This was published 7 years ago
Five myths about taking a gap year in your 30s
By Anne Fullerton
Taking a year off to travel in your 30s is not as unrealistic as you might think.Credit: Alamy
Think "gap year" and most people imagine an 18-year-old taking a break between high school and university to drink their way around Europe. Or a twenty-something uni grad teaching English in Southeast Asia or volunteering at an orphanage in Africa before starting a full-time job at a law firm.
But gap years aren't limited to high school leavers and university graduates. Working adults take gap years, too. In fact, some big companies offer staff a year off on the condition that they return after their period of extended leave, while many academics have a sabbatical built into their careers.
The decision to quit a job and spend a year abroad is not an easy one. First, there's the question of responsibility – maybe it's the mortgage, a partner or helping out your parents. Second, you have to face up to the opinions your family, friends and work colleagues have about the "adult gap year" – some will think it's a great idea, but many will assume it's an early mid-life crisis and you're killing any chance you had of career progression or buying that apartment. Get used to hearing the word "brave" – and not as a compliment.
Anne Fullerton on her adult gap year, in Trinidad.
Not long ago, I took the leap and started my own adult gap year. I had been working full-time as the deputy editor of a website, lived in a pleasant two-bedroom apartment in Sydney with my long-term boyfriend, and in many ways was doing exactly what I had hoped. And yet, every morning at 3am I found myself feverishly scrolling through the Instagram feeds of people I knew who'd been courageous enough to blow their savings on the trip of a lifetime.
As friends began having babies and buying houses, I felt my window for adventure rapidly closing. The sensation that I was missing out finally reached a crescendo after I declined an overseas job offer. Weeks of painful deliberation made me realise that what I wanted wasn't in fact a similar job in another city, but something entirely new and in many different cities.
Myth 1: Thirty is too old to take a gap year
"Met the mayor of Memphis and had @johnstamos narrate our Graceland tour": Anne Fullerton.Credit: Anne Fullerton
While gap years are usually undertaken by those under 25, people in their 30s are actually much better equipped to do one. You're independent enough to explore a city without an entourage, experienced enough to take the inevitable setbacks in your stride and relish freedom in a way that only someone who has done a decade of nine to five can appreciate.
More so, it's an age when many people are taking stock of their careers, lives and relationships – and sometimes, those things are better viewed from a mountaintop in Peru than an office cubicle.
Getting off the treadmill has made me realise that my priorities and interests have shifted dramatically since I began working in my 20s, but the direction in which I was heading hadn't. By contrast, the only perspective I got from my 18-year-old gap year was the view from the hostel bar.
Another one ticked off the bucket list: Havana, Cuba.Credit: Anne Fullerton
Myth 2: You're throwing away everything you've worked for
Walking away from good, if predictable, circumstances is always difficult.
But for many – myself included – it's the first time you'll have accrued any substantial savings. While you may not have enough money to spend a year jet-setting around Western Europe or living it up in Tokyo, you might have enough to travel by train around India, or work at a B&B in rural France in exchange for board.
Chilling out in Baracao, Cuba.Credit: Anne Fullerton
I chose to explore Cuba and the US before setting up a semi-permanent base in New York, a city I had always dreamed of living in. While it's not the most budget-friendly option, I've found long-term sublets cheaper than constantly being on the move. If you're flexible about where you go, sites like HouseCarers and MindMyHouse exist specifically to link travellers with free accommodation in exchange for house sitting.
Myth 3: It's career suicide
Instead of focusing on what you'll be sacrificing professionally, think about how a gap year might help. Maybe you want to apply for a fellowship overseas, join a peer network, volunteer for a cause that's close to your heart, or use your time to explore a completely new career.
By taking advantage of your existing networks and experiences – or forming new ones – your gap year can boost rather than hinder your prospects. I found that all those years spent hidden away in offices had given me a solid list of contacts and so decided to try my hand at freelance work. I've also been pushed to build a new list of international connections to keep the work flowing.
So far I've danced at a nightclub ensconced inside a natural cave, been to summer camp and done karaoke in a residential trailer in Memphis – all in the name of work and feature writing.
Whether it's penning a novel or studying a language, it pays to plan your year off – and not just the destinations you want to visit.
Myth 4: Everyone will be younger than you
As a 19-year-old, I stayed at a Prague hostel occupied by a man so wizened he went by the nickname Gandalf. He'd been there seven years. He's probably still there now. Sure, you'll no longer be the youngest person in the room, but you won't be the oldest. The thirty- and forty-somethings were always there – you were probably just too busy doing Jager shots to notice.
Myth 5: I have to get married and buy property now
Unless you're blessed with a hefty trust fund there's no getting around this one. Some couples travel in place of a lavish wedding, other people figure you have a lifetime to pay off a mortgage but a finite window of time before your knees give out.
I get nervous throwing a housewarming party, so the idea of inviting hundreds of people to watch me and my beloved dance under a spotlight in fancy costumes fills me with dread. As for the house, see above reference to knees.
The question of time apart will have a different answer for everyone, but I've always felt it's the kind of thing that sorts itself out. I figure separation is temporary, but missed opportunities stay with you forever. Whether it's friends, family or a partner, the people who know you best tend to understand when your need to travel outweighs your fear of being apart, for a little while at least.
Anne Fullerton is based in New York and plans to travel to Mexico and around Central America next – both are on her travel bucket-list, which she considered too long to tackle on a two-week holiday.
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