A growing number of high school and college students are emulating a long established British tradition of opting out of the rat race and taking a “gap year” to travel abroad and experience other cultures.
The idea to delay the approach of school or work can be appealing to wanna-be travelers. “I knew if I didn?t do it I would regret if forever,” said Charlene Rossi, an account executive from Silver Spring. “The year after college that I spent in South America was the best learning experience I?ve ever had.”
For Brice and Naomi King of Towson, their gap year, which took them to over 18 countries, came after their wedding when they decided to opt out of the work force, sell everything they own and travel the world for a year. “We used frequent flyer miles for our air travel and asked wedding guests to help us fund our trip in lieu of gifts,” said Brice.
Some choose a more structured approach of a gap year by participating in formalized programs. “We cap our gap year groups at 12 students and 2 staff because traveling abroad can sometimes be intense,” said Ethan Knight, founder of Carpe Diem International. “We get a lot of students that are burned out from academia and that are looking for substance and meaning in their lives.”
With a fast globalizing world, seeing how others live can be eye opening for many gap year participants. “We take some our groups to remote parts of the world and let them interact with people who may not have electricity or a phone,” said Knight. “After a few days you can actually hear something click for participants who realize that people can be genuinely happy without MTV, internet or cell phones.”
After a globetrotting year that started in Samoa and ended in Ecuador, King still finds it difficult to go to his nine-to-five job. “It was a life altering experience. We now hope to do it again but this time with kids.”
