If you’re like many University students or twenty-somethings, you want to explore the idea of doing a Gap Year. You want a once-in-a-lifetime experience where you will meet new people, eat strange food and immerse yourself in another culture. All of this without doing too much damage to your shoestring budget.

Here are some of our tips for making the most of your Gap Year, especially if you already are interested in coming to China.

Determine WHERE you want to go.

Deciding to come to China is not enough. You’ll want to explore several locations and narrow down your choice based on what you want to experience. Going to a city like Beijing is very different from experiencing Shanghai. Do some research on a few potential cities and find out which are the best fits for you. Remember, you can always do some traveling while you are there, so you can plot out your stay in multiple locations.

Determine WHAT you want to do.

Each person is a bit different in what they want to experience. Are you interested in the night life? What about historical sites? What about living like a local? Or traveling to rural areas in China? Maybe you want to study Chinese, take Mandarin lessons or live with a local family. All of these should be taken into consideration when planning your experience. The key to a successful Gap Year, in our opinion, is doing your planning up-front before you book your trip.

Consider getting a part-time job (or two) while overseas.

Even though you will be trying to cut as many costs as you can while living abroad, you will most likely want to earn some extra cash to cover part of your expenses. Many our own Gap Year students choose to teach English for a time during their Gap Year experience, but there are additional options for part-time jobs.

Raise or save money to fund your trip.

You can do a few fundraisers to help you come up with the cash you need to go abroad. You could even spend a summer working a part-time job to save up the money you’ll need to go on your Gap Year. It’s up to you how you fund your trip, but be sure you have adequate resources for your trip and a bit of money for after your trip abroad. This ensures you can settle into your home country and gives you some time to find another job or income stream, if needed.

Take care of your health before you leave.

Be sure to see your general practitioner before you go abroad. Take care of any vaccinations, medications and health concerns to ensure you don’t have complications while traveling. It’s never a bad idea to go in for a quick check-up before you leave.

Safety should be a high priority.

China is actually one of the safest countries to travel in, and we created an infographic that shares crime rates, safety tips and other relevant facts about safety in China. Wherever you travel, you will need to be sure that you are following common sense safety guidelines and always be alert. Believe it or not, cities in China are often much safer for foreigners than more rural areas.

Pack light, but pack smart.

We created a checklist of items you should pack for your trip to China because we are often asked about what you really need to pack. Many of the items in your home country can be purchased in China, but you will want to pack some of your own stuff.

Map out your transportation and travel options.

You never know whether you’ll want to switch things up once you get to China, but it’s a best practice to map out your tentative plans beforehand. Have a general idea about what you will be doing, where you will be living, how long you will be in each location, how you will get around and whether or not you will be working a part-time job at any of the locations. Knowing this beforehand is essential to lessening anxiety before you hop on a plane to get to China.

Book your trip.

This is the most important step in making the most of your Gap Year. You can fantasize about all the locations you would like to live, but if you never actually book your trip, you may never take advantage of the Gap Year experience. Just do it.

Taking that next step towards China.

At Next Step China, we offer a Custom Gap Year program, which means that we walk you step-by-step through every one of these aspects to plan your Gap Year. We have advisors from all walks of life who have been exactly where you are right now, so they can relate to your unique situation and assist you in planning out the ultimate experience. Go ahead and send me an email to [email protected] to ask further questions or find out how you can start planning your Gap Year today. Hope to see you in China!