When is the best time to travel?

[predentalgirl00]

Hi I'm an incoming D1, Class of 2025. I really want to dedicate time to traveling but don't know if I should do it before school or taking a year after graduating to travel. Is it common for students not to go straight into working after graduating dental school?

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[2thDoc11]

I’m also an incoming student but I’d think it’s make more since financially to go prior to starting school.. loans have a grace period after graduation but I’d rather be rested up before school then take a break just when your career is starting

 

[PerioDont]

Hi I'm an incoming D1, Class of 2025. I really want to dedicate time to traveling but don't know if I should do it before school or taking a year after graduating to travel. Is it common for students not to go straight into working after graduating dental school?

do it now...though not sure how much you can do during a pandemic.

I guess its theoretically possible but I've never heard of someone taking a year off to travel unless they have no debt. I did have some friends that took a few weeks as it takes some time to get your license, malpractice etc ready when you graduate.

 

[ESPN907]

Travel when that student loan balance is all zeros

 

[deleted721052]

i travelled during every summer of dental school, around 2-3 months each time! i was doing volunteer work abroad or visiting friends so it barely cost anything and it was sooo worth it.

 

[DentGent13]

i travelled during every summer of dental school, around 2-3 months each time! i was doing volunteer work abroad or visiting friends so it barely cost anything and it was sooo worth it.

I was under the presumption that dental schools only have like 4-5 weeks a year for vacation. I only have 2 weeks summer, 2 weeks winter, and a few days of federal holidays. What school did you go to???

 

[deleted721052]

I was under the presumption that dental schools only have like 4-5 weeks a year for vacation. I only have 2 weeks summer, 2 weeks winter, and a few days of federal holidays. What school did you go to???

i went to a canadian school! the summer before D4 we only had 3 weeks during summer but otherwise we were pretty lucky! i also travelled the summer before d school but i don,t think it will be possible for you this year with covid

 

[yappy]

Don't travel - it's the worst kind of consumerism.

 

[TanMan]

Hi I'm an incoming D1, Class of 2025. I really want to dedicate time to traveling but don't know if I should do it before school or taking a year after graduating to travel. Is it common for students not to go straight into working after graduating dental school?

Don't do it after graduating. You should hit the ground running. If you travel during this whole pandemic debacle, especially international, you need backup plans and know how to route your flights (avoid paranoid countries, route through lax, tourism dependent countries). The worst thing is you get stuck in a country that forces you into a quarantine and you can't get back or if something changes in the new administration's transportation / immigration / quarantine policies, then you might have to sneak back into the United States (assuming you are a US citizen, from a US centric point of view) through a less secure entry point. Also, given a lot of travel restrictions, you need to find a way to produce a negative covid test every time within a quick timeframe - typically 72 hours predeparture. There is a lot of uncertainty in terms of international travel at this time. Prepare for all scenarios.

On the plus side, many cultural sites are empty, many party cities are full. Good luck!

 

[dentalinthemental]

I would honestly do it during dental school on breaks. School can be really exhausting and saving that money for fun breaks in-between tough semesters is the move for sure. I wouldn't spend a lot of money traveling this summer, most things won't be open as usual and you won't get the full travel experience. Also don't be the kid that travels all over the world during a pandemic.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Don't use student loan money to travel. 7% compounded interest on your vacations isn't worth it. Wait until you're working and just take vacations then. Work your butt off and save up money so you can afford the good trips without using borrowed money.

 

[setdoc7]

I would certainly not take a year off after graduation. You will forget too much and lose the rudimentary skills you possess. Traveling now is risky due to the pandemic, so other than domestic trips, you are sort of stuck in NA.

 

[TanMan]

Nice places to go right now is Dubai and Mexico (Cancun/Puerto Vallarta). Not many hoops or BS to go through like the 14 day hotel room quarantining. Just don't go documenting it on social media since a lot of haters will end up trying to shame you. This is a unique situation in that restrictions may get worse as time progresses, so holding off on traveling is not necessarily a bad idea, since we don't know if travel restrictions will get any worse. Economies that highly depend on tourism will eventually wisen up and open up/reduce restrictions; the problem will come from countries that continue to have draconian restrictions that can hopefully be avoided.

It's a sad time in aviation that a lot of the A380s are retiring. First time I flew on an A380 , it was one of the best flight experiences ever, but for domestic, we're stuck with the big 3. The new Emirates 777 is nice, they just need to install a shower in there. When I can (in domestic), I like to route my flights on the 787/A321T since they have a lot more privacy than your 737/CRJ's/etc. At least they backed out from covid testing on domestic flights (but most likely circumventable via flying private).

 

[PerioDont]

Nice places to go right now is Dubai and Mexico (Cancun/Puerto Vallarta). Not many hoops or BS to go through like the 14 day hotel room quarantining. Just don't go documenting it on social media since a lot of haters will end up trying to shame you. This is a unique situation in that restrictions may get worse as time progresses, so holding off on traveling is not necessarily a bad idea, since we don't know if travel restrictions will get any worse. Economies that highly depend on tourism will eventually wisen up and open up/reduce restrictions; the problem will come from countries that continue to have draconian restrictions that can hopefully be avoided.

It's a sad time in aviation that a lot of the A380s are retiring. First time I flew on an A380 , it was one of the best flight experiences ever, but for domestic, we're stuck with the big 3. The new Emirates 777 is nice, they just need to install a shower in there. When I can (in domestic), I like to route my flights on the 787/A321T since they have a lot more privacy than your 737/CRJ's/etc. At least they backed out from covid testing on domestic flights (but most likely circumventable via flying private).

A pre-dent should definitely be able to afford flying private 😂

 

[TanMan]

A pre-dent should definitely be able to afford flying private 😂

You'll be surprised how wealthy some families of dental students are. We had a few leave in the first semester because they could financially. I suspect that they went into dental school out of pressure to earn the respect of their family through some doctor title, although there are easier ways.

 

[mrdeez]

Some of the responses here are so insane. You can totally travel whenever you want. I did it before dental school, I’m currently doing it during dental school, and I’ll probably do it after dental school. My taste in traveling is very simple but I’ve gone abroad too (lame).

You won’t forget dentistry, you can do it on a budget, nothing bad will happen financially or otherwise. I’m a big fan of not waiting to do something in life because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Dental students are pretty sheltered so naturally they will disagree.

Every day you’re closer to death. You can either wake up every day and try to fill it with amazing experiences or take the dental approach and sit around waiting to get a degree, get out of debt, get married, save for retirement, buy a practice, buy a house, get a dog, the list goes on. Then bam you’re dead.

 

[PerioDont]

Some of the responses here are so insane. You can totally travel whenever you want. I did it before dental school, I’m currently doing it during dental school, and I’ll probably do it after dental school. My taste in traveling is very simple but I’ve gone abroad too (lame).

You won’t forget dentistry, you can do it on a budget, nothing bad will happen financially or otherwise. I’m a big fan of not waiting to do something in life because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Dental students are pretty sheltered so naturally they will disagree.

Every day you’re closer to death. You can either wake up every day and try to fill it with amazing experiences or take the dental approach and sit around waiting to get a degree, get out of debt, get married, save for retirement, buy a practice, buy a house, get a dog, the list goes on. Then bam you’re dead.

My thought was that the OP was thinking about traveling for an extended period of time, maybe a few months?

Of course you can take trips whenever you want, and you can definitely travel during d school when you can afford the time and money to do so.