1.
You couldn't wait to finish school.
2.
And the summer got off to a great start.
3.
Until the real world called.
4.
"BRB," you said. "I don't have time for education or employment right now."
5.
"I'M GOING ON HOLIDAY FOR A YEAR."
7.
You soon perfected the art of rolling clothes into your backpack.
8.
And accessorised your feet.
9.
You discovered that no matter how remote the area, you'll always run into someone you know.
10.
You played this game. Every. Single. Day.
11.
Pretty soon you started dreaming about meals that weren't rice and beans.
12.
Not to mention warm showers with a decent water pressure.
13.
You lost track of the date months ago.
14.
24 hours on a bus? That's nothing.
15.
Possessing clean laundry felt like an unreachable dream.
16.
Haggling at supermarkets over the equivalent of 15p was totally legit.
17.
You lived off 7Eleven's iced coffees.
18.
You own a vest advertising every beer ever brewed in South East Asia.
19.
You changed your profile picture to feature an exciting animal.
20.
And told people that the scar on your leg came from a tiger.
21.
But really, it's because you drank too many of these.
22.
And too much of this.
23.
Although nothing cures a Changover like a glass of lassi.
24.
You became an absolute pro at changing in a dark hostel using only the light of your Alcatel's torch.
25.
You've definitely shared a night train with a goat.
26.
You never realised that cashews taste good with ALL FOODS EVER.
27.
You're sick of people posting this on your wall.
28.
Although you have painted at least one wall of at least one school in at least one impoverished country.
29.
Which you have definitely mentioned in your personal statement.
30.
You now realise it's way more socially acceptable to drink on trains in other countries.
31.
You doubt you'll ever regain feeling in your back after that massage you accepted from a women's prison.
32.
You had sex in the sea. Probably at a Full Moon Party.
33.
But you didn't write that on your travel blog, as you're pretty sure your mum's your only reader.
34.
You have a terrible tattoo which seemed like such a good idea at the time.
35.
You've bought a ridiculous wall hanging for your room at uni.
36.
And you've built up enough antibodies to beat Freshers' Flu.
37.
So when term begins, you'll be able to tell everyone how you really found yourself last year.
38.
You'll spend all year stalking your friends who are still travelling.
39.
But hey, at least you have a couch to sleep on in literally every corner of the world now.
