What are the best country's for a gap year?

Should I go on a gap year?

• I'm only 13 years old right now but I would still appreciate any advice on going on a gap year. I live in Sydney and going on a gap year to either America, Europe or Asia would be amazing. But should I do it? Is money often an issue? How much money would you need for a gap year? Maybe I shouldn't even spend a whole year travelling (maybe just 6 months)? Maybe I shouldn't go on a gap year at all? I am a very academic student and I plan on studying subjects surrounding business and ecenomics past school and into university. I would possibly also consider studying a language like French or Mandarin (I am currently at school). Would going on a gap year limit my options in university? Maybe I could study abroad, and that could replace a gap year? I do want to get into the business world as fast as possible so maybe a gap year would slow this down. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

• Answer:

  A gap year doesn't limit your options in any way that I'm aware of. I suppose you could not do a gap year nor go to a university, so that you could start in business right after high school; but both the gap year and university could be worthwhile time/money investments that expand your options in business. I don't think you should worry about getting into the business world as fast as possible; you need to do things to differentiate yourself from all the other business/economics university graduates. Travel will give you lots of interesting stories to tell, especially about all the things that will go wrong. And becoming more international might help you in business. So, yes, you should do a whole gap year. You will need thousands of dollars for initial travel expenses, even if you manage to get a job while overseas. So that's what you need to worry about at your current age, if you can get any source of income. Ideally, you would develop your entrepreneurial business skills and employ yourself by starting your own business right now. Or your parents might be able to legally hire you at age 13; you would have to learn the local laws about that. This is not about the gap year, but a related idea that you can do in addition to a gap year: I think Sweden allows foreigners to attend its English speaking universities for free, so that might solve your problems. I also believe that they would grant you a legal right to work, so you could support yourself while attending that school. Other countries might offer something similar. You will have to double-check all that when you start your final year of high school. Are there any languages besides English that you learned as a child? If so, you should relearn them so that you can use them for travel and business. French and Mandarin are excellent languages for travel and business. Can you learn them both? You should start learning them right away in school, and later you will need to find native speakers to practice with. If you cannot find conversation partners locally, you can look for them online (search Google.com for "language exchange").