There is no better time to travel to new and exciting places than when you are a student. Besides wonderful sceneries, and a fun time, new cultural experiences can teach you numerous life skills that you’ll be able to implement later on in your career. Not to mention, how appealing your unique adventures may look to potential employees. In other words, exploring different parts of the world can give you many opportunities to learn new things, build new skills, and even reflect on what you want to do next.
However, many students don’t take the opportunities they have to go travelling, because they think they can’t afford it. While it’s true that living on a student budget can sometimes be tricky, and there can also be the pressure to try and save money, travelling as a student can be a really enriching experience for a number of reasons, and not necessarily as expensive as you think.
How Travelling as a Student Can Help Your Future Career
As well as the more obvious benefits of travelling – seeing amazing new parts of the world, and having some incredible, unforgettable experiences – going travelling as a student can also help you to develop a number of important, useful life skills, and have some highly valuable experiences that future employers will be really interested in. When planning your travels, there are some things you can consider, if you also want your travel experiences to help enhance your CV, and future career;
– Can you work / volunteer as part of your travels?
– Do you speak another language you would like to become more fluent in, or one you want to start to learn?
– What other skills can you develop while travelling? This may including writing (for example, keeping a travel blog), planning (arranging the practical aspects of travel, and accommodation), and responding to difficult situations (such as a cancelled flight).
Where to Travel?
Often, some of the best memories you make when travelling will be those you had when you ventured off the beaten track. In addition to giving you more interesting and unusual stories to tell, avoiding some of the tourist traps may also lead to you pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, whether by requiring you to use more of your language skills, be better organised with planning your transport, and learning more about the true culture of the place you are visiting.
Additionally, by avoiding some of the more popular tourist destinations, you’re also likely to be able to save some money, which is always really helpful on a student budget.
Saving Money as a Travelling Student
Once you’ve booked your flights, it’s time to start thinking about how to make the most of your time travelling, without breaking the bank. Staying in hostels can be a great way to meet new people, and is often much cheaper than booking into a hotel. Alternatively, there are many different schemes available that allow you to ‘work your way’ as you travel, getting free accommodation in exchange for a few hours work.
One of the most important things to think about when planning to go travelling is something that many people may overlook – keeping yourself and your money safe. Although there is always the possibility that something unexpected may happen while you travel, there are actually a lot of things you can put into place to help guard against potential risks, including securing your identity, and planning where to keep some spare cash, in case of emergencies.
Although some aspects of planning a trip can at times be stressful, travelling can be one of the most rewarding and fun experiences it’s possible to have, and someone who has spent time exploring new parts of the world, gathering skills along the way, can even find themselves getting a boost when it comes to their career. Following some simple guidelines, it’s possible to enjoy travelling to a whole host of new places, while also looking after your money.
Guest Author Jenny Holt
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