Earn Money Abroad by Working in Agriculture with AwayToWork

🌍 In our latest episode, we’re digging into a unique path to adventure, skill-building, and paid international experience—all through agriculture.

Meet Paytten, a Canadian who turned her love for farming and travel into a global journey across the U.S., Ireland, and Sweden. Now a program coordinator at AwayToWork, she’s helping others take the leap too.

From hay fields to horse barns, cultural exchange to professional growth, this episode is full of honest stories, smart tips, and life-changing takeaways—perfect for anyone wondering what’s next.

🌱 Learn how to get paid to work abroad 🏇 Hear what it’s really like to live and work in different countries 🛫 Find out how to overcome barriers like logistics, visas, and safety

Whether you're planning a gap year, considering a break from university, or simply curious about what else is out there—this episode might just plant the seed you didn’t know you needed.

🎧 Tune in now — and start thinking outside the classroom (and the country).

Topics Discussed

Paid Agriculture Placements Abroad: Learn how Canadians are earning money while gaining real-world experience in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, and hospitality across the globe.

Three Countries, Three Cultures, One Big Life Lesson: Peyton shares what it was like to live and work in Washington State, Ireland, and Sweden—and how each placement shaped her skills and confidence.

Why Support Matters: Discover the key role of organizations like International Rural Exchange Canada in helping youth navigate travel, jobs, visas, and safety.

Breaking Barriers and Building Resilience: From machinery fears to solo train rides across Ireland, hear how stepping outside your comfort zone can spark personal transformation.

Budgeting for Adventure: Gap years don’t have to break the bank. Hear how paid placements and room-and-board arrangements make global travel accessible.

Opportunities Beyond Agriculture: Explore placement options in culinary arts, hospitality, greenhouse operations, and even winemaking.

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• Learn more and apply: https://awaytowork.ca

• Get support to light up your gap year! Book a free 30-min call: https://www.cangap.ca/call

Connect With The Canadian Gap Year Association

• Find more resources at the Can Gap website https://www.cangap.ca/

• Follow on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/cangapassociation/

• Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ucangap

• Follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/ucangap

• Follow on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuBit8gLXEOxaBggoGmykjQ

Transcript

If you love animals, gardening, agriculture, farming, travel or just one of the above, today's episode is for you. We are talking with Payton from AwayToWork that helps you plan international experiences within the agriculture sector and beyond.

We talk about all of the different things that Payton got up to on her experience, and how you can grow your resume, grow your experience and have an incredible adventure all at the same time as getting paid.

So I bet you're curious so take a listen to this episode.

Hey there everybody and welcome to the Gap Year podcast. My name is Michelle Dittmer and I am your host and Gap Year expert on our podcast. Today I am not alone. I have a fantastic guest. We have Peyton with us today.

Peyton is coming to us as the program coordinator for the outreach reaching all sorts of Canadians who are wanting to travel abroad and work abroad and she does that through an organization called AwayToWork So Peyton, welcome to the conversation today.

Hi Michelle, thank you so much for having me today. It's amazing to have you here. We've been anticipating this conversation for a while.

So why don't you give the listeners a little bit more details on who you are? What are you up to these days? And then we'll jump into our conversation.

For sure, Yeah. So my name Peyton Fankanel. I grew up in Alberta actually on a ranch. So and I had first heard about doing kind of gap year program when I was in postsecondary and I decided that would be a fantastic opportunity. I'm obviously really passionate about agriculture so I decided to take the jump and I had an amazing experience that I'm excited to share with you guys today. And now I am the Promotions Coordinator for International Rural Exchange Canada and I help promote the AwayToWork program so other people can have a similar experience to what I had.

One thing I love about these conversations is there's always a backstory and what is so beautiful for a lot of people in this climate, in this job market, is how many people have made their way through a program into employment. So not only is the experience itself great, but often there's like long-term potential for this especially when you have such a positive experience and you really believe in what you experienced and sharing that with others.

I love it. It's like this kind of graduation into an opportunity to share something you're passionate about with the world. So I'm glad you're able to do that. You mentioned a little bit about the fact that you had this inkling that there was something out there called a gap year and something that you wanted to do. So can you tell us a little bit about what that gap year looked like and what pushed you in that direction to actually commit and do it because it's not necessarily the most common pathway so well tell us a little bit more about that story for sure so yeah like I said grew up on a farm and I decided that I wanted to pursue a degree in agriculture so I did a diploma in animal science at Lakeland College and then I went and finished up my degree in agriculture at the University of Alberta and you know I always thought going into postsecondary that you know you go to school you get a job for me it was really important that I still go back to the family farm and help because I love it so much so I wanted to be able to find something that would be like a good you know secondary income kind of thing and that's kind of where a lot of Rural youth is pushed in that direction.

I had heard about the gap year program in post-secondary and I really, really love to travel. And so I was like, Oh, this would be really, really cool idea. So I kind of had hummed and hawed over it. And then COVID hit.

So I, from the University of Alberta in 2021 out of my basement suite. It was very anticlimactic, but not quite the same. Exactly. So I was just like, you know, it's now or never. I'm really tired of sitting around like been cooped up a lot. where can I go to go and apply my degree and actually get some real hands on experience because the job market at the time was not great either. Right?

So I thought this is not wonderful. Exactly. So I thought this is my chance. So I had contacted International Rural Exchange Canada and we had kind of a phone call conversation and they were able to send some people to the United States. So that's where I did my first gap my gap year, I guess, in a sense. My gap year extended over three different placements, actually, and I can get into that a little bit. But that's kind of how it all started.

I really just felt in my heart that I knew it was time to try to get out of my comfort zone and do something different, and I wouldn't change for the world.

So... And I love that. I think especially when you have like a family business, a family farm, there is that legacy to carry on but there's also opportunity for innovation and opportunity for bringing new practices and the best way to learn that is not necessarily sitting in a lecture hall, but getting out there and seeing different ways that things are done in different places.

A couple of years ago we actually had a gapper who did a domestic, again, COVID, a domestic farming gap year and she went across the country following the different seasons working in all sorts of different agricultural experiences and she was able to take that back to her family and just really loved it so I'll link to that podcast episode so if this is your jam we've got another episode that you should also check out but I think it's just so great to be able to get out not only for that kind of professional side but also for that personal growth and expanding who you are and taking on challenges that you might not have the opportunity if you don't step out and take on these adventures. So you mentioned that you did three different placements.

Do you want to share a little bit about what those were?

Yeah, I could kind of get into all of those here. So yeah, like I said, my first stop was in the US. I was working on a farm and ranch in Washington State. So down in the Columbia Basin there. So there's a lot of irrigation and the place that I was working with specifically was known for their export alfalfa hay so I got to help with a fourth cut of hay which is quite for anybody who's in agriculture and especially in the prairie provinces sometimes we're lucky if we get a second cut so the fact that they can turn the rain on whenever they want is pretty cool so I did get the opportunity to help them put up their fourth cut harvest and drive some newer equipment and that was a little bit daunting for me at the beginning you know I was like oh you know this is expensive like tractors, rakes, bailers like I don't want to mess up and make a mistake so I would ask a lot questions because I went you know what better to ask more questions than to not ask the right question. And my host even said that to me and his son that I worked with a lot, they said, you know, you're not from here.

You didn't grow driving this specific tractor. you know it's okay to ask questions like especially I know in agriculture when people are saying to drive to which field or whatever it might be Farmer Joe's field who's been passed on for 10 years now and you might not know where Farmer Joe's field is so definitely I say that to everyone that I talk to like don't be afraid to ask questions because they want you to ask questions. So yeah, we finished that and we actually shipped off a lot of that hay over to Japan, where they feed a lot of the dairy farms with that hay. So that was pretty cool.

And then on the other side of things, they also had a cow-calf operation. So I love cows. Cows are my jam. I've grown up with cows. I was 4-H for most of my youth and I would show cows and things like that. So getting to be involved in that, you know, just with, you know, weaning, feeding, health checks, preg checking heifers, whether we were, you know, sending cattle market or doing rotational grazing practices. I got to be involved in all of this really cool stuff.

It was really nice that I got to have the opportunity, like you said, to see a different side of agriculture and take some of those skills back home to our own family farm because I definitely have done a few little tips and tricks that now I've said, Dad, we're going to do things this way. It was a really awesome experience that way and my hosts there were absolutely fantastic.

I did live with my hosts and they really treated me like family. They wanted me to have a good experience and you know see their great state and also I got to do like some day trips you know around the state like going to different vineyards or my hosts are really into wine tasting and I'm not much of a wine drinker but it was a cool thing to see that you know something that they were interested in. And in Rome, right? Exactly, yeah.

And there's so many great wineries down there. And then we also got to go down to the Oregon coast and go crabbing, which for me as a prairie girl, You know, growing up, I'm pretty much landlocked. So anytime I can get out to the ocean is amazing. So yeah, they were really, really awesome. I also went like skiing out in Idaho. I got to go down to Texas to do a little bit of a solo trip, just do some traveling on my own. which was super cool so yeah it was a really awesome experience and then I couldn't get enough of it so I decided to go on two more exchanges after that.

Well that speaks very highly of the program then if you are like okay no give me more like I'm this was awesome but like I want more I'm hungry for it and I feel ready and able to go out and do some more.

Yeah, so I wrapped up there in December of 2021. And then I went over to Ireland in the spring of 2022. And I was working at a riding school on the west side of the Republic of Ireland there. And so I have a background with horses as well. I grew riding horses, mostly ranch horses, you know, I like Western equitation. I never was much into English riding. So this was, again, totally different for me. but this was a really awesome like little school they would do like just like horsemanship lessons, jumping lessons and the kids were adorable you know they're asking for help with their cute little Irish accents and they're so polite and yeah basically I lived there with the family again and I was looking after the school ponies so making sure they were fed and tacked up and ready for lessons and helping the littles if they needed an extra hand in the arena because sometimes you know for kids when you're learning something new and horses are quite big so they might need a little bit of an extra hand or someone to lead them around things like that and then we would also take special needs riders out for treks which was really fun that was actually one of my favorite things to do. So I really enjoyed my time there as well It's beautiful country. It's so green and everyone is so friendly and they just like love people that come to visit. So I had a really good time there. One of my favorite pastimes was castle hunting. It's pretty cool.

Coming from Canada, that's like mind-boggling that there are multiple castles, but it's true. Yeah. Yeah, those are two very, very different experiences, equally valuable, but again, flexing different muscles, getting exposure to different things that are out there. And now your third placement, was that like a triangulation? Was that completely different as well?

It was in a sense, it was still with horses so I really do love horses but I was working in a dressage barn as a groom in Sweden so I traveled there. I've always wanted to work in Scandinavia. I have a lot of Scandinavian roots myself so this was a really awesome opportunity to learn from some individuals that are well known for the horses that they train and show. and I, being myself on a ranch, never have I ever done dressage. I don't really know much about the industry, but at the end of the day, a horse is a horse, you know? So I learned a lot from my hosts. They really wanted to teach me about their business and what they do.

And because I had horse experience, they just had me jump right in as a groom. I was getting these very expensive horses ready for trainings, shows, helping when the farrier came over, whatever needs to be done, cleaning tack, also exercising some of the horses as well. They all had their own special feeding regimens that we had to make sure that they got three times a day. So yeah, very busy as well. I also had experience handling stallions. They felt more comfortable with me than some of the other farmhands just handling these very expensive horses. So it was definitely an eye-opening experience for me because that's totally different side of the horse industry than I'm used to.

Like I've done ranch rodeo and stuff like that, you know, totally, totally opposite. But it's a really good testament kind of to like what you said before is to step out of your comfort zone and try something different. and I'm really glad that I did because it was a really awesome experience and I learned a lot about just like overall horse care and yeah I wouldn't trade it for the world. The place I was living in too was like just right off the horse arena so I could just walk downstairs and I'm in the stable and ready to go to work so it was awesome.

Okay, so you were in three different countries, living with three different groups of people, doing three different jobs, that sounds like a lot of logistic and organizing and that's what you did entirely on your own I don't believe yeah heck no so I think that's one of the things that's really overwhelming about even dreaming up these experiences how am I going to find these jobs how what am I going to do to get a visa to be able to work there who's going to make sure that I'm going to be safe all of those questions sometimes can be a complete block to people taking the first step or seeing it through to execution. So I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the supports that were available to you and available to other people who might want to have these international experiences.

Yeah, for sure. And I would highly recommend using like an organization that can support you because it's just like you said, it is really hard as an individual to navigate all of this on your own. especially when I was traveling you know during COVID you still had to have like tests and everything and you needed to know where to go and what to do. So the great part about the program I worked with so not only did we have our Canadian organization International Rural Exchange Canada, back home looking out for me if I had any questions. But we also had our partner organization in the country that you're working in. So like boots on the ground, you know, if you need something, there's somebody there to help you.

So yeah, all of the partners that I worked with were fantastic in the US, like they helped me line up stuff for when I had to, you know, pay my taxes, they made sure like I got to the country okay.

When I had to go back to Canada, they let me know like where to get my COVID test and everything. When I went to Ireland, they actually printed out, you know, this is the train you're going to take, this is the bus you're going to take. So I knew how to get to my placement because I actually had to take a train for the first time, first train I'd ever taken all by myself from Dublin, Ireland, all the way across to the west side of the island. And so It can be kind of tricky to figure that out by yourself if you've never been to that country, never been on a train. So the partner was really good at just, you know, step by step. This is what you do.

This the ticket you booked. This is the time you get there. This platform you're on. So that was great. And then going into Sweden, actually my visa was slightly delayed because the Ukrainian war was still going on quite prevalently and they were having a lot of refugees coming into Sweden. So things were a little bit backed up in the visa department and so I had reached out to our Swedish partner just to say hey you know what are my best options because technically you can't enter the country legally until you have that proper work visa so I had to figure out what my next best move would be and I did have a few options so I could have either stayed in Ireland for a little bit longer because that would have been okay I wouldn't have been overstaying or they were like if you know anybody that is in Europe that you want visit that would also be a very good idea and I so I got me thinking I went well I do know people in fact I have family in Norway that I've always wanted to visit so why don't I take advantage of this kind of little travel hiccup and turn it into something really awesome. So that's exactly what I did. I reached out to them and they were like, come and stay as long as you want. They're super excited to have me. I got to not only do some, you know, traveling in the countries that I was working in, but also in some other countries.

So yeah, I stopped Denmark. I met with a partner there on my way into Norway and yeah my family took me all around like Oslo, Sarpsburg, Tromsø, like way in the north so I got to see the midnight sun yeah went on some hikes and in some fjords and then after all the fun was over I finally got my visa approved and headed for Sweden so It is kind of, like I said before, really great to work with somebody because if you do have a travel hiccup or you know maybe something happens at home and you have to go back early or you get really homesick and you're not sure what to do or maybe you have an issue with your host

slash employer and maybe you need to move to a different placement then not only is the partner like back in Canada there us to help you, but also that partner in the country are working in so you know that you're supported and you're not alone, and you can feel more safe, especially as a single young woman traveling on her own. You know, it was really nice to know somebody had my back.

Yeah, I love that. I think all of that is so important to just have that backup like you said. But I think one of the big things that we kind of skipped over in your experiences and it kind of was triggered for me when you said your taxes, these were paid. Yes, these were paid placements. Here you are, this person with all this extra cash, traveling the world, doing these fun things. No, no. There's some compensation here.

For sure. So yes, the nice part is that these are paid placements. So typically like you're going to see more of like a minimum wage for that country. Mind you, some countries minimum wages are pretty good. So depends on where you're working. But yes, when I was in the US and in Sweden, I was on paid placements. In Ireland, it was like an unpaid internship essentially, but my room and my board were covered by my host.

So I didn't have any those other external expenses and it was fantastic. But yes, if you could get paid position to help offset your cost of travel, that just helps so much with your budgeting because then not only are you to break even for having to spend money on your flights, your visas, you know, all those travel costs, but then you're also going to have some money for the fun stuff because you're going to want to go and explore and do some fun stuff while you're abroad. So that's always perk.

Yeah, definitely. And again, when we were talking about those barriers to having these experiences, not only is it all of the logistics and the support and the know-how but it's also the finances and so to be able to have the opportunity to potentially come out without debt from these experiences you're going to have a life-changing experience you're going to live in another country you're going to develop all these skills you're going to have this culturally immersive experience and you're not going to have tons of bills to pay at the end of it you can really kind of your way through and be able to have really great experiences without that kind of nagging feeling like, oh, this is costing me so much money. I'm going to have to pay for this for a long time. It's all going to come out in the wash in the end.

Yeah, exactly. And that's the beauty of doing like a gap year program. You know, I talk to a lot of students and I say it really depends on what your values are. Do you want to go on a one to two week vacation to a hotspot destination and spend three, four grand that you're never going to get back? Which is fine. Some people, that's a value to some people. Or do you want to go work, live in a different country, earn a wage, break even and have that extra spending money for the fun stuff and come back with all this knowledge and experience and all these friends and connections that you've made and all of the memories?

So, it's really just, like I said, what's of value to you as an individual? For me, I really love the fact, like, with a gap year, you know, it gives me a little bit more time to go and explore and make those connections and meet those people. Because once you get into a new country, I found this three different times when I did my exchange. The first month is always the scariest because, You know, you don't know really anybody that well. It's totally a different routine. You're in a different environment, different culture.

And it's a little bit, you know, shaky at the beginning.

It always is, you know, when you're trying something different. But then once you get to that routine, you're working, you're meeting people, you know, you're seeing some different places or deciding maybe some places you want to explore, then you get to month two and you're like, I'm not going to have enough time to do everything I want to do, you know? So, you really get into it again. And, yeah, it's a really, really great opportunity for those individuals that might want to spend more time in a country. Yeah, no, definitely.

Now you clearly had a lot of focus on animals. You had some experience with the crops, with the hay crop. What type of other experiences are out there? Because there is just so much out there. Can you give us a little sampling in different areas? Just so people who are like, hmm, maybe, but I'm not sure if any of the things that What are some other things that could exist out there that might be a little bit different from what you experienced? for sure so primarily we work with four industries so our number one is agriculture that's where our roots are no pun intended but yeah exactly we've been around for 40 years so that's how it all kind of got started was you know this agriculture exchange. So that's like you said before with animals that could be horses, it could be cattle, swine, sheep, maybe beekeeping, you know, like it just really depends on what your niche is there. Also, you know, field crops, or maybe you want to go to a mixed farm where they have a little bit of, you know, cattle and crops or, or maybe you just want to, you know, work on a dairy farm. It really just depends on what your interest is in agriculture. So there's lots of different avenues. However, there's also other sectors you can work in. We also work with a lot of horticulture students.

So these are individuals that are wanting to get experience in greenhouses with cut flowers, maybe do some landscaping or work in tree nurseries or with fruit vegetable production. I've actually met some individuals like out in Ontario that have like cucumber farms or like blueberry farms and things like, you know, so there's different kinds of farming, you know, it's not just cows and wheat. So there's so many different avenues. And that's a lot coming out from an Albertan.

That's right. Exactly. Yes. So, so there's also that horticulture piece as well. Then we do have viticulture. So this would be working in wineries or in vineyards. Okay. So some of the hosts are a little more picky with this.

They might have wanted the individual to either have some education in this or maybe have experience to harvest things like that with regards to, you know, harvesting grapes but there are also some hosts that are like if you can drive a tractor or you just want to learn a little bit like we're more than happy to take you on so it really just depends on the best fit for the individual but if you've ever wanted to learn about wine making that is a really cool way to

do it especially like to go learn to make wine and like Japan or France or Austria or Germany like that's pretty Yeah, I'm sure my hosts in the US that are really into wine tasting would just jump on that. Yeah and then finally we also have the hospitality and culinary industry. So I find with a lot of students that are maybe from a more urban setting but have experience like as a waiter or waitress or maybe with catering or have worked in a hotel or a B&B. You know, sometimes there's opportunities to even work in kind of like ski resorts or different kinds of like parks, you know, so it really just depends on the individual.

The hospitality and culinary side has a little bit more flexibility in regards to that. If you do have an education in hospitality, though, or if you are trained in the culinary arts at all, then it's even easier to find a placement for you, you know, and there's some fantastic opportunities there as well.

Oh, I love it. Yeah, such diversity. So basically if you can dream it you can you can find something exactly which is which is just so special that you don't have to be in this little box you can really kind of go beyond that box and see what might be out there that might be interesting for you yeah and we sometimes have individuals ask us about like specific kinds placement that maybe we don't normally work with and you know like we can't guarantee we're gonna find you a placement there but we can sure ask our partners because they have a network of hosts and you never know if you don't ask so I always tell people just ask because you don't know if you don't yeah worst case scenario that you get a no that's exactly absolute worst yeah but quite often the more you put yourself out there the more you make your wants and your desires more public that's when the magic happens and that's for this experience and for anything on your gap year or otherwise. I always am telling people, you're looking for a job, put it on your socials, don't be shy, talk to your parents, friends, talk to your friends, let them know what you're looking for because people want to help you, they just don't know what you're looking for if you're not going to be forthcoming with that and putting it at the forefront. So knowing that resources exist where you can put that out there and that people can be working on your behalf to make those dreams come true I think is really, really important.

That's actually a little bit of how I got my job here. It's kind of a funny story. I have sometimes students ask me, how did you get working there? And, I had done my phone call interview with one of my now colleagues because I was interested in working abroad like I said after I graduated university and they had me on speakerphone because there were two people listening in and my now executive director was eavesdropping on the phone call and heard me talking and she went wow this gal sounds like she'd be a really good fit for this position that we're going to have coming up and she just emailed me after that and I met with them after and the rest is history so that's I always tell students always be on because you never know who is listening or when opportunity might strike because that was totally you know random thing that I never would have thought of but it was it changed my whole life now I'm here and I've had these amazing experiences so oh I love it yeah I love it so much.

So something that is very interesting. So you had these two countries that you went to that were English speaking. You went to the US, you went to Ireland, but then you went somewhere where English wasn't the dominant language. So what does that look like from a native English or French speaker that might be looking at going to Japan or going to Switzerland or going wherever where English isn't the primary language. Is that a limiting factor or how do you navigate that?

So, First of all, I'll say that most people in Europe do speak English or may even know French as well. Obviously, in France, you can speak French. That is a huge asset. And that is definitely one of the requirements for us, specifically for France, just because it's a little bit easier for people to communicate as not all French speakers obviously can speak English however when I was traveling throughout you know many countries in Europe. I never had an issue speaking English. In Sweden, the only time I had any issues with my English language was when I went grocery shopping for the first time.

I had to definitely use Google Translate to figure out if I was buying the right thing because everything was written in Swedish, right? And then I just asked like a couple strangers that were in the aisles, like, am I buying the right flower, you know and the one lady was like oh yes that's a good flower I'm gonna make cinnamon buns with it later so you know like people are friendly it's okay to put yourself out there and just you know yeah try to communicate with others even if their language isn't or their English language isn't great normally like between body language and everything you can usually get the point across.

Yeah, we're all human and we have that in common, regardless of the words that come out of our mouth, we can definitely communicate in many, many modes, which I think is really, really cool. So I think that's important for people to know that is an option. Now, something that is always top of mind for me, questions from young people, parents, is gap year waste of time. And my answer is always 100% no. You're gaining experience, you're gaining maturity, you're figuring out more things about yourself, about the world around you, you're expanding your horizons, all of these wonderful intangible things. But you have been across the country talking to thousands of people and so in 2025, in your opinion, are gap year relevant for young people and would it be a good decision to step into one?

Well, I think gap years are more relevant now than ever, especially with, you know, individuals that are coming out of high school that might not know what they want to do after post-secondary. You know, I talked to a lot of high schoolers that are like, I'm just not ready to pay that much tuition if I don't know this is the path I want to take. And that's totally valid. And to that, I would say, I'm also hearing from a lot of, you know, high school, career services, even career services in universities and university professors or instructors. They're saying that all resumes are starting to look the same. Especially if we've got all those AI generated resumes, you know so all these resumes are starting to look the same and it's making it you know employers are looking for those people that stand out and they're looking for something that will stand out in your resume and let me tell you international experience is a huge resume boost because it not only shows that you've gone and worked in a different country and learned all that skills for that specific job alone, but you've also learned to be open minded, flexible, problem solving, you know, being a quick learner, all of those soft skills and I don't really like to use that word soft skills because they're all important. It's all important skills. But just being a good listener, things like that, that you can learn from that international experience in doing some type of a gap year that you might not get just staying abroad and working at home showing that you have, you know, a boldness to step outside of your comfort zone and try something different is huge to employers.

So that's something to keep in mind as well. If you're on the fence about doing a gap year, it could be a really awesome experience that can lead to even more opportunity.

Yeah, 100%. And the research backs that up too. The Gap Year Association in the U.S. a study and they found people who took a gap year were more employable once they graduated and it's exactly that your resume has something on it that others don't everybody has a four year degree everybody has 40 hours of community service but wow this person did something above and beyond it's unique I like to talk about my husband actually he has multiple degrees he has all of those things but on the bottom of his resume it says hike to base camp of Mount Everest and oh wow which was something that he did and in every single interview they don't want to talk about school they don't want to talk about his grades they don't want to talk about that they want to say tell me about that that's what I want to hear about totally I'm sure in the boardroom conversations after like oh remember that guy that climbed Everest he was cool. And it's having something memorable, something that's going to set you apart, that's going to give you that edge to be able to stand out and to even just have a network of people that are going to back you and support you those experiences are invaluable and will pay dividends in the long run realistically.

Exactly and there's individuals out there like our organization or other organizations that want to help you do that. So if it's a dream of yours to do that, take the leap. That's my advice.

Now you mentioned high school graduates doing this, you did it after school. Is there an age limit when it comes to this? Because I know that we have parents listening that are like, sign me up, how do I do this? So what does that look like from an age perspective?

Yes, so because we work with International Experience Canada under their program as a recognized organization, the age limit what the government deems as youth is 18 to 35. So, which is pretty awesome for those that are, you know, about to turn you may be 33 or 34 and are exactly yeah. So, yes, that is the ages that we work with. Certain countries may have different age limitations, but if that's the case, when you chat with us, we'll let you know what your best options are.

And I think it's really important to highlight that large age range because maybe you're if you're 17 or 18 and you don't feel quite ready for it but you're like wow that's very aspirational, that's something I want to do later, 100% tuck this into your back pocket, jot it down in your notes on your phone, have this information ready for when you are ready because it doesn't have to be today, it doesn't have to be next year, but just knowing that this exists and when you are ready for it, they're going to be there to receive you and to help you through that process which is just so great to know. I know so many people who have graduated university, got into the workforce and are like, man, this sucks.

This is not what I signed up for and they need a break when they're 30. They've been working for six years and they're like, wow, I don't like being a paper pusher or I don't like data entry or I don't like being on a computer. I need something else and so even those early career breaks, this is a great opportunity to step into that space as well and just shake it up and get some different experience and do some soul searching and looking in a different direction and I'm planting seeds here because we are going to be launching our adult gap year brand soon for people who are not necessarily in that younger youth side of things but maybe in that older youth sides don't stop dreaming about these opportunities because there's lots of stuff that you can get involved in no matter when you're doing that intentional pausing.

I will be sure to send all of the adults your way. Yes, yes. Awesome. So many fun things planned for that. Wonderful. Well, we have covered so much in this conversation. One thing that we didn't touch on is how do people get in touch with you guys? They're there, they've listened to this whole podcast, they're excited to go. What, what are their next steps?

Yeah, well, if you are interested in how we can help you do your gap year, you can reach out to us on our website, awaytowork.ca. ou can also search International Rural Exchange Canada. We'll pop right there. We're also on social media as well. We're pretty active on Instagram. We do have TikTok. Facebook, I believe we're also on X as well, formerly known as Twitter.

So yeah, you can find us on a bunch of social media channels. We're always posting content there about like testimonials from past participants or travel tips, different kind of job opportunities. So yeah, you can find out some more information there as well.

I love it and we will take all of those links and put them in the show notes so people just need to just click on something. It will be hyperlinked for them there. So just know that all the resources exist and they are there to have your back in this whole process. Well Peyton thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the podcast it's been so wonderful to hear about your experience and to hopefully inspire some others to follow in your footsteps.

Oh well thank you so much Michelle for letting me share my story and I hope that maybe we inspired some people to go do some traveling. I love it. Wonderful.

All right friends thanks so much for listening to this episode of the gap year podcast and until next time keep on adventuring.