Should I travel after college? YES! Traveling for a year after college won't just give you a taste of the real world. It'll give you a whole dang feast.
Here's why you should (and how to!) travel after college graduation.
So you just finished college, and you’re about to take the next step forward, moving from the life of a student into the life of a professional. Maybe you studied abroad, maybe you didn’t, but you know you want to seek out adventure travel. You think it might be best to establish a career first, and then travel later.
You’ll be more stable, you’ll have more money, you’ll know who you are, and you’ll appreciate travel adventures more because you’ve got things “figured out.” Good idea, right? Wrong!
All those things that make life worth living like sunrises and sunsets, new friends made during late nights around campfires, and in neon lit city streets, worn backpacks, stamped passports, and journals bursting with notes from adventures.
That’s what you find in adventure travel, and you shouldn’t wait to seek it. Although counter-intuitive as a first step into a career, traveling as a recent grad is the perfect time to go for many reasons. Read on to learn the reasons for traveling after college graduation.
Why consider traveling after college graduation?
If you're still on the fence about whether or not to travel after graduation, you've come to the right corner of the internet. Here are compelling reasons to help you decide your next step:
1. You’re Not Tied Down.
You probably don’t have kids or pets to worry about. You might be living with your parents again (normal in this economy) or with a friend or two in an apartment, so you most likely don’t have a mortgage to pay off yet.
You likely haven’t nailed down your dream job, and traveling before you start a new, maybe serious job allows you freedom to explore the world without the time constraints of vacation days.
2. You Can Be Selfish with Your Money.
You most likely aren’t concerned about saving for a house yet, or retirement, or your children’s college educations. What little money you have is all yours to stretch as far as you can across the globe.
3. You're Able-Bodied & Resilient.
It’s good to be quick on your feet while traveling. You can handle the stress of lost luggage or missed connections. You won’t mind sleeping in an uncomfortable hostel bunk bed.
Well maybe you’ll mind, but your body will function just fine all the same. You can stay up late and wake up early and walk, swim, hike, and climb all day. You have the energy and drive to seek adventure.
4. You Can Make Connections.
Making new, like-minded friends is a major perk to traveling after college!
You want to meet new people, and your freshly finished university days have you well practiced in the social arts. Hostels are hot spots for young travelers, and many times you can band together with bunkmates to share in adventures. You might just make a lifelong friend, which may lead to future world travels.
Maybe you’ll meet a guy from Sweden in Australia and next summer he’ll show you around Stockholm and introduce you to a friend who’s moving to the city where you live. Connections are important, and who knows, maybe they’ll be the path to that dream job!
5. You Can See a New Perspective.
When you decide to get a backpack and buy a one-way ticket to anywhere, adventure travel will help you put things in perspective. No matter where you go, you will see things. You will see that people live differently than you do.
They eat different things, they talk differently, they wear different clothes, but they are all human and they are proud of where they come from, and meeting them will inevitably change you.
You might want to live differently after your eyes are opened by other cultures and places. When you get home, maybe you’ll be more inclined to live, work, or travel abroad again. It might change your professional goals.
Maybe the meaningful work you yearn to do will come from an idea sparked by someone, or something, or somewhere that you haven’t yet found.
6. You Can De-Stress.
Say goodbye to normal life and live something more exciting!
What traveling will do, most definitely, is help you to see your life in context of the whole world. You will see that petty problems don’t matter in the scheme of things. You will know, in some abstract inarticulate way, more about life itself. It might not be a big revelation, but while you are out in the world, you are absorbing everything and cogs are turning within you.
By choosing to travel while you are young, your horizons will be broadened rather than bogged down by the stresses of being ‘successful’ at home immediately after college. Plus, you probably need a break. You just earned a degree after working hard and studying for years. Wouldn’t some time to explore the world, and to reflect on what you just accomplished be pretty nice?
Where to travel after graduation
Just graduated college—what now? Find a place to go! Figuring out where to travel after graduation is a pretty big step. We have a collection of articles here that can help you zero-in on the destination and experience that's right for you. Learn our favorite places and college graduation trip ideas!
From the Best Places to Travel for Adventure Around the World:
When you travel, are you more of an all-inclusive resort kind of guy/gal or do you prefer to sign up for a homestay with a local family? Do you take the road less traveled rather than follow the crowd? Would you peek behind the curtain to see the real wizard of Oz or be too chicken to do so? Do you like to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone in a foreign country?
If yes, then you are an adventure traveler hands down. Instead of spinning a globe with your eyes closed and going wherever your index finger lands, why not check out our list of the world’s most adventurous places to visit this year. Here are 10 best places to travel for adventure around the world!
Figuring out how to travel after college graduation may take some work, but it's 100% worth it.
From the 5 Best Destinations for a Gap Year After College RN:
Have you had it up to HERE ^ with hearing about everyone and-their-mothers’ plans to take a gap year? Has the green monster of jealousy finally got you considering your own options for a year of travel and self-discovery? Way to take that grumpy energy and turn it gold, my friend.
Taking a gap year is totally en vogue, but this is one trend that won’t go the way of Vine. (RIP, Vine.) If you’re in the early stages of planning your gap year, unsure where to go, we’ve got a handy-dandy infographic to give you all the deets on the best gap year destinations for college grads.
From 16 Incredible Study Abroad Graduate Programs:
Bottom line: furthering your education shouldn’t be a mystery, especially when it comes to finding programs best for you. In our lists below we’re giving you study abroad graduate programs that will rock your socks (and your passports). Keep reading to catch some deals and discover some grad school gems.
What are the perks of doing study abroad graduate programs? A graduate degree abroad is definitely an experience with many positive outcomes. You can live in a new country, advance in your career, or grow your global network to name a few. While it’s not that same thing a studying abroad in your undergrad, grabbing your master’s abroad will give you a leg up in an increasingly globalized world.
From The Busy Student’s Guide to Finding Work Abroad after Graduation:
After all, uprooting yourself to work abroad after college can be daunting—scary even—and maybe you’re afraid that it’s too much—too much to plan, too much to do, and there isn’t enough time. However, it can be done—all of it, and it’s easy once you know what you’re doing. It’s easy to find work abroad after graduation—work that will propel your career and give you a profound sense of wanderlust.
From 12 Stellar Teaching Programs for Recent College Graduates Abroad:
You’re probably thinking, “But I majored in marketing, what does that have to do with teaching?” Well, everything! With a little bit of training, nearly anyone can become a teacher, and having extra knowledge in a specific field can make you even more attractive for some teaching positions. Just because you didn’t get a degree in education doesn’t mean you’re not qualified to teach!
How to travel after college with no money
Did you know there are ways to travel the world and make money?
It's not easy, but there are ways that you can figure out how to travel after college with no money. Follow these tips and advice to get as close as possible to traveling after graduation for free.
1. Go somewhere affordable on a budget.
Don't set up your new life after college in a place like Tokyo or anywhere near Scandinavia. Research general costs of living and currency exchanges to ensure that you find a destination where your dollar and relative buying power is strong.
Avoid destinations with high costs of living—especially high start up costs—other traveling after college graduation will just be another exercise in going into debt.
2. Apply for scholarships.
If you are game for having a more structured experience when you travel after college (rather than roughing it a la solo backpacker), then you will have more finance options also available to you.
We have an entire article on Scholarships for Studying Around the World, and a portion of our website dedicated entirely to Travel Abroad Scholarships. It's not instant free money, but it's a start!
3. Set up a FundMyTravel account.
Crowdfunding has financed thousands of dreams, and with the right fore-thought and goal setting, you can easily get friends, family members, and your extended network on board with supporting your travels financially.
It's helpful to have intentions for your adventure beyond "getting drunk in a new city every three days," so think hard about what you want to accomplish—a travel program can help—and then invite everyone to support you.
4. Do a work exchange.
How to travel after college with no money? Work exchange programs! These opportunities are an awesome way to alleviate the financial stressors of paying for travel after college. In exchange for a few hours of work every day, you essentially "earn your keep."
While this varies from opportunity to opportunity, it oftentimes covers some meals and room and board. Becoming an au pair is another alternative to work exchanges that can be a great option if you dream of learning a second language of your own or developing meaningful, serious, and deep relationships with people from another culture.
5. Digital nomadism.
Here are the most popular digital nomad jobs hiring right now. Work and travel might not sound like as much fun as plain ol' travel, but getting to travel long term because you don't have as much money stresses does sound like fun (no?).
There are many places where you can work remotely and save money if you're ultra-strategic in your path towards digital nomadism.
Traveling after college graduation is brilliant!
Just graduated college—what now? T-R-A-V-E-L
So please, travel now in your youth. You are as free and able-bodied as you will ever be, and you don’t know what you’ll find unless you look. As Jeff Johnson said in 180 Degrees South, “The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning, you didn’t even think to ask.”
The world is yours. Take it.
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