BootsnAll Travel Community

So here's my deal: I dropped out of school after freshman year, worked a summer, then hopped on a plane to Nepal for three months - there the bug was planted under my skin and into my psyche.
I went back to the states to work 3 jobs for 9 months, then spent another 9 months backpacking through Latin America. Then i went back to the states for 6 weeks, and I am now in New Zealand, working as a nanny and a waitress. I am 21 years old and at a complete and utter crossroads in my life. In 6 months I have a plane ticket home...then what?

I want to see the world. I want to see africa, india (besides bloody 24 hour layovers in the delhi airport) asia, and return to south america to see the east coast countries. but i feel like my conscience prevents me from continuing what i am doing...working, then travelling, working, then travelling.

my mother being in the academic world, there is strong pressure from home to return to college. my father travelled the world with unicef and other companies working to bring peace and education to the lives of children in war-torn countries, and i do have the strong urge to follow in his footsteps.

and yet i have a fear, that i will go to college, be wracked by debt, and by the time i am done i will be too old to enjoy traelling in the same way i do now. i despise worrying about money, but it is a creation of man that binds us together and tears us apart.

i am looking to fellow travellers for guidance. for words of encouragement, wisdom from the experienced, and perhaps a few "what the hell are you worried about? life is to be lived, not to be planned."

Who's life is it?

Your mother is giving direction. If you follow it or not (and it sounds like you don't want to follow it) is your choice. If you follow a different person's direction you are still not following your own direction. That is just as wrong or right as following your mother's direction.

Make your own path. Listen to your mother and others. Don't make a choice because some one else tells you that you should.

Life is full of fear, get used to it.

This is a really difficult situation and it's hard to give a full response, but here are some thoughts:

-It has probably not been easy to do the travelling and working abroad you've done...many people don't ever do that much because it's hard...but you've done it. This probably means that you can do difficult things if you are motivated...like go to school as an older student if that's what you want then.

-It may be hard to focus on school if your heart isn't in it, and you know that you can travel/have been able to do it before and that's what you want.

-All that said, as much as it is your own life, it may be hard to just forget about your family's concerns. Your family is part of your life and if they feel like you haven't lived up to your potential or something (I'm not saying this, but sometimes that's how these differences of opinion on college go) that is not just easy to shrug off. I'm not saying it's right or that you should do something that you don't want to do, but that it is not easy to just dismiss the whole thing.

But it sounds like sometimes you do want to go to school and continue some of the family's line of work. Can you find any compromise, like studying something you enjoy and which is also relevant to joining the peace corps (or some other organization likely to be around when you finish)? I think they may help with loans or at least allow you to defer them.

Good luck. I'm sure it will work out for the best. It is a tough situation.

What about going to school abroad? Or going to a school with a lot of study abroad options? You could combine the two... What about getting a scolarship/fellowship/etc? Are there any fields you're interested in working in that might pay for you to go to school? Those last two would avoid the debt problem...

I know you said you hate to worry about money, but one other thing to consider is how much money you'll be able to make later on WITHOUT a college degree... I know there are some trades where you could make a lot of money without a degree, but do you have those skills? You could, of course, always go on a reality tv show and become rich and famous, but that's not for everyone either!

Hey there,

I went through the same thing recently with my decision to go to grad school. Since undergrad, I have worked and volunteered abroad three times, traveled several times on extended journeys, and and a ton of fun. I had no debt from undergrad, but am taking out quite a bit in student loans for grad school. I felt like I was at a huge crossroads in my life as well. Either continue traveling and having fun, or buckle down and go back to school. Just the two years of grad school was seeming like an eternity. And contemplating the end of my vagabond lifestyle was freaking me out. Personlly, I just decided to go for it with the school thing. Its something I feel I need to get done sooner rather than later, and hopefully I will get a job I am happy with and with a salary that will make it possible for me to travel every once in a while.

I don't have any advice for you, but, you are young. People start college at different times in their lives. Keep in mind that there are scholorships. I had no debt from undergrad due to those. You could also look into the Peace Corps. I know they sometimes take people whithout degrees. It could be worth checking into, because there are a lot of scholorships for returned volunteers.

I just totally sypathize with what your going through...but, I think its great that you've already done so much traveling and your only 21! Just take some time, regroup, refocus, whatever, check into all your options, and I am sure you will figure it out

i knew this was the right place to come for another opinion. thank you all for your words. they make me feel like i'm not the only one in this situation, as i felt before.

still dealing with slow kiwi life.

still making a decision, but with less of a "holy shit what the hell am i going to do" attitude about it.

thanks yall!

I'm not sure if I'm touching upon your particular case, as I don't know which schools you intend on going and what your financial situation is.

Having said that,it goes without saying that state universities are often much cheaper private ones. I say this because having come from Europe, I find there's an enormous pressure in the US to 'pick the right school'(which usually are expensive and as far away from home as possible) as if your whole life depended on it.

I lived with my folks who lived 10 minutes by bike away from my state university (San Jose State U, CA). Semester fees were about $1500(resident). It's a LOT less than your usual $5k/semester in tuition alone, say, at UC Berkeley.

At the end of university, I had about $5k in loans. I paid it off in 6 months (but could have done it a lot sooner), and the only reason I even took a loan was because it was 'free' money (no interest till graduation).

Also read up on another thread here about why do people choose (semi) useless majors in school. School apparently is highly overrated ...

Follow your heart.
Your heart always knows where it wants to go.

Nic

I gotta go back to school. Got to. If I don't do it now I'll never do it. I don't want to be the old guy in class.

At least point myself in the general direction. Get brochures.

Yeah, I am in the brochure stage.