GAP years are great. And you don’t even have to be pretentious about them at all – you can just see cool stuff, do cool things, and not brag about it when you get home.
But if you’re a would-be traveller just leaving school, you’ve probably never organised a trip more complicated than a Magaluf booze-up before. Which is why rookie mistakes can be made.
Here’s a list of classic errors new backpackers make both getting ready for a trip, and once they’re out in the big wide world.
1 Packing too much
Because seven months with an annoyingly bulbous backpack will likely end with you throwing it off a cliff.
2 Packing too little
Having said that, make sure you pack the essentials. A lightweight waterproof can really lower your misery levels if you need one, and malaria tablets really don’t take up much room do they?
3 Allocating the same budget to each part of your trip
Two months in South East Asia will be sooo cheap. Unfortunately your first week in Australia is going to be a shock.
4 Spending all your hard-earned gap year cash before you travel
The primary culprits for this being cool gadgets and clothes
5 Buying impractical souvenirs
You wanted shot glasses from each country you visited? Well now you’ve got a backpack full of broken glass.
6 Intending to camp
Don’t be that person with a six-man tent, two sleeping bags, and a messy tin rattling alongside your backpack. Camping is for camping holidays – stay in a hostel and have fun.
7 Not trusting the locals
Anyone who hasn’t travelled before tends to be naturally fearful of the peculiar local culture but usually they’re very friendly and more than happy to help.
8 Trusting locals
Sometimes, however, they are just out to scam you. It’s a social minefield out there.
9 Assuming deserts are always warm
No thermals at night? You’re going to get seriously chilly.
10 Blindly following an even slightly out-of-date guide book
Looks like that barbecue snake restaurant you wanted to try in Vietnam got demolished for health and safety reasons.
11 Being polite in a crowd
In most countries this will get you nowhere
12 Being overly cautious crossing the road
In some countries (check which ones) you just have to boldly and calmly stride into the path of oncoming traffic – expecting drivers to swerve round you. Making jittery “maybe/maybe not” movements is less predictable and more likely to see you end up as roadkill.
13 Reckoning your stuff “isn’t worth nicking”
The waterproof coat you innocently left on your bed? Turns out that Canadian girl sleeping silently in the corner really needed one.
14 Assuming trains work the same abroad as they do at home
In India, for example, trains all have individual names which often bear no resemblance to where they’re going or coming from.
15 Admitting you’re 19
As soon as people find out, you’ll become the baby of any backpacking group – just as you’re trying to spread your wings and fly into adulthood.
16 Convincing yourself you can speak the local lingo
That “learn Thai in a month” phrasebook you picked up? It’ll only give you enough vocab to make a native speaker smile or maybe chuckle at you. You will not learn Thai in a month.
17 Never quite getting around to leaving
So you like your gap year job, and you’re making lots of money. Booking that flight can wait until tomorrow can’t it? (This state of affairs can easily last until September.)
By which time it’ll be freshers’ week. But don’t worry, because there’s always an opportunity for another gap year after university.
