Gapyears?

19 now but since i was about 17(19 now) i have always wanted to go out and travel. Meet new people, new foods, different cultures etc.. I'm currently at college doing a bricklaying course (might seem unusual but this world we live in relys upon that little bit of paper that's say you can do this or that) This will be my final year, right now i'm thinking about saving up a few thousand and just go travelling around the world, see as many different locations as possible. Now a few thousand would never be enough to cover a years trip which is why it would be more of a working holiday. I love physical work, sitting in an office isn't for me and if anyone need a hand building etc.. id be more than willing to help out!

Has anyone done something like this here at BHW? Would love to hear some stories/experiences
Just the idea of going off makes my skin crawl with excitement Just really hope that i can do it, nothing is stopping me.

Who knows maybe id never come back

CazuaL

I've spent many years both travelling and living overseas and if you have a desire to do it don't let anything get in your way. Travelling whilst you are young is one of the best experiences you can give yourself and it will only have a positive impact on the rest of your life.

The best advice I can give you if you are worried about your budget, is book your ticket now. You can book your flights a year in advance and knowing you have a leaving date will give you so much motivation to get the money together.

Also, you would be surprised how long you can travel for on a limited budget if you choose the right countries to visit. I've done both high-end travelling and low-cost backpacking and the low budget trips were more enjoyable for me - probably because the destinations were more interesting.

Your money will go a lot further in Central America and South East Asia than Australia and Europe, for example.

My two favourite countries were Laos and Nicaragua, which also happened to be two of the cheapest places in the world to live and travel.

Choose your destinations wisely, book your flight now and you will not look back.

Did you ever work on your travels to fund more travelling, hope that makes sense?
Little worried about travelling alone. No one that i knows wants to do anything like this, some how England satisfies them :/ Is it easy to find like minded people?

No, I didn't. I either full on travelled, or lived and worked in other countries. I didn't mix both.

Travelling alone is only daunting when you are thinking about it. As soon as you are on your journey you will meet people and the beauty is, everyone else you meet is also travelling.

The best plan is to be completely flexible. Have a general idea of where you are going, but be open to changing plans at short notice. That way, when you meet up with interesting people who are going somewhere new you can go with the flow and travel with them for a while.

Some of my closest friends now are people I met well over 10 years ago in some really remote places.

I used too travel a lot when I was younger but now that I'm older, I can't afford too.

Sounds awesome just going with the flow
Makes me smile thinking about it.

Time to make some money and save it.

Did you ever learn a language? Love to learn a few languages on my travels, considering learning mandarin while i'm at home. Understand i wont get a full grasp of the language teaching myself but id hope to spend majority of my time exploring Asia, seems like a logical thing to do. Would make communicating with people a lot easier

Thanks for the advice mate, much appreciated
CazuaL