oyster! There’s always a reason not to go – the newest strain of animal flu, terrorism, a failing global economy…truth is, its kind of like choosing a right time to have a baby. There’s never really a perfect time.