Things I learned from my gap year in a wealthy Western society

Ah, to travel when you're young. Discovering new cultures and experiencing completely new things, it broadens the mind, so the official cliché goes. I think we've all heard or read examples of people who've been abroad - usually Asia or somewhere else poor, far away, and totally different from home - coming back talking about this new respect for life, this new disregard for materialism (at least for a while), and so on.

I'm not mocking this at all. I think it's wonderful for people to get fresh ideas from traveling, whatever they are. I myself however, I didn't visit any poor nations during my year abroad. I went to Australia, which apart from some obvious contrasts like climate, wildlife and language, is not that different to where I'm from. And yet, I wouldn't hesitate to admit that the year I spent Down Under has taught me more than anything else I've ever done.

Although for some going to Australia is just an excuse to drink and party, for me it has definitely been a trip full of learning and self discovery (though sure, I partied occcasionaly and consumed some of the renowned (and evil!) goon). It opened my eyes probably in a different way than an Eastern journey may have done, but it was eye-opening nonetheless, and I have no shame or regrets whatsoever about going to this safe, warm and comfortable country. Australia was magnificent.

The people
Australia was an era of many firsts for me. It was the first time I was really on my own for an extended period of time. There's no room for being shy when you're backpacking, unless you want to spend an entire year alone, which I still was often, and I hardly ever minded. Still, you learn some valuable social skills which personally I don't think I'd have soon picked up in any other situation. I learned to trust and open up to total strangers. I've cried with people I'd known less than a day, I've listened to people talk about their biggest dreams and tragedies. The people you meet are one of, if not the, best and most important parts about traveling. You come across people you'd likely have never been friends with in 'real life'. You learn that whether someone's a music or a sports person, whether they're from Germany or Irak, or what clothes they wear, none of that really matters when you're traveling. You're all on the same path, and while traveling that's enough to connect.

You get to know yourself
I took my gap year at a moment when I'd turned a blank page in my life. I'd just gotten a degree in something I wasn't particularly interested in, and I had no clue what I was going to do next, apart from travel, which had always been on the list. I wasn't really worrying about the future, but throughout the year it was something that came to occupy my thoughts a lot. You talk to people about what they do and where their passions lie, and you share parts about yourself. These things made me get to know myself in new ways. When going to another country, you get to reinvent yourself. That's not in a dishonest pretend-to-be-someone-else kind of way, but you get to show the version of yourself you most want to be, which is harder to do in your usual environment. The trick is to stay true to yourself, also when you get home. I don't think my old friends would think I changed noticably, but I have a clearer vision of who I am and what I want, and that's a great feeling (though I'm still nowhere near having my life or myself figured out, but that's okay).

Appreciation and perseverance
I've always corrected people who've described my trip as a 'holiday'. Backpacking isn't just an extended holiday. That's something that seems hard to grasp for people who've never experienced it. You try surviving alone on a budget without the comforts of home for so long. The road gets tough sometimes. (Whenever I did get low, this song was always a good reminder for why I was doing this.) But I don't want to linger on that, because boy, do the joys outweigh the pain. Doing this was such an amazing opportunity that I didn't take for granted one second. I worked hard to get there, starting from the moment I started saving the earnings from my weekend job two years before I left. I wouldn't have tossed it away for anything. So you get through it, you work shitty backpackers jobs, you spend Christmas away from home (without snow), and then you get on the road and to the beach and have the best time imaginable.

You learn what's important
In the end, I think you do pick up the appreciation of simple things, wherever you travel. You see how little you need for yourself to survive and be happy. Wearing the same old clothes, eating pasta and sauce, and sleeping with earplugs in for a year... it didn't bother me, but it makes me be more appreciative of the 'luxuries' I get to enjoy now I'm back to my 'normal' life. But having lived without, I also know that those things aren't the essentials in life. You obtain a new outlook through backpacking, one that is hard to describe or replace. No matter where you go or what you do, taking a year away from everything to gain new experiences; it just changes you. How's that for a cliché?