Last week, I delved into the infinite pool of questions surrounding post-university life. Its rapids and tides washed me away in a mass of doubts, uncertainties and, in the end, intrepid optimism. This week, I wanted to finally answer some of these swirling questions. What is actually out there in the big, wide world after graduation?
An increasingly common response is “take a gap year.” In my case, this is the only answer I seem to have. But this phrase feels like a very general and allusive term. What does one do on a gap year? What does one achieve? How does one prepare for it?
So, in the spirit of embracing the future, I thought I would make a list of all the potential activities a gap year could entail. This list was composed by my not-so-sober housemates and I one evening. The purpose of the exercise was to entertain the various possibilities when you take a year away from work and study.
Branching away from the usual expensive, travel-the-world “Gap Yah”, this list is more home and cost-friendly. Obviously, it is not a finite collection of ‘must dos.’ Instead, it is a random mind-burp of suggestions to inspire you, me, or indeed anyone. It shows that post-university life can be filled with whatever your candy-fluff of a brain can come up with, with a little bit of liquored-up help.
- Learn a new musical instrument ( most likely the guitar)
- Sleep under the stars (a camping trip of sorts, but without the cushy-luxuries of a tent)
- Learn a language, then go to a country that speaks that language (suggestions: Spanish, Russian, Swahili)
- Practice mindfulness e.g. write down three things you are grateful for every morning
- Try a form of yoga (i.e. Beer Yoga – is there any other form?)
- Learn the football offside rule (you might never have the time again)
- Visit one natural wonder of the world
- Visit one human wonder of the world
- Start your own blog/diary
- Read a book from every continent
- Try out new sexual experiences (permitted you find someone to have to them with and you are not celibate)
- Keep a dream journal
- Watch every episode of Friends
- Go to an outdoor movie screening
- Try a food that you have never eaten before (suggestions: octopus, vegan cheese)
- Go bungee jumping
- Try investing in the stock market
- Do a half-marathon
- Learn how to cook the prefect roast
- Grow your own vegetables and eat them
- Hitch-hike across a country e.g. to Paris
- Go skinny-dipping
- Volunteer at a local hospital
- Do a ‘Come Dine With Me Special’ with friends
- Volunteer at a local homeless shelter
- Go surfing
- Campaign for a political organisation
- Do the Three Peaks challenge
- Watch the Oscars (all the way through)
- Spend a week without Wi-Fi
- Watch a live sporting event that you have never seen before (suggestions: curling, polo or figure skating)
- Visit Scotland for the weekend
- Visit Ireland for the weekend
- Visit Wales for the weekend
- Do some art (whatever takes your fancy)
- Got to a castle (because castles are fun)
- Learn how to start a fire in the wild
- Make a gift for someone that you really care about, from scratch
- Visit an elderly relative you don’t normally see
- Learn a magic trick
- Visit an art gallery
- Visit a museum
- Decorate/paint your room
- Spend time with your family
- Take a course at a community centre or local school (suggestions: business, women’s studies)
- Learn to build IKEA furniture
- Go to a car boot sale and sell all your old shit
- Go to a musical festival
- Buy a new pet and keep it alive for at least a year (hopefully more)
- Go wild swimming
- Learn ‘The Routine’ from Friends
- Go WOOFing
- Update your old clothes with old material and thread (suggestion: watch Project Runway for tips)
- Visit friends at universities across the country
- Take time to do absolutely nothing (because this is very important)
Edited by Tia Ralhan
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