Making Life a Gap Year

My name is Filipa and I’m a 20-year-old freelance artist and musician from Portugal.

In 2019, after high school, I did my first gap year in Romania, in an EVS volunteering project teaching English to children of the Roma communities. I lived there for 1 year and had the chance to travel around Romania with the other volunteers I met, who became friends and even family to me.

From doing things like skinny dipping in the Black Sea at midnight to crossing the whole country by train, hitchhiking, and Couchsurfing, to visiting other European countries such as Italy, Hungary, and Austria, I lived the best year of my life!

When it came to an end and I got back to Portugal with both my suitcase and my heart full, I knew that I still wanted some more experiences abroad... and so it was. Three months later, in January 2021, I moved to Spain for my second gap year, as an Au Pair, where I am now.

I wouldn’t mind making life itself a gap year. I feel myself growing and evolving more and more every day! 🌞