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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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43rd GapperJo Min-seok
A 20-month gap year
Preparing to study aviation abroad to pursue the pilot dream I rekindled during my gap year.
After graduating high school, I worked for three years at a company as a technical industrial worker (military service substitute). A little over a year after joining the company, I reflected on whether I was satisfied with the work I was doing. Every day passed the same, and I worked as if I had become a machine.I started wondering whether I would have to keep working like this even after the military service substitution period ended.
After just entering society and working for a year, I was 21. I'll have to work at least until I'm 60, and the thought of working for 40 more years made me wonder, 'What joy is there in living life...?'
I didn't feel that taking a few years off from work to do something else would make me fall behind at all.
AndI didn't want to live my life working like a robot.If the work had been rewarding and fun, I wouldn't have had these thoughts, but doing the same repetitive tasks every day in the factory felt like a robot's life rather than a human life. We weren't born just to work. But since I had to spend three years at the company to resolve my military service issue, I decided to take my time thinking about what to do after the military service substitution ended.
At first I thought, 'Maybe I'll try going to university,' but I didn't really feel like choosing a major and learning anything right now. If there had been something I truly wanted to learn, going on to university wouldn't have been a bad idea.
After thinking about it over and over, travel suddenly came to mind.I felt like going on a world trip would be really fun.
Usually a world trip sounds grand, but it didn't seem that difficult. Since I really like learning new things, I thought that traveling the world would let me encounter and learn about many new cultures. So I began preparing for the world trip for almost two years. At the time I actually thought I would become one of the first people from my country to travel the world...!
When I searched the internet, I found that many world travelers already existed. I didn't know there were so many world travelers.
So I was able to get a lot of information from the blogs and books of travelers who had already been on world trips.
The reason I set out on a world trip was simply because I wanted to live an enjoyable life.Because I thought life would be boring if it were too smooth.
#Work life pushed me further toward taking the trip.
After graduating high school, I entered a company as an industrial technical worker. Working there for three years, I think I was able to save enough money for travel. My hometown is Tongyeong in Gyeongsangnam-do, but the company was in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, so I lived in the company dormitory. The dorm was a small annex on the left side of the factory building, so it felt like I lived at the company every day.
Whether I was on my way to work or leaving, it was all at the company. Living there, when work piled up, those of us in the dorm often stayed late to finish it, and even while I was relaxing after work, urgent issues would suddenly arise requiring extra tasks. Sometimes on weekends, while I was resting, I'd be called in because something had come up.
Constantly trappedLiving only to work and being held back by the company, I think that actually pushed me to travel.The more overtime I worked, the more I wondered why I had to live like that. Working so obsessively left me no time to spend money, and my bank account just kept growing. I wasn't working myself to exhaustion to save travel funds. I was simply doing the overtime and extra shifts the company asked for without thinking, which allowed me to save a lot of money.
For preparations, I searched Naver for [world travel, around the world] and referred a lot to blogs posted by seniors who had already traveled around the world.With a long two-year preparation period, I could leisurely search the internet for how to prepare for the trip, how to obtain visas, and what else I needed. At first the preparations felt like there were so many things to do and seemed very difficult and hard, but by taking things step by step I was able to finish all the preparations.
#A trip I took trusting myself and without burdens
I had many fears and worries before leaving.Until a month before the trip I was nothing but excitement and anticipation, but as it really got close, worry and anxiety were added... 'Will I do well...? Will it be dangerous...?'.I had a lot of worries, but I still believed in myself.I can do it!
And I didn't put pressure on myself. Before leaving, world travel looked so fun, but I thought if the trip turned out not to be what I imagined, I'd just return to Korea. There was no need to feel burdened. Rather than goals like 'I'll travel the world and write a book,' 'I'll study the world and come back,' or 'I'll come back as a different person,' I set out with the simple goal of 'I want to live and enjoy myself,' so if it turned out less fun than being in Korea...If it wasn't fun, I thought it wasn't my path and I could return at any time, so I left without pressure.
When there were only a few days left before the trip, anxiety and worry intensified a lot, but once I actually left, those feelings all disappeared.Fear seems to grow larger in your imagination the more you fear it. In reality, there's often nothing to be so afraid of.
Trying something for the first time is...It's like being in a bright room and then entering a dark room.
When you look from a bright place into a dark place, it looks really dark and like you won't be able to see anything. And when you first enter the dark room, you really can't see anything and might think you should return to the bright place, but as time passes you gradually adapt to the environment and it begins to look brighter.
#Experiences I couldn't have in Koreanew experiences
When you travel, countless unpredictable things happen. I think that's part of the fun of travel.I feel like I'm getting to know myself by having experiences I couldn't have while living in Korea.While traveling, a few interesting stories happened.
In India, someone approached me saying they wanted to be my friend and we spent a fun day together, but it turned out they were a thief who had approached to steal my belongings. I even found and caught the thief and sent him to the police station. (Haha)
Also, in Georgia in Eastern Europe I went hiking in Borjomi National Park alone. During the trek I didn't meet a single other hiker. I thought I'd encounter someone on the way up to the 1,800-meter shelter, but by the time night fell and I arrived at the shelter there was no one there. In the end I spent the night alone in the shelter.
In Egypt I once swam across the Nile with a Japanese friend. It took about an hour to swim across, and because we hadn't planned how to return, we ended up asking a boatman to give us a ride back, and he did. In Ethiopia, I once spent the night at the home of the Banna, an indigenous tribe I met by chance on the road.
Also in Africa, wanting to pioneer a new route, I would just look at Google Maps, pick a rural village I wanted to visit, and travel there.When I really went to remote African villages, there were no accommodations or restaurants, only a few tiny shops, so it was hard to find a place to sleep or to eat, but each time a way opened up. Sometimes the village chief offered a place to camp, and other times the owner of a small shop provided a spot.
I thought that by going to Africa I'd see the 'real' Africa, but the Africa I imagined was hidden in remote places.These days it seems like people in Africa are doing well. Also, in rural American towns, because accommodation fees were so expensive, if I saw a house with a yard suitable for pitching a tent while walking along the road, I'd knock and ask permission to stay, but once another homeowner came and chased me away in the middle of the night.
Even though I would save money, one day I just wanted to splurge and spent almost 800,000 won in one day in Las Vegas. I would save when I wanted to be frugal, and spend when I felt like spending — that's how I traveled. In Colombia I discovered an imaginary village I had dreamed of even before I left, and I ended up staying there for three months.
I initially stayed for only a week and left, but it kept coming to mind so I went down to Peru and during my travels I wanted to return so badly that I went back. I've gone back out of necessity many times, but this was the first and last time I returned because I wanted to so much. I ended my travels in that village. In Bolivia I also climbed a 6,088-meter mountain.
Discovering true 'happiness' through people
The happiest moment was when I was in an imaginary village in Colombia. The villagers were so cheerful and kind that I was able to make many friends there.Many travelers say that 'people' are what they remember most after a trip, and I think that's true.I was so happy almost every day while I was there; I think it was because of the friends who were always by my side.
And I felt what real happiness is like.When you're truly happy, you feel so good you could cry, and the whole world just seems beautiful. The villagers treated me as more than a foreigner. They truly considered me a friend, invited me to birthday parties and graduations, and we had barbecue parties and made many happy memories. After staying two months, I really lived like a local.
When I travel, I usually get bored quickly if I stay in one place for a long time and move on to another village, but this village was like a black hole. It was the first time I stayed so long in one village, and I even wondered if I was just being lazy about moving, so I tried to escape twice, but I returned the next day both times (haha). I must really like this village.
Even if you go slowly, don't give up
The most physically difficult experience was climbing Huayna Potosí, a 6,088 m mountain in Bolivia. Since the climb starts at 4,800 m and can be done in one night and two days, I thought it wouldn’t be too hard, but by the time I was almost at the summit I found myself crawling. I think I was able to reach the top because I was determined to get there, whether crawling or rolling.I climbed with the mindset of ‘don’t give up even if I go slowly.’ Although I reached the summit much later than others, I was really happy to have made it to the top.
# The end of the trip is at the place I liked best during the trip
The mentally hardest time was when traveling felt utterly meaningless.
I didn’t realize it until I had been traveling for about a year. I loved making new friends and enjoyed going to new places and experiencing new things. But when that repeats endlessly, it becomes exhausting. When you make friends while traveling, someone leaves first. Then when you make another friend, that friend leaves too.
I wanted to get to know people more deeply, but it felt like we were just repeating introductions every time, and eventually I found myself thinking, ‘Even if I befriend this person, we’ll part ways tomorrow…’ One of the reasons I returned to that town in Colombia was the thought that maybe I should end my travels here and try living for a while in the place I liked best among all the places I’d visited.
# The travel that satisfies me is the right travel
My thoughts about travel changed before and after my world trip. There is no single correct way to travel. There isn’t a definitive ‘this is the right way to travel’ or ‘that is the right way to travel.’ Each person has a travel style and a way that suits them.I think the best kind of trip is the one that makes me the most satisfied.
I once aimed to visit 87 countries in two years, but my perspective changed while traveling. Travel is, after all, simply travel.If I wanted to go,if I wanted to stay longer, I stayed; if I wanted to leave, I left; andI moved according to my mood.I didn't let myself be bound by the length of time or the number of countries.
I thought that traveling the world would bring only good things, but there were drawbacks. While traveling I met many scammers and was often ripped off, so even in Korea when buying things I often wondered, 'Is this an overpriced price...?' Mythings even make me uneasy if I leave them somewhere for a moment, so I always carry them with me like when I was traveling.
#How travel changed me
Of course, many good things came from traveling. Compared to before I left, my personality became much brighter and I think my sociability improved.I also gained confidence in trying new things.
I used to be afraid of new challenges, but now I have a strong mindset of 'let's give it a try.'
And I realized how important the friends around me are. While traveling I spent most of my time alone, so even when I wanted to meet someone right away I would look around and not find a single friend who understood me, which was sad, but I love that in Korea I can run to see my friends whenever I want.
Before I left, I thought that if I saw the world once I'd know everything about it?!... But contrary to my expectations, I only returned with more curiosity about the world.Even if I've seen the whole world, I don't think I truly know it.While traveling, the country I stayed in the longest was Colombia. I spent four months there, but there are still many things about it that I don't know.I thought I'd try everything I wanted to do during my travels, but traveling only made me want to do more.
#Gap year, after that...
After traveling, I developed various hobbies.Scuba diving, practicing guitar, Spanish, and conversational English. Since childhood my dream was to become an airplane pilot, but the barrier always seemed too high and difficult to overcome, so I had given up. However, while traveling I flew often and met many pilots.
I mustered the courage to approach and talk to them; some kindly explained things well, while others ignored me and walked past. Sometimes I felt hurt when I was ignored, but because there were also people who kindly explained, I approached them each time with hope.
And a pilot I met in the United States was the first to instill in me the courage to believe that I, too, could become a pilot.After meeting that person, I dreamed of becoming a pilot once again.
I am now preparing to study aviation in the United States.
Because my life's goal is to live happily, I want to try everything I want to do.
I want to publish a book and give many talks.
A Word to Young People Planning a Gap Year
My gap year allowed me to challenge myself to do what I truly wanted to do.If, after returning from my travels, I didn't feel like doing something new, I planned to return to what I had been doing. I don't have 100% certainty that a gap year will help you find what you want to do, but even if I didn't find it, if I had spent that time enjoying myself and making many happy memories, I think I would have been satisfied.
So, everyone,
Believe in yourself.
Even if you're scared, if you trust yourself and dive in, you'll be able to handle it.
You're stronger than you think.
I'm also scared of future challenges, but I trust my future self. I know I'll do well.
Recommendations and submissions for 100 Gap Year are always welcome. Marketing manager Haein Cho (dorothy224@koreagapyear.com)Please send an email to her! |