So you’ve been living that international fantasy life, and now your gap year is coming to a close—and you've still got a few gap year goals on your list.
Perhaps you’ve been checking out the view of the ancient world from atop a camel’s back, or from the (slightly higher) vantage point of Kilimanjaro. Maybe you’ve taken a vow of silence amongst the monks in Sri Lanka, or a pilgrimage down the coast of Spain.
You could have been volunteering in Haiti, or chasing waterfalls in Peru. Wherever your location and whatever your goals, a year of adventure is ending, and we get that you are probably feeling all the feelings.
Here’s how to end your gap year 100% ready for life’s next chapters
First, remember that every emotion you’re going through is normal. Are you excited for your bed at home and pancakes from your local diner? Makes sense!
Are you devastated to leave the friends you’ve made and the home you’ve built? We’ve been there, too.
Are you terrified you’ll end up forgetting all that you’ve learned? We get it (but you won’t!).
Maybe you’re craving to be back in your own culture, maybe you’re dreading it, and maybe you’re feeling both of those feelings at the exact same time. It’s all ok!
Spending time abroad—especially a year—fills a space within you that you might not have even known was empty.
There’s going to be a lot to navigate in the coming weeks and months, but first, let’s focus on the now.
As your time abroad is coming to a close, we want to offer you all of our tips and tricks to board your flight home with a fully crossed-out bucket list and completely fulfilled gap year goals (well, at least until your next adventure calls!).
What to do on a gap year—before it ends
Here’s how to wrap up your gap year program fully ready for life’s next chapters.
1. Stock up on souvenirs
There are probably one or two items that have caught your eye on repeat, but you’ve put off an actual purchase for another time. This is your friendly reminder—now’s that time!
That extra foreign currency burning a hole in your pocket isn’t going to do you any good once you leave (pro tip: do keep a bill or two—that can be a souvenir in itself!).
As your gap year is coming to a close, you’ll return with memories and personal growth—of course!—but having a few mementos might be just the thing to keep your experience alive.
Be sure to squeeze in any “can’t-miss” experiences that you haven’t gotten to yet!
We also suggest returning home with some trinkets, postcards, and snacks for your family and friends. You’ll feel great about the opportunity to share your experience abroad with loved ones, and they’ll be grateful to get a second-hand peak into a new culture.
Oh, and when that pesky reverse culture shock comes knocking? You’ll be glad to have friends and family who have some insight into how important your recent home is to you, and some of the things that you’re missing.
2. Do something new
A year of adventure is ending, but it’s not yet ended! There must be one last thing on that bucket list of yours, whether it seems simple, like reading in that park that always looked serene, or a little more complex, like hopping a train down the coast to that town you never explored.
You’ve been taking advantage of new opportunities and experiences for a year (kudos to you!), and there’s no reason to dwindle that momentum now.
We encourage you to check one more thing off that bucket list. If you’ve done it all, well, guess what—there’s definitely still more. What’s the best thing you’ve eaten abroad? Take a cooking class and learn how to make it! What’s one food you don’t care to try? Try it anyway!
You’ve never ridden the green line of the metro because there are no worthwhile stops? We bet you might find something. Check off one last sight, metro line, museum, bridge, garden, anything!
[How Travel Helps You Grow]
3. Do something old
When you set off for your year abroad, our guess is you had some pretty specific goals in mind (oh, don’t worry, “find myself” counts!). We’re also betting that once you reached your destination, those goals only continued to take shape and gain interest.
Visit your fave haunts for one last feast
Now that your gap year is coming to a close, revisit, or even relive, some of those initial ideas. Remember the first time you cooked a local dish, and it tasted exactly the way it was supposed to? That moment you went from being someone who had never touched a kangaroo to someone who had? The first time you set foot in that café and had learned enough of the language to order without struggle? Go do that thing again, and enjoy how far you’ve come.
4. Take time to reflect and create
Seeing and doing are excellent ways to live out your end of gap year; stopping and reflecting are, too. You’ve experienced a lot. Being away from home for an entire year is no small feat, especially when where you are is completely different and new.
Remember when you hit the three-month culture shock depression, the six-month cultural high, the nine-month boredom, the 12-month excitement resurgence?
We’re not trying to sound cliché here, but my, oh, my, you have grown! This tip is going to take a little more discipline than some of the others, but we absolutely promise that it will be worth it.
Only you know what you’re feeling in this moment. Please, please write it down. Or paint it. Or play it on the guitar. Honor your experience, yourself, and the year that you’ve had. You earned it, and trust us, you’ll be happy every time you can look back on what you created.
5. Enjoy the people
Whether you were one with the locals or found yourself immersed in an expat community, the people you meet abroad have seen a you that no one else has. Don’t underestimate this bond! The end of gap year doesn’t mean the end of those friendships. Having people in your life who shared in your journey is something you’ll cherish for years to come.
Oh, and there’s that perk of having international friends as an excuse to get abroad again, too! Sure, social media makes it easy for us to stay in touch from afar, but make sure you take time to cherish those friends while you’ve still got them right there with you in person.
Snap a few more photos together, go on one more pub crawl, or hike or stroll around the neighborhood. Maybe even write them a letter or give them something to remember you by and encapsulate your time together.
Take ALL THE PHOTOS with your gap year buds
6. Update your resume
Our apologies for disrupting the adventure with a little practicality, but this one’s important. Expressing your experience is only going to get more difficult the more time you’ve had away from it, and trust us, you want to share this experience with everyone you can.
[9 Gap Year Resume Tips to Really Make it Shine]
Has living abroad inspired you to apply for grad school? Ok, first of all, awesome, and second of all, jot down ideas for that statement of purpose now! Did you do some volunteer work that future employers might be interested in?
Bullet point those new tools while you’re still practicing them, since those details on your resume will be more gripping if you write them while you’re right there in the thick of it. You hit it off with your supervisor and think they’ll be a reference for what’s next? Secure that loyalty while you’ve got them in person.
Did you learn a new language? Start planning for ways that you can keep it strong and use it in your daily life once you return home! We’re not looking to make your experience all about your career—we’re just saying, be proud of what you’ve gained, and use it to guide you through your next steps.
7. Live out your perfect day
Now is the time to revisit all (or, at least a few of) the things you’ve absolutely adored about your time abroad. Whether it’s a museum you’ve already been to five times, a river you’ve rafted every day, or a restaurant you went to once in the beginning but have been dying to get back to.
Do all of these things again, and really, truly savor them. Eat everything you’re going to miss, take another photo of that gorgeous sunset (even though you already have a dozen), rent those paddle boats one last time.
It doesn’t have to be melodramatic—you don’t need to sit there and cry or hyper focus on a moment being a “last.” But you have spent a year learning about all your favorites—so here’s your chance to go fill an entire day with everything you’ve come to love.
[8 Ways to Thrive When you Return Home from Your Gap Year]
One adventure down, countless to go!
You’re officially ready for life after your gap year :’)
A year of adventure is ending, and it’s time to transition. Whether you’re going back to something familiar, or onwards to something completely new, the experience you’ve spent 365 days having will be a part of you indefinitely.
Not to sound cliché… (not that we mind clichés!) but you have accomplished something that is the stuff of other people's’ dreams. There are highs and lows to most things in life, and when we’re talking about the highs and lows of making yourself vulnerable to a new setting, a new culture, maybe even a new continent?!
You can get yourself through anything, now, and we mean that. So, enjoy however long you have left, congratulate yourself for making it this far, and chin up, knowing that there is plenty of adventure and excitement left to come.
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