taking a year off to travel..do people really do this?

When I was 20 I bought an airline ticket around the world. Before I left the UK I got a working holiday visa for Australia. I wanted to find work there to fund some of my travelling. I had intended to be away for 6 months but in the end it turned out to be one year. My route was London-Los Angeles-Hawaii-Fiji-Sydney-Adelaide overland Cairns-Darwin-Singapore-London. Whilst in California I visited Los Angeles, Disneyland and san Diego. I had 10 days there. Then I had a week in Hawaii staying on the north shore near the beach. I visited Pearl Harbour. Next I wnnt to Fiji for 10 days. I stayed on a lovely tropical island. I remember thinking I had reached paradise. I fell in love with Sydney as I flew over the grey harbour bridge and white sail like opera house. I felt so very at home there. A first I found work in a factory packing paper into hand bags. Then I got a nannying job looking after children. After a few months I flew on to Adelaide. The highlight of my trip was seeing all the wildlife on Kangaroo island. Wow! I caught a train down to Melbourne. Then I got a mixture of trains and buses up to Cairns via Sydney. In Cairns I worked dressing up as a koala to collect money for charity. It was hot in such tropical climate but such fun work to do. I was about to fly to Darwin when a friend persuaded me to stay. I did for a while, then I travelled back towards Sydney. But on the way I met a wonderful man. We later got married, but that is another story. I flew on to Darwin, sad to leave the man that would later become my husband. My visa was running out and I still had Singapore to see. Singapore was a stepping stone to Sumatra in Indonesia and Malaysia. I had a wonderful time for a month until I got very sick, but worse was to come. I came home on crutches after falling down an open drain. I loved this trip. It gave me patience and more understanding of the world. I met some lovely people and made many new friends. I found my husband but we are now divorced. I used my nannying work to change careers. I became a teacher. It developed an interest in travel photography. So I would say it was an experience that helped me grow.

A year??? no man... may be after we retite that is more 30-35 years!!!lol

i took 4 months off 2 years ago and my hubby and I traveled around a lot of different places. We went to NewYork, to Florida, to Mexico, to California, to Hawaii, and then ended it in Las Vegas. It was so much fun! I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a lot of traveling but it was well worth it for me. At 24 it was an awesome experience to see a lot of the united States

I know someone who is doing it right now...she started in US but...as far as I know she paid agency for it...she is scheduled by agency for full year travel...the most exotic and natural places on Earth...she couldn't pack many items with her, so it is interesting advantage when you can have only one backpack and one additional small bag with you for full year of travel...