From working in tech to traveling through Thailand.

I feel lucky that my career started in a dark, gloomy corporate office.

My investments were going to be my ticket out of the corporate world.

Helen Lu traveling Asia after college

Credit: Helen Lu

I was making myself financially independent.

And that’s how I wound up taking a year off.

So, I shifted my goals slightly.

Helen Lu traveling Asia after college

Helen Lu

There were a few things that I had to commit to from the jump.

First, I was willing to cut down on expenses to save the $15,000 I needed to travel.

I also moved back into my parents' house for a year.

Helen Lu traveling Asia after college

Helen Lu

Like most people, rent has always been one of my biggest expenses.

This helped me divert most of my income into investments and savings instead of a hefty rent payment.

I then sold some of my belongings.

It is a secondhand buying/selling platform primarily for lightly worn clothing and accessories.

Once I sold one item, I got excited and listed 10 more.

Within a year, I was able to sell almost 100 items, which brought in $1,054.

On a related note, I stopped buying new clothes and really, stopped shopping altogether.

I knew I couldn’t bring much with me on my travels anyway.

As I prepared to leave my job, I increased investments in my 401(k).

This may sound counterintuitive, but I was attempting to make up for “future” lost time.

I also researched health insurance costs.

However, doing some research online made me feel more comfortable about the costs and the overall process.

From there, I estimated the monthly cost and added it to the amount I needed to save.

To increase my income, I started writing personal finance articles on Medium and creating content on Instagram.

And finally, before leaving my job, I created a budget for my year off.

The truth is, a lot ofgap year storiesmay sound spontaneous, but that’s almost never the case.

Getting my finances in the order allowed me to prepare for a gap year.

Maybe Vietnam or Portugal or Italy?