left job in june to travel for a year (put anywhere on app?) Forum

[barbados2012]

Hi All,
I left my job a few months ago to travel until I start law school. Does a 4 month gap on my resume really matter (assuming I submit everything by the end of this month)? Should I explain this somewhere?
Thanks!

[redsox]

Where have you been so far/are you going in the next 10 months?

[barbados2012]

i'm on an extended backpacking/climbing trip - so far i've done an extended climbing trip in the pacific northwest (california/oregon/washington/squamish, bc), and now i've started my asia leg (korea, japan, china), and then i'm headed to SE Asia for more climbing (hopefully spending 2-3 months in Krabi, Thailand).

[cotiger]

i'm on an extended backpacking/climbing trip - so far i've done an extended climbing trip in the pacific northwest (california/oregon/washington/squamish, bc), and now i've started my asia leg (korea, japan, china), and then i'm headed to SE Asia for more climbing (hopefully spending 2-3 months in Krabi, Thailand).

Sounds like an awesome thing to mention at the bottom of your resume.

[Tom Joad]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

[redsox]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

[cotiger]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

Lots of.. lame/scared-of-leaving-their-backyard people?

Does a 4 month gap on my resume really matter?

No.

[McGruff]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

[Tom Joad]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

[barbados2012]

i like to think i'm not shady - and i'm very happy to be traveling for the next year climbing in some of the most beautiful locations.

my family, friends, former employer, community do not think i'm shady and were in fact very encouraging. i'm sorry if yours don't have the same perspective.

anyway, this was one of my first posts on TLS, and i do appreciate the constructive responses to my question.

good luck everyone on their apps!

[wealtheow]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

i suppose it would depend on the individual adcomm how they viewed it.

OP, this could make you look very neat, independent, adventurous, passionate about travel, etc etc. if this is not funded by grant/fellowship, however, i'd just make sure adcomms have no room to interpret this as just another indulgent "eye opening!!" romp that's so trendy these days. i know a couple people who have undertaken similar endeavors and blog about it, and i don't know if they mean to, but they come across as totally entitled and out of touch. this sounds like something that is very meaningful for you, so perhaps it warrants more than a post script on your resume - maybe you could incorporate into the personal statement?

oh, and welcome to TLS

[redsox]

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

Given that most people who go to law school are going to bail on their career, friends, family, and community for three years, probably not.

[McGruff]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

I don't think I'd personally construe it as bailing on their career etc. but this is a good point, in that OP should anticipate and try to prevent that sort of interpretation. I agree with the above poster who suggests incorporating it into a Personal Statement (I also agree that travel bloggers often unintentionally come across as entitled and out of touch, incidentally) in order to stress the purpose that you had in taking such a trip.

If it looks like you had substantial obligations and your trip was a means of avoiding them, then it's a bad look. If it looks like you were at a crossroads after wrapping up the obligations of your circumstances, and you decided to fulfill a particular dream of yours by taking some time to travel before continuing your career, then personally I think it's a good look.

[longlivetheking]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

I don't think I'd personally construe it as bailing on their career etc. but this is a good point, in that OP should anticipate and try to prevent that sort of interpretation. I agree with the above poster who suggests incorporating it into a Personal Statement (I also agree that travel bloggers often unintentionally come across as entitled and out of touch, incidentally) in order to stress the purpose that you had in taking such a trip.

If it looks like you had substantial obligations and your trip was a means of avoiding them, then it's a bad look. If it looks like you were at a crossroads after wrapping up the obligations of your circumstances, and you decided to fulfill a particular dream of yours by taking some time to travel before continuing your career, then personally I think it's a good look.

biglaw = end of your life. before law school is the perfect time to get any travelling you want to do out of your system. adcoms have no problems with this.

[cotiger]

Lots of people think international travelers are shady.

You're joking, right? Surely between C&F and the rest of their resume/app, it would come out if they're shady and, assuming they aren't, OP's description of his trip makes him sound like an interesting person with an uncommon perspective, which seems like a net gain to me.

You wouldn't find it shady if somebody bailed on their career, friends, family, and community for four months?

For FOUR whole months?! [x] You have a really strange perspective if you think this is "bailing" on your career, friends, family, and community.

And as redsox mentioned, going to law school is a much more significant "bail" on all of the above.

Lol, "bailing"... I can't even...

[cotiger]

i like to think i'm not shady - and i'm very happy to be traveling for the next year climbing in some of the most beautiful locations.

Climber bros gunna climb.

Sounds awesome, OP. Now's a great time to do a trip like that, and you don't have to include anything about it outside of a resume line unless you want to. No adcom is going to need any sort of special explanation.

[csargean]

What a coincidence... I was wondering the same thing regarding nearly the same trip (minus the asia aspect). I spent 2 months climbing in squamish, bishop, and yosemite. Probably crossed paths with you haha. I was thinking about trying to swing it into my ps, but it was a stretch so I decided to leave it out. Let me know what you ended up doing with it if you don't mind!

[mellow]

I agree with the people who said you should give some thought on how you're going to present it. Likes others have said, you want to avoid sounding like a travel blogger. Emphasize the climbing aspect of it instead, because that's a much better reason for traveling than "experiencing the world." And it's a pretty cool reason at that

Also, don't force it into your PS if it doesn't feel natural. One line in your resume's "personal" section should be enough. But it could be a good topic for a PS if you haven't worked on it already.

[midnight_circus]

Lots of people I think international travelers are shady.

Fixed that for you.

But I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds so many bloggers and "inspiration-seeking" travelers entitled and often vapid.

[redsox]

Lots of people I think international travelers are shady.

Fixed that for you.

But I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds so many bloggers and "inspiration-seeking" travelers entitled and often vapid.

Agree. I travel because I love it...I don't know why people try to ascribe some deeper life-changing meaning to it. Maybe it assouges their guilt over having the luxury of being able to traverse the globe on a whim while they see people living in shitty economic conditions wherever they go.

[Hipster but Athletic]

I think traveling in the way you did is the exception to Joad's point. What you did is not shady. However, for an adult to "travel" rather than "vacation," i think it implies a bit of irresponsibility. I think that's generally what people "love" about "traveling" too --just not really having any responsibilities. People will say that they "love seeing new things!" and trying new foods or whatever...but Im confident that's just pretext...there's plenty yet to be seen within close range, and you can get pretty much any food pretty easily (especially if you live in a city).

[McGruff]

I think traveling in the way you did is the exception to Joad's point. What you did is not shady. However, for an adult to "travel" rather than "vacation," i think it implies a bit of irresponsibility. I think that's generally what people "love" about "traveling" too --just not really having any responsibilities. People will say that they "love seeing new things!" and trying new foods or whatever...but Im confident that's just pretext...there's plenty yet to be seen within close range, and you can get pretty much any food pretty easily (especially if you live in a city).

This is silly. It's only irresponsible if you're neglecting some responsibility you already have. If someone who wants to go travel for a while isn't running away from family/debt/crime/other obligations, they aren't being irresponsible any more than someone who chooses not to have children or buy a house because they don't like being tied down. Free spirits and all that.

Your second point, conflating seeing other cultures with seeing new parts of the same culture is a blatant false equivalence.

[Hipster but Athletic]

I think traveling in the way you did is the exception to Joad's point. What you did is not shady. However, for an adult to "travel" rather than "vacation," i think it implies a bit of irresponsibility. I think that's generally what people "love" about "traveling" too --just not really having any responsibilities. People will say that they "love seeing new things!" and trying new foods or whatever...but Im confident that's just pretext...there's plenty yet to be seen within close range, and you can get pretty much any food pretty easily (especially if you live in a city).

This is silly. It's only irresponsible if you're neglecting some responsibility you already have. If someone who wants to go travel for a while isn't running away from family/debt/crime/other obligations, they aren't being irresponsible any more than someone who chooses not to have children or buy a house because they don't like being tied down. Free spirits and all that.

Your second point, conflating seeing other cultures with seeing new parts of the same culture is a blatant false equivalence.

ya sorry irresponsibility is the wrong word --just meant it represents a choice to not want to be responsible for anything for awhile. arresponsible, maybe. it's not a bad thing...but it differs from a vacation in that it's just a longer hiatus, under the guise of education.

i also don't know why it's false equivalence. equivalence need not be exactly the same.

[Ti Malice]

Too late to affect the OP's decision, but there's nothing wrong with specifying extended travel in a resume. YLS's class profile from last year included a classmate who went on a 17-month trip with his wife through whatever number of countries, so it appears to have even been a positive in his case. At the very least, it's much better than an extended gap left unexplained.

[barbados2012]

csargean - so i did end up adding a small line to the bottom of my resume in a personal section that said something like:

enjoy rock climbing, practicing yoga, and cycling; spent X-X backpacking and climbing through the Pacific Northwest..

i kept it short/didn't mention that i would be traveling until i start school (under the employment section for some of my apps, under why i left my job i added "extended travel," but that's pretty much it. i also kept it out of my PS.

on a side note - i'm sry for those of you who think i'm being irresponsible. we all have our own opinions.