A gap year is a constructive timeout. It can be anywhere， anytime， doing anything. You could be building a school in Chile， doing some work experience， basking on a beach in Fiji or simply working for a year to save enough money for university or a new house， or even taking time-out to change your career. It is about living life to the full and realising that there is a world of opportunity out there just waiting to be explored...

In the UK a gap year was traditionally viewed as the activity of taking timeout before university. The word on the street was that it involved travel for the wealthy few and pretty much nothing for the rest of us. Nowadays， however， all sorts of people are taking “gaps”， doing a thousand different things.

“間隔年”是一個很有建設(shè)性意義的旅行休息。你可以在任何時候，前往任何地方，去做任何你想做的事。你可以去智利建造一所學(xué)校，積累一些工作的經(jīng)驗；也可以在斐濟的沙灘上曬曬太陽，或者只是去工作一年，為上大學(xué)或蓋一所新房子存下足夠的錢，甚至是花時間去改變你的職業(yè)生涯?；畛鲆粋€完滿的生活，去發(fā)現(xiàn)、去探索這個充滿機會的世界……

在英國，“間隔年”傳統(tǒng)意義上被視作大學(xué)前的旅行。從前，“間隔年”被看作是少數(shù)富人的旅行，很少與我們有關(guān)。但今天，不同的人都在進(jìn)行著他們的“間隔年”活動，做著各種不同的事。

Life is a series of “gaps”

生活由一個又一個“間隔”銜接而成

Pre-university gaps， during and post-university gaps， careergaps， pre and post-baby gaps， post-wedding gaps， pre-retirement gaps—the list goes on. From the age of 18， people will now become “serial gappers” as they head through each life stage， taking a “gap” to prepare themselves for the transition ahead. The result will be a change in the mentality of society， away from the “l(fā)ive to work， work to live” routine of a slow climb up a career ladder to a more exciting life path which simply involves doing what they enjoy in life and achieving that dream.

Gap years and working holidays are still relatively new concepts in China， so a lot of people tend to romanticize them before setting out.

A gap year need not necessarily be a whole year； it could be just a few months or a few years. Its not a luxury trip or an escape from the real world. Its more like an expedition in which you learn about yourself.

You shouldnt expect a different world when you come back. Instead， you should be the change.

進(jìn)行“間隔年”的時間有很多，步入大學(xué)之前、在校期間或是畢業(yè)之后、工作間隙、生寶寶之前或是生完以后、婚后旅行又或者是退休前的旅行?！伴g隔年”的選擇正在不斷地增加著。從18歲起，人們開始跨越人生舞臺中一個個的間隔，用一個間隔的時間來為前方的轉(zhuǎn)變做好準(zhǔn)備。結(jié)果將會是社會心態(tài)的改變，遠(yuǎn)離“活著是為了工作，工作是為了活著”這樣一個常態(tài)。從在職業(yè)生涯的梯子上慢慢往上爬，改為走上一條更為激動人心的生活道路，做自己想做的，去實現(xiàn)自己的夢想。

在中國，“間隔年”和“打工度假”仍是相對新的理念，因此很多人在出發(fā)前容易將其理想化。

“間隔年”不一定非要是一整年時間，它可以是幾個月或幾年。這不是一次奢華之旅，也不是逃避現(xiàn)實，它更像是一次自我發(fā)現(xiàn)之旅。

你不應(yīng)期望結(jié)束“間隔年”后，自己會看到一個全新的世界。相反，變化的應(yīng)該是你自己。