I personally didn't buy into the whole gap year thing. I apparently knew what I wanted to do; I didn't actually know, but I knew I didn't want to take a gap year. Due to a change in circumstance I found myself commuting to Uni from my parents house. The rent was of course incredibly reasonable and the taxi service was excellent too. I decided that I just didn't want to do a rubbish Summer job and inspiration struck as I walked past a noticeboard with a flyer for CCUSA. Fast forward 4 months and I've turned down a conducting opportunity and am instead in a mountainous woodland living in a log cabin with 10 girls, 2 showers, not enough hot water and I'm teaching horse riding to boys aged 11 - 18. Despite the hardwork and all of the ups and downs with a season as a camp counsellor it still stays in my mind as probably the best Summer of my life (don't tell my husband).
Following all of the hardwork I went backpacking around the USA, into Mexico very briefly and a couple of stops in Canada. I couldn't getting over the freedom, the new experiences, the sights, the hiking and the people you meet when you are on the road. Coming home was really tough. I believe that within a month I had planned that I would spend my 21st birthday, Christmas and New Year doing a major interRail trip of roughly 6 weeks around parts of Europe that I hadn't yet experienced. "Your poor parents"!
Europe didn't exactly go to plan. It was tough trip in the Winter. The Pdf train timetable I had used to painstakingly plan my trip was wrong on many counts and this caused huge problems. Plus I changed my mind in a couple of locations and either stayed longer or left earlier. I also hadn't factored for tracksuit wearing middle aged men who follow young backpackers around and make them excessively nervous and some doing a little more than just following. My spirits were a little dampened. I got over this very quickly and booked a trip hiking in Kyrgyzstan for the July.
Meeting the man I have ended up marrying could have changed this. Luckily he was ready to put a backpack on as he had some years previous and we headed to Borneo, Brunei and then NZ. The NZ wages and flight prices forced our backpacks into retirement for longer than we would have liked. Any trip we took though was not your typical resort or beach holiday. The biggest trip we had from NZ was a backpacking honeymoon around as many Hawaiian Islands as we could. I blame our honeymoon for my notorious itchy feet starting again. A few short weeks after our honeymoon I found myself in Melbourne interviewing with schools in Dubai, China, Thailand and more.
International teaching is allowing us to have a life we couldn't have elsewhere. We can afford to go away more often and why wouldn't we? My husband is an incredible man. He has willingly packed up twice and on this occasion was very much stepping into the unknown. In less than 12 months we have sadly increased our carbon footprint but we have had some amazing adventures; Sydney, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Suzhou, Shanghai, Yangshuo, Japan, India and before the 12 months is through we will have run (struggled, limped, crawled) through the Great Wall of China half marathon. Why go and lie by a resort pool when you can climb a mountain? Why see nothing but the nearest beach when you can experience the culture, the history and see the real lives of the people so that you can understand the world so much better than you already do. Don't plan your holiday around cocktails, beer, shopping and getting a tan. Step outside the hotel confines or hostel and challenge yourself. You don't have to be 18 and on your gap year to go to an exotic location or spend your 2 week holiday in more than one location. If you want to understand the world better and break down those prejudices that you have go and see the world. Keep your eyes and mind open.
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