Have 7 Months Before IB Start Date and No Plans - What to Do?
I'm graduating a semester early from college in December and am fortunate to have a FT IB offer lined up with a start date of next summer. So for basically 6-7 months next year, I have no plans. I was hoping to travel internationally during that time with friends but unfortunately do not have any friends graduating with me. Any suggestions on what to do? I was thinking about picking up an interesting blue collar job while back at home but don't know where to start looking. Any suggestions are very much appreciated! I'd like to take advantage of this time as much as possible and still have some cool experiences.
Travel solo. It's a great experience that I wish I had more time for when I was younger.
Do you have any tips on this? Solo travel within the US is definitely something I'm starting to consider more, but would obviously like to do so without breaking the bank
Backpack through Europe
I do this frequently - middle east, and former Russian countries this summer. SE Asia and South Asia before that. Airbnb if you want your own place, hostels if you want. Stay in contact with Airbnb hosts and have been invited to weddings since. The biggest expense is flights but if you plan ahead and only have a few "must destinations" with the rest being whatever is cheap, then you'll be saving loads of money and having awesome experiences along the way. Favorite experiences have been to the places I just went because it was a cheap layover rather than the places that I planned/really wanted to go. My flight back home this summer happened to be cheaper all-in going to Paris for the weekend rather than flying directly back to the US. Got to watch the French Open final. 10/10 recommend it. Just use your credit card whenever possible in case you need to dispute transactions - my number one travel tip
Write out a list of stuff that sounds cool or bucket list (Google, reddit, whatever) and just do it. This will be your last free time to have fun before you lose your soul, enjoy it to the fullest.
Was in the same situation as you. I wish I had the capital saved up to travel right then and there. You can definitely travel solo but you can also have unforgettable experiences at home/school. Pick up some new skills/learn a language. I worked a part-time fast food gig and finished my pilot's license which took a lot out of me during those months but they were amazing and very rewarding. Either way do not let the time go to waste...it can be very depressing. I liked waking up in the morning having a mission objective.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah I'm planning on at least improving in my hobbies while at home. Waking up every day for 7 months with no plans or nothing to accomplish would probably get depressing real quick.
Have a friend in the same spot as you. He put together 1-2 other friends who also want to travel. DM me if you're interesting in me connecting the two of you (he's based in NYC)
Really appreciate the offer! I might be DMing you in a few weeks once I have more time to sit down and think through my plans :)
I'm looking at the job thing as more a means to keep myself from going insane with nothing to do. When does your signing bonus hit? If I end up traveling I'm probably just going to devote all of that to travel/food costs
1. Roadtrip around the U.S. for 2+ months -> check out all of the national parks
2. Spend 4 weeks in Southeast Asia
3. Spend 4 weeks in Europe
4. Spend 4 weeks in South / Central America
5. Spend time with family / friends from your hometown
Spend every cent you have (i'd even consider going in debt $10-15k) as you'll make plenty you're first two years and then exponentially more afterwards.
Go teach English in Japan, ski instructor in Aspen, bartend on a yacht, or volunteer in Europe. Something part time, not even to make money but to meet other travelers and have something to do. Pick somewhere you've always wanted to go and see what nomad-type jobs you can pick up there. It's great life experience and you'll regret just sitting at home for 6 months, especially if your friends at college are living it up their last semester.
How easy is it to get those kind of jobs in developed countries with visas and whatnot?
You can get a temporary/working holiday visa for a bunch of countries. I looked at Australia/NZ and the yacht thing when I was considering this and it was fairly easy for both. Others might just be more of a volunteering gig because you won't get a visa
Depending how you liked your college experience, you could consider just hanging around campus and being with your friends. For me, second semester senior year was awesome and was always jealous of some of my friends who graduated early and could go out every night and not worry about the job search or classes.
Traveling is great too but it takes a certain type of personality to enjoy it solo. Probably not for me but could very well be for you
Love the energy of this guy - but please go out of your comfort zone and travel. Even if you hate 6 out of 7 months - it will be something you’ll never regret.
Same spot as you. Will be doing a 2 week long trip across different national parks on the Amtrak solo. Starting from Grand Canyon to Sequioa then to Yosemite then to Glacier National Park. Amtrak sells these passes where you can do certain amount of trips in a certain time.
Woah I was definitely not aware of this. I 100% will be looking into the amtrack pass
Please take the time to travel. Legit go on Facebook and see if you can join one of those travel buddy groups to find someone your age to travel with. Go to Europe and enjoy.
Something my buddy did was travel one way to Brussels and then he just trained to save money around cities and be able to afford a cheap Airbnb. Was able to hit Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Germany in five weeks and then flew back from Frankfurt
Go travel Europe. Get the Capital One Venture X Card.
$395 Annual Fee card
Earning 2x points on general spend.
10x on hotels and car rentals
5x on flights booked travel portal.
$300 credit on purchases made through Capital one travel portal each year
priority pass, access to c1 lounges, global entry/precheck
10k point bonus each anniversary.
100k points after 10k in spend over 6 months
Temporary $200 credit on airbnb/vrbo bookings for the first year.
Damn this is really helpful. Thanks for writing this out!
Golf
OP here - I've really appreciated all of your suggestions and definitely want to pursue travel more seriously. The solo Europe trip sounds a bit intimidating (I've never traveled solo), so I am considering doing a road trip across the US first just to get used to traveling alone. Does anyone have any tips on organizing this kind of trip well and within a relatively tight budget? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
I highly recommend traveling. That’s what I did. Literally found 2 other kids from my school who were interested in going and we went (found them on a school fb page and arrived in Mexico never meeting them).
Honestly just go to a hostel and you’ll find other young people. Selina is pretty good in Mexico. Bring your phone, passport, credit card, swim trunks, and a lock and go with the flow. Look for gringos and you’ll be fine. I can dm you places I went.
Surf lessons 200/week (a rip-off but whatevs)
Tacos $1-3 for enough to fill me up
Corona $2
Churros $1
Random street vendor food $1-5 depending what it was.
Overpriced plane ride around Mexico $200 (pilot let us fly tho so it was worth it for the gram)
Dr appointment + treatment $50
I think I spend ~2500 including airfare and lodging for 6 weeks. Not a super tight budget but could have been tighter if I sacrificed time and/or convenience
Also went to Europe with work away and it was good, but not as cheap as Mexico.
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