How to Stay In Touch With Friends & Family On Your Gap Year by Megan Lee The thought of being away from home is one of the hardest challenges to surmount prior to a gap year – and that’s even before you go! The physical distance between you and home can be a tough pill to swallow while you’re actually abroad. Keeping in touch with loved ones is a surefire means to soften these blows. However, while important, communication can also become unhealthy. It can detract from your presence on your gap year, make you feel unnecessary amounts of FOMO…
Megan Lee
Finding Money For Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Unfortunately, most students don’t wake up with extra thousands of dollars lying around to spend on purchasing whatever they want. Unless you planted a coin as a kid that later grew into a money tree, you’ll probably need to plan in advance for footing your gap year bill. Traveling CAN cost you a pretty penny. Many of the world’s most expensive cities lie outside of the United States, yet remain popular gap year destinations among students. Does this mean that there are a bunch of cold, hungry, and broke international students fluttering…
Why a Gap Year is the Best Decision I’ve Ever Made. by Megan Lee I took a Gap Year after college (before jumping into the “real world”) and it was, truly, the best decision I’ve made (next to adopting my cat and downloading the Uber app). Traveling, for me, isn’t just for meeting people and taking cool pictures. It is preventative medicine for closed-mindedness and bigotry, and wholly challenges me to function at my greatest capacity as a heart-centered, human-oriented modern young adult. Gap year students who choose to pursue higher education after traveling oftentimes become campus leaders and star students….
Keeping in Touch With Your Gap Year Friends by Megan Lee Leaving home to Gap Year for a semester or year is fertile ground for making new friends. Together, you trip and stumble and fall and giggle through the language barriers, conquer unexpected challenges, and actively explore your new sense of freedom. You quickly start to question your lifestyle back home, and get to shed your past and start fresh. You meet people from all different walks of life and challenge your conventional norms. Who wouldn’t want to do this hand in hand with a rad person who totally “GETS…
The Importance of Journaling on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Journaling: kind of like keeping a diary, but with fewer entries revolving around unrequited love or starting with “Sorry for not writing, I’ve been really busy…”. Your journal can be a useful tool on that epic journey towards “adulthood.” While you’re on your Gap Year, it can also be a helpful place for processing, documenting, and occasionally venting, too. Here’s what you need to know about why your packing list should include a journal and a fancy pen (I recommend G2s!): Memories Can’t Be Trusted Memories: while powerful, they…
Planning Your Return Home at the End of Your Gap Year by Megan Lee We know you’re too busy having fun and soaking up every adventure-filled moment of your Gap Year experience to even begin considering your days abroad are numbered, but wise students know that preparing to transition to life back home requires some advance prep. Sure, you’re excited to reunite with loved ones and stuff your face with breakfast tacos – not to mention taking a long shower with (gasp!) a loofa – but there’s much more to returning home than these simple pleasures. There are, often, unfamiliar…
6 Ways to Keep the Gap Year Spirit Alive by Megan Lee Whether you’re still shaking out the dust from your pack or your passport has been safely stored for a few weeks, it’s never too soon (or too late) to think about ways you can integrate your Gap-Year-self into your life back home. For some, coming back home is the ultimate challenge in “walking the walk” and “talking the talk” – the walk and the talk that you found while on your Gap Year. It makes no sense to have all of these new insights about yourself only to…
Reverse Culture Shock: Why Does Everything Feel Weird Now? by Megan Lee Why Does Everything Feel Weird Now? You’re back. It’s been a whirlwind. Your mom and dad greeted you tearfully at the airport (only this time they were happy tears instead of sad ones). Grandpa swept you up in a big bear hug. Your friends went berserk at the sight of you, and you’ve had a wonderful time catching up, laughing, stuffing your face, and generally settling back into your old, familiar, friendly community. But then you wake up one morning, and it hits you: Did that gap year…
Health & Safety on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Amidst all your day dreamings for the amazing adventures you are going to have on your gap year (picture it: breakfast picnicking in front of Angkor Wat at sunrise, making a tangible difference in a small Tanzanian community, tracking wombats and other wild animals in the Outback…) it is easy to skim over preparing your mind and heart for potential disaster, or serious safety issue. But let’s be real. Being proactive in ensuring your safety is a great path toward success. Here are a few tips to ensure your gap…
Tips for Choosing Where to Go & What to do on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Alright, you’ve decided to jump a leap of gap year faith and take a break between high school and college whatever comes next in life. But now that you’re feeling uber-confident in your decision and have gotten Mom and Dad (and maybe even Grandma, if you’re lucky) to support it, two important questions remain: Where are you going to go? -and- What are you going to do once you get there? With some 200 countries to choose from and infinite possibilities of changemaking…