What Should I Do When I Leave High School: Should I Travel?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the well-meaning advice you’re getting from parents, teachers, siblings, friends, guidance counsellors, and just about any other adult imparting career advice upon you, we’d like to help. We’ve been developing this blog series to offer suggestions that can help you make informed decisions about the path you want your life to take after graduating high school. This blog post’s topic is one very big question: should I travel?

After twelve or more years in the elementary and secondary school systems, you might be tempted to get about as far from your hometown as you possibly can. There’s a whole world out there to discover, and you finally have the freedom to see as much as you can. Travel offers the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures, and other ways of life. So, maybe the question shouldn’t be “Should I travel,” but “How should I travel?”

So, How Should I Travel?

There are so many aspects of travel that are appealing. Unfortunately, nothing ruins a good trip more than being stranded in a foreign country with no money and no knowledge of the language. Though travelling on a shoestring budget has become a right of passage of sorts for young people, there’s nothing wrong with starting your travels from a more solid foundation. This isn’t cheating the struggle; you’re just planning ahead. And once you have more money, you’ll be able to do so much more of what you want.You might be planning to work in other countries to pay for your travels, but applying for work visas can be a difficult, tedious process, and you’re by no means guaranteed a visa or even work once you arrive. You probably aren’t relishing calling home from a foreign country for your parents to help bail you out of a jam, especially if greater independence and control was the point of your trip in the first place. You can avoid that embarrassment if you save before you go.

Most people think of serving tables when they think of a job to make some money for travelling, but the reality is you can get a much better-paying job right out of school by working in manufacturing. With a career in manufacturing, you’ll be on the cutting edge of technology, enjoying an excellent and forward-looking company culture. There’s also a great work-life balance: you know exactly when your shift will begin and end. Plus, you’ll be doing all this while knowing you’re directly supporting the growth and prosperity of both the Canadian economy and the economy of your region.

You don’t even have to leave the eastern Ontario area to do it. So you can hang out with your friends all summer and plan your trip together, while gaining practical skills development for when you’re ready to return the workforce permanently. Or you can take what you’ve learned in manufacturing and use it to help get better jobs as you travel. You could even live at home with your parents and save more money that way (downside: Dad’s jokes).

The best part of getting a job in manufacturing in eastern Ontario is there are plenty of jobs, and good resources to help you get hired: like the Elevate PLUS program, which is unique to the eastern Ontario manufacturing area, and a great resource for young people looking to enter the workforce. Give it a try!