Cosmopoli-Tanvi | Around the world in a post-grad gap year

Bangkok, Bali and Goa are key Asian destinations for any self-respecting backpacker. Unfortunately, this is news to many people. The prospect of discovering a land that was previously but an outline on a map has lost its luster, and it seems the art of stuffing all of one’s worldly possessions in a rucksack with a disposable camera, traveler’s checks and a passport is long gone — at least in Ivy League, USA. The British are still taking gap years, but at places like Penn, the “finding yourself” mantra has been replaced with “finding an investment banking job that pays 80K base.”

That’s not to say that Penn students never leave the United States. According to the Penn Abroad website, almost 9 percent of us travel to one of over 50 countries each year. Yet, as Career Services reported, only about 3 percent of the Class of 2009 went on to “Other,” which includes travel, after graduation. The vast majority of Penn students’ international experiences are a few months in the name of some academic or professional pursuit, and they are usually under the structural constraints of a program. At most, we’ll take a year off to teach English while studying for the LSATs. While these are solid beginnings, we are ultimately missing out on the “gap year” in its truest form: soul-searching during exciting travels, meeting best friends and crazies alike and having free-wheeling and carefree adventures.

Aside from discovering new places and accumulating stories, a backpacking gap year also can teach some of the most valuable life skills that may have been swept under the collegiate rug. You may figure out how to budget yourself when calling home for emergency cash isn’t an option. “Flexibility” can take on a new meaning when deciding to hop on an overnight train with “friends” you met the day before. Because experiences may come swinging from every direction, you might develop the skill of spontaneity out of sheer survival instinct.

Certainly, there are some reasonable excuses for not traveling — the biggest of which is money. Few people can afford to take time off right after college. While one of the most liberating things about backpacking is the freedom to blow with the wind, you’ll likely rack up quite a hefty bill if the wind takes you to four or five countries. Add in the opportunity cost of what you could have been making had you chosen to enter the working world, and the decision becomes murkier still.

According to Career Services Director Patricia Rose, Penn’s “Other” percentage has traditionally been low simply because Penn students have other post-graduate choices. Yet it seems like this excuse and others are used to hide the fact that students are simply scared to do it alone. Scared to be completely independent, scared to befriend total strangers and scared to take a year-long hiatus from the ever-so-addictive rat race.

But what’s the worst that will happen if you start work a year later? For a country steeped in the tradition of an active Peace Corps inspiring young people to explore their world and a culture of road trips that inspire young people to enjoy it, it’s sad that idealism has taken a back seat. A gap year is, after all, only one year. Romanticized and impractical on first glance? Perhaps, but the fact is that other people our age are doing it. And I know, personally, that as I look at my exit options next year, job opportunities will be equally weighed against travel ones.

Tanvi Gupta is a College senior from Southeast Asia. She is a member of the Student Activities Council executive board. Her e-mail address is gupta@theDP.com. Cosmopoli-Tanvi appears on alternate Mondays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.