Road trip, or University

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Looking for opinions, basically should me a few friends road trip across the country for a few months chasing snow and hoping we stumble upon something awesome, or should I be starting school this fall.

I have some basic ideas of areas of study I'd like to go into (medicine or some sort of engineering, may be mechanical with some of focus on creating sustainable or alternative energy) and theres things that I wouldn't mind taking a couple classes on like anthropology, photography/video, writing, journalism, etc, but the trip could open the door to all sorts of business connections, become more worldly and all that bullshit. One of my friends is very entrepreneurial and I almost wonder if we could make something like this happen http://surfranch.hubpages.com/hub/How-I-Built-a-Successful-Resort-at-21-years-old-with-no-money

I don't know, thoughts?
 
Take the road trip.

I thought about doing the same thing when I was leaving high school and I regret my decision to go straight into college. I went in thinking I had a whole plan laid out, and then the second I took a winter off to go travel and explore my interests, I found that the plan I had come up with was utter bullshit and went into physical therapy instead. Taking time off from school to find out what I REALLY wanted to do regardless of they money I'd make was the best thing that happened to me.
 
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I know too many people who said they were just going to take a year off after high school to do something else (work, explore, whatever) and most of them ended up not going to school.
 
Hahaha thanks for the laugh, OP. Not even sure if you want to go to college, but you "want to get into medicine or some kind of engineering." Let us know how that works out for you.
 
Your trip isn't going to lead to business connections, college does that. Also your friend may be business savvy but I can almost guarantee you that you won't be able to create a thriving business because you went on a road trip.

Go to school, take a road trip during the summer or take a winter semester off during school and road trip then, but go to school.
 
Maybe they realized that they really don't want to go to school

or they got lazy.

If you don't have any drive to do something at university, then get lost in the non-academic world. School is expensive and isn't the most inspirational place.
 
If you are going into college, you have to have the right mindset. You can go into college with the wrong mindset, don't get me wrong, but you will pay the price. If you are indecisive about going into college vs something else, don't put yourself into it. College will be there in another semester. Figure yourself out first.

I wasn't ready when I went into college. I wish I'd taken some time off. My parents, school, and basically social norms had convinced me that college was the next step so that's what I did. Instead of making the decision for myself, I made it for the people around me. I wish I could redo it. It took me way too long to straighten everything out and when I finally did, it felt like it was too late.
 
road trip.

I was accepted into a university, deferred my acceptance for a year, then went back to school after that year. ski bummed it all winter, met one of my best friends, had a blast.

college is awesome, but not worth it if you're dicking around not taking it to its full potential. alternatively, not going to school isn't worth it if you're sitting at home living with your parents doing nothing.

definitely road trip--you'll find you'll learn quite a lot from such an experience.
 
The road trip might open you to a bus connection or two, school will absolutely open you to many more. Also thinking you can start a resort at 21 with no money because your friend is very entrepreneurial is just plain foolish.
 
you're worried about skiing and you're going to utah? just go to school, don't they start skiing in utah in like a month anyway?
 
All you people just saying 'school'. geez.

In all honesty, we can't make this decision for you. I would say go on the road trip, but that's just my opinion based on the fact that I didn't go to post secondary after finishing high school. I'm most likely going to be enrolling in school for the 14/15 school year - I graduated high school in 2002.

Had I of gone to school earlier it probably would have been a waste of money because I wouldn't have been mentally into it, I probably would have taken something that wasn't what I wanted to actually do for 'the rest of my life', and spending my 20's as a ski bum was one hell of a way to spend the best years of my physical life.

But that's just me, what do YOU want?
 
If money isnt an issue, road trip. If you are paying your own schooling and such, take the year off, dont road trip, but go somewhere cool and work there. If you REALLY know what you want to do, go to school.
 
This was last September at Brighton. So yessir

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Going to Utah would be like road tripping, except you would get to ski all the time and you'd be going to school as well. That "business connections" comment was likely one of the more foolish/childish things I've read even on NS. Who the hell do you think you'll meet while carrying a high school diploma and a good attitude that's impressed by your unique decision to discover yourself and ski bum for a while? I don't think you can fully understand how much it would cost just with lift tickets and gas to road trip to ski resorts for a year with no sustainable source of income, much less understand how ridiculous that idea sounds.

Also, I don't know what an "entrepreneurial" friend is like. I know friends with businesses they made from the ground up, but I don't think I know any without a business that I would describe as entrepreneurial just because they think they have good ideas. That's like me saying I'm a magnificent chef just because I can picture a gourmet meal in my mind.

You have ideas about your major in college and that's great if you go there, but keep in mind that that is of very little importance at this stage. Just don't close doors. Academically, your freshman year is about checking the boxes and knocking out Calc classes, not about becoming a mechanical engineer.

So basically I think you're being a gigantic pussy about this because you are afraid of being a big kid. You either go to school full force, or you bum it full force and pick a location to do it right while you figure life out. You could easily give both a solid effort at Utah so I don't know what the dilemma is honestly. Just be prepared to forfeit any financial aid your parents might have sent your way amidst the pride they felt when you decided not to live in your car like a homeless person. I doubt they'd offer to buy your books or send you care packages filled with socks and Chipotle gift cards when you're a 26 year old freshman.
 
There are very very few long term positive outcomes that will come from taking a road trip. That being said, I don't recommend going to college right after high school.

Just a little background info, I graduated hs in 2010, did the 10-11 college year at a state university and then dropped out to travel. Since then I have seen 12 countries and have been out of the states 18 of the past 24 months.

I think that between student loans and not knowing what you want to do college isn't all that important when you are in your twenties. Think about the advancements in medicine in the past 50 yea~rs, in 50 years, our average lifespan could be to live to 120! I think it is most important to do what you want. The future is a long way off and you don't know what you are going to want when it comes anyways. Trying to make long term decisions like your major and what you want to do for your whole life is really tough when you're 18 and up until this point all of your important decisions were made by your parents.
 
OP you sound rather indecisive regarding your choice of major. Take the road trip, have fun, think about what you want to do then go to College once you've made your mind up.

There's no point accruing debt and taking classes when you have no idea what to study.
 
Dude just go to school. Everyone dreams about ski bumming it and becoming filthy rich doing something with skiing: owning a shop, mountain or whatever. You can still try to do that while at school, but at least you have something to fall back on if it doesn't work out. If you go to Utah, you can still ski whenever you want. You can arrange your classes so that it works out. College is an experience that you don't want to skip out on. People can post wonder articles of people who made millions with no education who got extremely lucky or whatnot. That is not the norm so don't expect that to happen.

But in the end, you have to remember that this is your life. You can live it however you choose. If you want to just wing it, go on the road trip and hope for the best. Just don't make a decision when you're 18 that you're going to regret for your whole life.

Good luck bro

 
How many of these people who are saying go to school then go with your buddies have actually graduated college yet?

My few thoughts on this-

Is this an all-or-nothing situation? What if one or both of your buddies decide to go to school instead of road trip? Is the whole thing off?

Fuck whoever is saying you're throwing your whole life away for doing it. Taking a year off of school doesn't mean you'll never go back, but you'll actually have to want to go back. It's easy to turn one year into three into ten. Not going to a four year school also doesn't mean you're not gonna make any money. Tons and TONS of trades pay higher than What people are making with a four year degree, and it seems like you're going to have an easier time finding work being a certified electrician than you would with a journalism degree. Maybe not so much with something in the engineering and medical field.

My only concern is that an 18 year old who has never lived outside of his parents house might run into some troubles due to a lack of life experience.

I did a year at a four year schools, living 4 hours away from home in the dorms. Didn't like it, came home and did a year at community college the next year. Wasn't really stoked on that either. Had a talk with my parents about it. It really came down to three things that take up my time in life. School, work, skiing. I couldn't handle all three and was told to pick two. So I chose work and skiing, and it has been one of the best years of my life. I worked in Alta from New Years to early April, then spent five weeks traveling back to the Northeast through the Southwest. Next year's plan is to come back home through the Northwest in search of places to settle down. The year after that I'll probably find somewhere to stay, year round, for a few years.

Did I initially plan on only taking a year and going back? Sorta. But before it even happened, I was referring to it as "taking a year or two or five". Do I still plan on going back for some education? Definitely. I work in Hospitality and as a Guide, and I definitely don't plan on doing it for the rest of my life. Am I going to go back for mechanical engineering? Maybe, but probably not. The couple years I have under my belt and the few to come have definitely helped me evaluate my options a bit more, and definitely shows that there are more options that going to a four year school right out of high school. $25,000/year is way to much money to spend on a party.
 
road trip! college will always be there, the chance to road trip like this with your friends may not always be
 
What are you going to fall back on when your degree doesn't work out? Tough time for a college grad right now. OWS was full of em that were bored of living in their parents basements.
 
Everyone is treating this as if school will always be they're, and yet the road trip is a one time deal.

I've noticed road trips have gotten better now that I have money and a halfway decent network of friends etc.
 
didn't read thread.

but you can travel now, you may not be able to do that after/during school. a lot of things can happen that will tie you down. you can always go back to school though.
 
I'm back at school, my friends leave on the road trip in a couple weeks, what think I'm going to do is go meet up with them during my breaks, in the mean time focus on school and ride on the weekends.

In reality, this is a much better plan but the whole "fuck it, lets live in a van" ski bum thing, I don't know something about it seems romantic or it matches up with some ideal that a lot of us wish we could live out.
 
do whatever the fuck makes you happy OP

however if you do end up going on the road trip, make sure you are fully committed to starting school the next year.
 
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