Study Abroad Now or Independent Travel Later

thanks for asking this question! I'm in a similar situation so it was good to stumble across this and get some answer and opinions

Some people claim that it doesn't look good on your resume if you have a year traveling, but my experience is the opposite.

Many young people want to travel a bit before settling down, and if they can see that you've already done that they think you're "done" and will stay at your job and settle down.

However, why not do both? Why not study abroad (what an amazing opportunity and experience, and it probably does look good on paper too ), and travel for a bit afterwards before returning home?

I did something in between -- took a leave of absence to do independent travel as an undergrad. It all depends what you're looking for, but it was good for me as I wanted to get out of the academic bubble, into the real world, and do some stuff besides just taking academic classes. I also got to do all of the planning and budgeting myself which is a good educational experience. I went to Costa Rica, took some Spanish classes, volunteered at a school, and explored a lot. I felt like I got to meet a bigger variety of people than I would have if I were in a university program and living with students. I was also in rural and surf towns in Costa Rica -- I imagine it'd be harder to independently build up a social network so fast in a major European city. It cost a lot less than the study abroad option I was looking at too.

I'm not knocking study abroad of course -- I'd also recommend doing that, I don't know a single person that regrets it. But I wanted to throw another possibility out there since I had a great experience with it.

Seeing as you did not do the gap year thing prior to college, I would recommend studying abroad. I only say this because having studied abroad opened up a whole world of opportunities for me and instilled confidence that I could go off and travel once finished with college. After I finished university, I set off on a cross-country trip with 2 other friends, my only two other friends who studied abroad. Everyone else was convinced they no longer had the time to travel. In addition, having studied abroad I made several connections in Italy that resulted in myself landing a job after I graduated, resulting in 3 additional years of European travel. Regardless what you do, make sure that you end up going abroad for an extended period of time because it changes your entire mindset as to what you plan to do with your future.

Definitely study abroad! I'm from Canada and I'm currently spending a year studying in Scotland and it has been the best experience of my life. I have had such a great time in Scotland itself, meeting people and travelling around the country, getting to understand their school system etc., but I have REALLY enjoyed all of the other travelling I've been able to do. I usually for about 10 days a month, sometimes more sometimes less, with long weekends and week breaks, and have had the opportunity to see so many different places. And it is all so cheap having a home base in the UK; flights out of London and Scotland to mainland Europe are incredibly inexpensive, and you can get just about anywhere without having to worry about costs travelling from North America. I really cannot recommend it enough.

You are Lucky Mr. dmac! how many students have this much of luck "Study While Traveling". I always want to do that but circumstances doesn't allow me to do this! even I started to work now and I am looking for type of job which can give me the opportunity to travel while working! Seems great. You must go there!