Posted on by Nat

Challenge Your Sense of Comfort with a Gap Year

Looking to indulge in a real adventure that will bring excitement, challenge and personal growth to your life?

Living overseas in one location could certainly change your perspective on life abroad as well as life at home.

Three years ago, I took on that challenge to live overseas and ended up in Ecuador for 6 months. It is an experience I will never forget that has enriched my understanding of the world in a deeper way than can never be compared to regular travel.

STEPS IN PLANNING FOR YOUR “ALTER LIFE” OVERSEAS

1 – Pick the Location

  • Develop a criteria for the type of place you’d like to visit
  • Language
  • Country’s Wealth / Standard of Living
  • Infrastructure – Reliability in Communication lines, Water, Electricity, Health Care
  • Tourism Opportunities
  • Political Stability
  • Economic Stability
  • Weather
  • Risks – Geographic, Criminal, etc.
  • People
  • Culture
  • Employment / Volunteering Opportunities
  • Set a purpose to the trip — will you go to work, volunteer or just bum around?
  • Set a realistic budget and check it against the cost of living in the country of choice. You probably want to double that budget since travel costs always end up costing more than initially planned.

    • 2 – Prepare the essentials

    • Get Your Extended Stay Visa from the local consulate/embassy of the country you are visiting (often this may be very expensive or may have restrictions depending on where you are going and for how long)
    • Usually countries will let you stay in a country for up to 6 months as a tourist… any longer and you may need to file for a more complicated Visa. It’s a good thing to look into this early.
  • Also visit the country’s consulate or embassy to learn more about the country and look for tips and insight on living there.
  • What to Bring — This is not your run of the mill vacation. Here’s a list of several items that may become necessary for a longer vacation…
    • You will want clothing for all the applicable seasons and events (casual, formal, sporty).
    • You may also want a smaller backpack for local weekend travel
    • You may want to bring gifts from your country for the close friends you make
    • Electronic appliance adapters may become more important
    • How will you keep contact with your family and friends – you may want to bring a computer for all your necessary work/communications or you can work at a nearby internet cafe
  • Visit a local travel clinic and get the appropriate vaccines. Speak to your doctor to see if you need to take Malaria pills or other medication and what diseases you should watch out for.
  • Arrange your Health Insurance very early. Do look into this in advance since many countries’ health plans only allow you to be away for so long. This will significantly impact the cost of your health insurance.
  • Check your passport’s expiry dates… airlines will not let you fly anywhere if the expiry date is less than 6 months away so you could end up being stuck at home or worse, while you are away.
  • Learn more about and prepare yourself for the potential risks (ie. criminal, economic or geographical – hurricanes or earthquakes) that may happen in the country you choose to live in.
  • Learn the language and read up on cultural differences so you learn early on what to do and not to do when you arrive.
  • Figure out how to receive and pay necessary bills while you are overseas. It might also be worthwhile to set-up someone back home with access to your banking accounts in case of emergency.
  • Arrange for finalizing your income taxes / voting before you leave or while you are overseas.
  • Leave copies of all your papers with a family member or friend that is staying in your home country.
  • If you are planning on working overseas, make sure you have reference letters for all your previous jobs to make the interview/hiring process easier on everyone. Don’t forget to finish your resume before you leave too so you can maximize your good times overseas.
  • Forward your mail to a storage box at the post office, or have someone check your mail (and your house) regularly.
  • Reconfirm all your friends/colleagues addresses so that you can make sure your postcards are received by the right people!
  • If you have a cell phone, you can put your cell phone service on vacation hold so that you won’t be charged for the full service while you are not using it.
  • Get some small bills in the local currency – it is always good to have some on hand for emergencies or just to ease the overall travel stress.

    • 3 – Once you arrive

    • Let your country’s consulate / embassy know you are there by registering your arrival with them. This takes only a few minutes, educates you on the whereabouts of your country’s embassy/consulate in case of emergency and significantly facilitates the process of getting a new passport in case you lose it or it is stolen.
    • Look for expat or traveler club to enhance your knowledge of the travel opportunities and tips for living in that country.
    • Look for temporary work or volunteering opportunities if that is to be part of your journey
    • Find an English version of the local newspaper (unless you speak/prefer the local language or a newspaper in your preferred language if one is available)
    • Live in a homestay with locals for the first few weeks to enrich your cultural experience and help to develop your language skills faster.
    • If you are going to stay somewhere for a few months, it may make sense to get a P.O. box at the post office so that people can send you “care packages” and mail.
    • Find an apartment (much cheaper than hostels) and share your permanent address and other contact info with your friends and family.
    • It would also be good to get a cell phone locally if it is cost-effective and you are staying for at least 6 months.

    Then the rest is easy… sit back and watch yourself go through the various overseas living phases such as the honeymoon period where everything is new and exciting, the homesick period (where you miss the comforts of home and the way that people did things at home), and lastly the growing fondness for the place and its people which will carry on an everlasting nostalgia in your memory for many years to come after you return home.

    Who knows… you might like it so much that you decide to stay a little or a lot longer.