They decide to postpone their entry into university or professional life to discover the world. Because for them, the journey is more important than the career. At least at first.
As her teacher’s gaze prepares to meet hers, Lilou feels stress invade her. Nine months before the end of their rhéto, most of his classmates from the Athénée Royal d’Izel contacted by the teacher already announce their intention to study at UCLouvain or ULiège. Some even know they want to become a physiotherapist or an architect. At this precise moment, the girl has no idea what she wants to do with her lifeshe therefore hopes to get out of it by confiding in thinking about the question. Missed. “The teacher looked at me with great perplexity and told me that it was high time for me to get moving,” Lilou remembers, two years after the incident. It put a lot of pressure on me: the school forced us to choose, but without helping us much…”
On the verge of opting for studies “by default”, she finally lets herself be convinced by her sister to go abroad, through Rotary. Sent to the United States, in what was “neither a town nor a village”, Gaumaise will share the life of three different host families as part of a second rheto. “I wanted to live an experienceto get away from the obligation to find my studies, she confides. It was also an opportunity to develop a network of international friends and to master English inside out.” In the summer of 2024, Lilou returns to Belgium bilingual… and above all driven by one certainty: she is going to study translation. “In secondaryI hated German so much that I probably would never have had this revelation if I had stayed in Belgium.”
Feeling in place
Specializing in supporting young people aged 18 to 35 in their adventures abroad, the International Youth Bureau (BIJ) contributes in particular to the financing of volunteer projectslanguage learning, professional internshipexchanges, initiatives or citizen meetings. From an average of 5,000 young people guided each year before Covid, the BIJ increased to 6,000 in 2023. “We feel a resurgence of desire to experiment internationallynotes Beatrice Ciobanu, communications manager. Most of the young people concerned hear take a break between secondary school and entry into university or the world of work, others have a real political vision and want lead projects linked to ecology, inclusion, diversity, sustainable agriculture…” A stay abroad also allows you to work on your communication and adaptation skillsto open up to new technologies and broaden their spectrum of interests. Without forgetting this immutable possibility of understanding a new culture.
“When you travel, you learn resourcefulness, it develops intuition to sense where opportunities are.”
It is exactly this thirst for discovery that led Clémence to fly to Australia, barely reaching her majority. She wanted to see something else than his small town of Ciney. “It also allowed me to let my friends go scouting for college,” she laughs. I was able to draw inspiration from their experiences to see what would suit me best when I returned.” Clémence then embarked on studies in management engineering, but not just anywhere: in Saint-Louis, one of the rare schools to offer the opportunity to go on Erasmus from the third year of baccalaureate. “My desire to travel has never disappeared,” says the woman who has since lived for several months in Zagreb then in Medellin, where she is currently doing her second Erasmus stay. I love the idea of opening my mind to acclimatize myself to another culture. Especially at home, in Belgium, I always feel the need to do something, otherwise I don’t necessarily feel in my place. When traveling, on the other hand, I can escape, learn dozens of things… it’s quite an atmosphere!”
As she prepares to enter the job market, Clémence says she wants to prioritize jobs that will give her the opportunity to work abroad, permanently or through one-off missions. “I would still like to discover new worlds. I will not end my days in Belgium: the trip is anchored in me.”
Accessible to everyone?
If the traditional language immersion stay is still popular, other international exploration concepts are emerging: volunteering, seasonal jobs, au pair jobs, independent travel sometimes carried out on a shorter term. Since 2018, the DiscoverEU action, integrated into the Erasmus+ program, finances the organization of citizen projects and offers, twice a year, unlimited rail tickets throughout Europe to thousands of adolescents. Last spring, 922 Belgians were selected from 4,457 candidates. “The concept is unfortunately not yet as successful in French-speaking Belgium as in Flanders,” laments Beatrice Ciobanu of the BIJ. However, this type of adventure allows you to take responsibility andempower the young person, who must be responsible for booking hotels, planning the trip, etc. It’s a real first solo experience at 18.”
Is traveling abroad accessible to everyone? In 2022, a survey by the Spanish website El Confidencial showed that more than 60% of students from the most economically advanced European countries were able to join universities in nations with similar economic levels for their Erasmus. Conversely, only 37% of nationals from the least wealthy countries were able to stay in educational establishments in the most prosperous states. The economic aspect obviously plays in favor of relatively advantaged young people, but so does the family context, the difference in access to information and the ability to acculturate to travel.
Co-author of a mobility study when she was a research assistant at UCLouvain, Margot Achard explained in 2021 that less well-off teenagers “tell themselves that it’s not for themthat these are experiences reserved for more integrated young people. She therefore recommended better transmission of information to all audiences. “We seek to reach these less advantaged young people through collaborations with local partners and through social networks,” insists Beatrice Ciobanu, whose BIJ is gradually developing greater financial support to cover travel, transport, accommodation and food abroad. “We reach all segments of the population without putting them in competition: support is based on the quality of the application. If the young person is motivated and their project holds up, we finance it.”
In 2023, the European Union has released nearly eleven billion euros for Neet aid programs (Not in Education, Employment or Training)these people without employment, education or training and generally from poor backgrounds. Among the projects supported is Alma, an initiative which promotes the integration of Neet people under the age of 30 through professional and personal stays abroad. Once back, these adventurers benefit from support intended to bring them (back) into the job market.
“When they come back, the young people are no longer locked into a single pattern.”
Open doors
At the International Youth Office, we also focus on the autonomy of young people, who are required to manage many procedures related to their trip themselves. “On site, we do not promote tourism and travel strictly speaking,” emphasizes Beatrice Ciobanu. The aim is to encourage young people to acquire skills abroad so that they can then return to use them in Belgium.” Without going through the BIJ, this is a bit like what Axelle did a few years ago after slamming the door on her brand new job in food rebalancing. Head to Toronto, Canada, to reset your professional counters. “With my partner, we left just after the Covid crisis, because we had missed the trip enormously and becausewe had looked at our two jobssmiles the young thirty-year-old, originally from Wavre. With no kids and no mortgage, it was time to leave.” Seduced by the Working Holiday Program (PVT), which allows young people up to 30 years old to obtain a temporary visa to work and travel in one of five possible destinations (Canada, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea) , the two lovers took the plunge. Both to improve their English, but also to test themselves in an urban environment and compare it to their own, more rural one, and thus make the choice of their future living environment.
Initially employed in a small Venezuelan restaurant, Axelle ended her Canadian stay with the role of bilingual customer relations specialist within the country’s largest insurance company. “The experience of traveling abroad opens so many doors that when they return, young people are no longer locked into a single pattern, says Beatrice Ciobanu. Some, of course, embark on studies, but there are some who directly found a company while others take a completely opposite direction. Axelle is one of them. Today, she works in the foreign trade of medicines. Thanks in particular to his impeccable English.
Young workers also favor adventure
A master’s degree in international business necessarily opens perspectives and doors to… somewhere else. In his final year, Benjamin also did an internship in Indonesia and another in Canada, where he met a British woman. “He had one year of studies left,” rewinds the almost thirty-year-old. By moving to Birmingham in 2019, I had the opportunity to join her and experience a new adventure abroad.” Without experience, Benjamin initially struggled to find a first job as a manager in “loss prevention”, i.e. minimizing a company’s losses, but then relied on his experience to seduce Innocent, a smoothie brand, where he is now a product innovation project manager. “By staying in Belgium, I might have been tempted to follow a more classic route in one of the Big Four (Editor’s note: Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG)he admits. There, I had less choice, I had to step out of my comfort zone and that guided my career.”
Faced with the reality of job insecurity, the risks of overqualification, the lack of confidence from companies due to lack of experience or simple life choices, many young workers try their luck abroad. “More and more of them are freeing themselves from the dictates of society,” analyzes Matthieu Verstraete, co-founder of the Student platform. The success of start-ups and the proliferation of digital nomads knocked out the classic theory according to which professional success depends on a unique and structured evolution: there are now several ways to design a career.” Justine knows it. She, who has long been nursed with the ambition of managing the marketing of a big company, is now very far from it. Having passed through Australia, Portugal then Canada, she cut her teeth in a call center and today manages communication for various clients. “When you travel, you learn resourcefulness and it develops a little intuition to sense where the opportunities are. It was a girl I met in Brisbane who brought me to Lisbon. Without the trip, I would never have developed this network.»
Five years after his departure, Benjamin still reflects from day to day: “First this life, then the next.” After a decade, Justine plans an imminent return to Belgium. “I missed not speaking my language and not being able to attend a show of my culture, with my references.” Independent, she will not let go of her network, scattered between Bali and Montreal. To keep your head abroad.
