You may want to take some time to figure things out between high school and college with a Gap year, and you should. It’ll give you a chance to sit back and think through what you’re going to do in the future.
But there will be financial constraints unless you’ve got extremely wealthy parents to foot the bill. If that’s not you, then you need to sit down and create a solid plan for that year of discovering yourself.
If you have absolutely no idea of how to go about it, then we are here to help. Up next we’re going to tell you how to plan your budget so you can have a comfortable year and come back stress-free when it’s all over.
What Is a Gap Year?
A Gap Year, according to Knight’s organization, is a year that you take off from college. It’s more of a real-world learning experience outside of the school learning schedule.
Most students take a gap year after high school, just before they go to college. Students take the year off to search for growth.
This usually involves traveling or traveling and volunteering for organizations around the globe. Here is how to create a gap year on a budget.
Pick a Budget-Friendly Country
First things first, where you want to go should be budget-friendly if you’re going to survive the whole year. That’s why picking a country that is known to be less expensive should be top on the list. if you had planned for an expensive place, you need to change those plans.
Take your time, read around, and find the country that is cost-effective for you. This will enable you to manage your finances quite well. For example, if you’re looking to go to the Amazon, pick a country where you can easily manage.
Understand the Cost of Living
Now, finding the best budget-friendly country isn’t enough, you also need to understand the cost of living. When you’re doing your cost-of-living research, you need to find out in detail about every aspect.
For example, how much will it cost you to live there per day or week in an apartment? Check out simple things like the cost of bread and milk or even transportation to get a real idea of what it’s going to cost.
Travel at the Right Moment
Timing is everything when you’re looking to travel out of the country for your gap year. The month and day you travel on can make a difference to the tune of hundreds of dollars.
It is also advisable that you ensure everything that you can do beforehand is done at the right time. If you can book your tickets early enough; bus, plane, trains, it’s better if you do as soon as possible.
You can also have a plan to book when there are discounts, it won’t hurt your budget.
Plan for Logistics
You shouldn’t just wake up one day and want to get everything in order, that simply won’t work. You need to pay for things like vaccination, passport, health insurance among others before you go.
You’ll need to start as early as possible, planning for the same. And they too may cost you a lot to acquire so you need to be ready financially. Not many countries will allow you entry if you don’t have these documents sorted out.
Become a Volunteer
If you can’t manage the budget on your own, why not get some help? Your gap year shouldn’t be all about going out there and having fun while you drink yourself silly. You can do some good too while you take your year off.
You can become a volunteer at an organization and offer your skills in exchange for accommodation and meals. Also, you won’t do your CV any harm with a recommendation from the organization. You can start by looking up some of the best places to volunteer from Google today.
Conclusion
There are many ways that you can use to survive when you finally decide on taking that year off school. If you didn’t have any ideas of where and how to start from, here are some ideas that you should implement to make everything easier.