What would you do? 9 months between college and job start

Hi guys,

So just wrapped up recruiting, accepted my full time gig, but have a 9 month gap between college ending and the job starting

I wanted to get some ideas on what would be best to do in that time- i have another job lined up that I could go to for the first 6 months (but the money I'd get is negligible, and feel like having some cool experiences would be better)

Any ideas? I'm usually a really sheltered person, have spent every summer since high school doing an internship, so honestly haven't had the chance to experience much outside the normal bubble that I've lived in.

I've thought about travel, but not sure where (and I'd probably be going solo as most friends would be working/in grad school), so not sure how/where would be best for that.

 

travel europe - party - hostels - crazy adventures - do it up, bro, this is your last chance before becoming a corporate droneeee

Asia/Australia would be cool too, but Europe is just so damn easy to get around.

I had a 3mo gap and went to Europe/Africa.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

In addition to seeing the world as much as possible, it's not a bad idea to spend a few days in as many U.S. cities as you can, you never know where/when you'll find your new favorite spot.

I have a friend who fell in love with Denver and Colorado in general and ended up transferring there with his work after a few years in New York, one of the happiest dudes I know. Now is the time to shop around.

 

This and @Isaiah_53_5"'s advice is what you should do. You have a lot of time and are probably going to be making a great income so go exploring and try to meet some people, as well as looking for potential places to move to.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
MonopolyMoney:
Or try and get some other type of experience in like volunteering with the peace corp

He has 9 months free and you recommend that he ditch his job and join the peace corps for 27 months?

lol what

![https://i.imgur.com/TNRWLhu.gif][https://i.imgur.com/TNRWLhu.gif]

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Travel. Hands down one of the best things you can do for yourself.

With nine months, you can basically travel to every continent. Traveling to cities in the US is cool too but it'll be easier to visit these places once you've started working.

Think about it, if you ever planned on going to Australia, you would probably need to spend your entire year's worth of PTO in order to go.

Also, and this is especially true if you consider yourself sheltered, travel alone! Chances are most of your friends don't have the means or willingness to go with you for an extended amount of time anyway and bringing others limits the amount of freedom you'll have on your travels. Don't worry - you'll make friends quickly if you stay in a hostel and dating apps are a great way to meet locals.

Some places to consider: Nepal, Colombia, Eastern Europe, Berlin, Scandinavia, East Africa.

 
Most Helpful
  1. (A) Travel and immerse yourself somewhere a bit. I knew a guy who took a gap year between starting his IB job and ended up in Chang Mai, Thailand living with the Elephants in a sanctuary. When I went to visit, he introduced me to his Australian friend who tried to convince me you could travel for 10 years on $5,000 by working, volunteering, immersing yourself in the culture.

(B) Another guy from my high school worked at an insurance company as an actuary, but hated it. He knew he wanted to go to law school. He graduated from a good school like William & Marry or something, but decided working his miserable insurance job while applying would be the death of him. Instead, he moved to Alaska for a year to work on a salmon farm or something haha.

Point is, there are a ton of things to do in life, and having 9 free months seems pretty great. I'd go outside the box and really do something gritty. If for some reason you can't be away for that long, I'd suggest getting a job doing something totally irrelevant to whatever white-collar work you're going to do full-time to put it all in perspective (literally golf course caddy, roofer, ditch digger, ranch hand, surfboard shaper apprentice, farmer, etc.)

If you have any inkling to go back to school, now's the time to study. Could also join a startup you like.

My ranking would definitely be 1. Elephants in Chang Mai type of deal 2. Random Job 3. Startup 4. Sitting on your butt all year

 

Everyone is encouraging travel and I couldn't agree more. However, if that isn't feasible, maybe take up some sort of martial art or focus on getting in really good shape. Desk jobs can take a toll, but if you build good habits now, then that will carry over throughout each phase of your life.

While I'm already working, I plan on starting boxing classes (first for exercise, maybe a few fights down the road but definitely not in the competitive sense) to build strength and help me stop being an overweight muhfuckin slob. Might do kickboxing wayyyyy down the road if boxing goes well to really drill down on the striking styles.

Dayman?
 

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