u/smalleyesbigface

Hi guys!! I’m a girl, 19 turning 20 soon, and I’ve recently been thinking about taking a gap semester in the middle of university to travel and volunteer through Worldpackers. I was thinking maybe around a month in each country, for ~4 countries total.

I’ve talked to my parents about it, and they’re not very supportive, mainly because they’re worried about my safety travelling alone.

A big reason I’m considering it is that I’ve been extremely burnt out from school. I’m studying in a very competitive and demanding field, and I’ve basically been working nonstop between school, internships, applications, etc. for the past few years. Recently I’ve also been pretty stressed from internship/job rejections, and I feel like I could really use some time away from that environment.

Financially, I have around $25k saved/invested from previous internships, although obviously I don’t want to blow through all of it on one semester.

I also really want to spend more time outdoors and reconnect with nature. I know the grass is always greener on the other side, but I feel like travelling and volunteering could give me experiences and perspective that I’m probably not going to get from school or work alone. I’d be totally happy doing physical/manual work, helping out at hostels, farms, environmental projects, etc., and during my free time I’d love to do random side quests like surfing, scuba diving, hiking, and exploring.

Right now I’m especially considering Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia/Bali, etc.) OR europe (greece, switzerland etc). I am Chinese (but grew up in Canada) if that makes a difference.

For anyone who has done something similar:

• Is Worldpackers generally safe for a young woman travelling solo?
• Are there particular types of hosts/projects or countries/areas you would avoid?
• How do you vet hosts beyond just reading reviews?
• Has anyone taken a semester off university to do something like this, and did you regret it?
• Do you think 4 months is too ambitious for a first solo trip?

I know taking a semester off probably isn’t the most perfectly optimized career decision lol, so it feels like a pretty scary choice. But part of me also thinks that if I’m ever going to do something like this, being 19/20 with relatively few responsibilities might be one of the best times.

Would really appreciate hearing from people who have actually done Worldpackers / Workaway / long-term solo travel, especially other women :)

Thanks!!

just did my OA (its due tonight, i had 5 days but i had back to back exams the entire week). Got 4 questions (2 language of choice, C++, Ruby), i see that everyone else was talking about getting 3 questions? I failed the first question completely (i was super close just had a naming bug but ran out of time), is it possible that they added the 2nd question because of it

Also how much does the delayed submission cost me, I shouldve done it earlier but i was genuinely so stressed with my exams along other deadlines to meet. I see online that interview requests are already rolling out since yesterday 😿

in desperate need of advice. 2nd going into 3rd year, thinking of adding a stats major. Scared of overloading my schedule next year since i am already doing a workload-heavy double major. want to ask questions about higher level stats courses in terms of difficulty, career prospects, etc.

comment here and i'll reach out, or DM me directly. thank you 🥹🥹🥹

so after 2 months of locking myself in my own house i decided i need to socialize.

most school clubs are inactive over the summer, are there any events or clubs that are still open and meet up in person regularly?

looking for anything fun really, like sports, fellowships (christian), literally anything

With the use of AI, everyone's resumes have become so exaggerated. People listing skills and languages they've probably touched once or twice. As someone who switched into CS in second year and has been working really hard to catch up, the gap just feels... impossible to close up.

I'm wondering what are incomign junior year CS students REALISTICALLY expected to understand without any use of AI in terms of languages, concepts, etc? (not what their portfolio states - i'm sure that'd be unrealistic)

For example: OOP principles, language syntax for primary language, implementing basic classes, clean architecture, building a to-do list end to end with no AI, LC mediums, DSA, etc.

I refuse to believe that the par for incoming junior year students to be being able to build a full stack app with a gazillion libraries and integrations, built alone, end to end, with no use of AI. (if this is the case, i think i'm ngmi😭)

Thanks!