Mao Hexin at Hamoi, Vietnam in June 2011. After graduation, Mao spent more than three months in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, clocking up roughly 5,000 kilometers.

The concept of a gap year originated in Europe and the United States and concerns young people taking a year off before starting university - often to travel. Some of those who take a gap year do so as they want time to consider their future and gain some experience in the “real world.” Universities accept their application, and delay their entrance.

During this period, people take the initiative to slow down, to rethink their own direction. They are not working, but it is still a little different from a 'gap' It is a rational decision as, not content with the status quo, these young people need to leave the status quo and plan their future. During the gap, he or she has new goals and, after the gap, they may find they have become a different person.

What does the gap year bring to you?

The gap year will not turn your life upside down, and if you believe the 'gap' can help you change from a nobody to a billionaire, then you are quite wrong. But if you want to understand yourself better, a gap year can be a good idea.

A gap year can help you feel more in control of your life, as ideas to “grab destiny by the throat” and other such silly sentences are usually only used by pupils in their middle school compositions and, later, we all eventually become insignificant.

A gap year will help you rethink questions such as: "What else can I do?" This is “silent planning”, it functions when you have relative peace of mind – when you are less stressed.

Can a gap year lead you to live the rest of your life as if it were one long gap year?

Many people wonder what they will do after their gap year. They are unsure if they want to go back to their same routine and what kind of life they want to lead. They normally aim to use this year to try to figure out what they want to do, to find their direction – to find themselves. But they also worry that all their hard work will be wasted if they don’t make the right decisions. Unfortunately, you will have to be responsible for your choices in life – and you will be responsible for the risks you take.

If you don’t mind facing year after year of working nine to five, leading a very ordinary life and not challenging yourself, then you may not wish to take any risks.

In the end, nobody will be there to help you when you need someone. But even if you enjoy your time off and manage to party as if you can actually afford it – is this the life you really want for yourself?

And you will perhaps never really earn what you truly deserve – your company and the managers will earn the high salaries and get all the credit for your hard work – and you may then regret not investing in taking a year off.