This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mass Amherst chapter.
At this time last year, I sat at a dinner table surrounded by six Brits, seven Americans, one Belgian and one Ecuadorian. We were all inhaling either crepes or waffles, wide-eyed, ravenous and ready to take on the world. Between bites we exchanged travel journals, writing goodbyes to one another before we all boarded planes with different destinations.
After three months traveling and volunteering in South America, my plane touched down in Boston. At that moment, and at the Thanksgiving dinner table a few days later, I had never felt more overwhelmingly thankful. My appreciation only grew throughout the rest of my gap year, as Costa Rica and Europe showed me endless hospitality.
It’s no wonder that gap years are becoming more popular in the United States. I encourage anyone and everyone to challenge the idea that it’s an expensive, year-long vacation in which one forgets everything she has learned in her academic career and subsequently refuses to further her education at a university, preferring instead to party indefinitely at a hippy tree house hostel on a remote island.
A gap year is whatever you make of it. I promise, a gap year will teach you more about yourself, your world and the people you share it with than you ever thought possible. So, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, here are 16 reasons why to be thankful for a gap year:
1. Learn to be patient and easygoing
Countless issues arise when traveling. My friends and I were forgotten at airports and bus stations, sometimes sleeping in strangers’ homes, unable to overcome language barriers and never on our own schedule. We adapted to every situation because we had no choice, but in the end, we were flexible and carefree.
2. That thing people say about appearances not mattering? It becomes true.
It never occurred to me that mirrors are everywhere at home and how instinctively I’ll check my appearance. I’m thankful for the new level of self-acceptance I gained from staying in homes without mirrors. Hair, makeup, and matching clothes were irrelevant; only comfort and preparation for the day’s weather and activities mattered. I wore the same clothes constantly, my hair was greasy and my face visibly bitten by bugs. Nobody cared!
3. You become infinitely more responsible.
No passport? No lesson plan for your English students? No money, food, or plans? No one’s fault but your own. My gap year was my first experience with full responsibility. It’s an accelerated crash course in all things adult, and is terrifying in the best way.
4. You get to eat breakfast at places like this…
5. …And eat lunch at places like this
7. You learn that plumbing is a privilege
Hostel bathrooms smelled of the black mold that coated their interiors. To flush the toilet in a jungle community I visited, we went outside and filled a bowl of water to dump into them. We showered by sitting beneath a pipe in the center of the public cultural area. In other places, showerheads were plugged into electrical outlets and hot showers sometimes ended in flames or electrocution. Maybe wearing flip flops in the shower isn’t all that bad.
8. You discover why understanding different cultures is important
In Ecuador, my fellow volunteers and I grew frustrated with the mistreatment of the environment by the local community. We were told a story about a man who did not know a product could be inorganic and so cut his plastic bags into small pieces and sprinkled them over his land as fertilizer. This story stuck with me and still reminds me not to judge or get angry when I don’t understand cultural differences.
9. It shows you how much value is in a loving family and close friends
Homesickness reached me time and again on my year off, and I blame my family and friends. If they weren’t so easy to miss, I could have enjoyed their absence a lot more!
10. And how little value is in material goods.
For some of the best months of my life, my whole world fit into a (ridiculously heavy) backpack. In our culture, we glorify bigger, better, more. But travel makes it clear that pleasure lasts longer when it comes from experiences.
11. You’re able to sleep anywhere, through anything.
Roosters and dogs don’t care about six-inch voices in the morning. Neither do hostel roommates. (Bonus: this skill is so useful in the dorms.)
12. You became an adventurous eater
Quinoa pancakes and Coca Leaf Tea on the train to Machu Picchu in Peru. Paella made on the deck by my wonderful host mom in Spain. Dark, rich brownies from a small chocolate factory in Ecuador. Black risotto and seafood from the Aegean Sea in Croatia. I was once among those obnoxious children who ordered chicken fingers and fries at every restaurant, so this was a big deal. Sure, there was a food poisoning hospitalization and frequent consumption of plain rice with ketchup… you win some, you lose some!
13. You are inspired to learn again
Education is one the single greatest treasures that a country can give to its people. Unfortunately, I felt burnt out after high school; I had started to associate learning with grades, memorization and exhaustion. Only after I learned powerful lessons through experiences did I feel my desire to learn rejuvenated.
14. Your Instagram game is strong
A gap year presented more photo ops than I knew what to do with. Just kidding, I knew I wanted to join The Topless Tour.
15. You experience the life of legal drinking (however short lived)
Some parents may be reluctant to send their high school graduates overseas, knowing that they will be of drinking age. But in my experience, the drinking environment is actually far healthier. Rather than an unsupervised basement littered with empty handles and passed-out binge-drinkers, the legal drinking experience is enjoyed with conversation and (usually) responsible company. (Bonus: the drinks actually taste good!)
16. You meet incredible people!
My year abroad made me appreciate the diverse communities around the world and, of course, the familiar comforts of home. Travel and volunteer work educates, unites and opens the minds of people young and old, in ways that traditional schooling may not.
This Thanksgiving and every Thanksgiving, give thanks for gap years!