Given that the current climate for the recently released graduate is akin to that of an expendable crew member trapped in an air lock with the Predator, it's entirely understandable that every last scrap of free time should be devoted to furthering chances of future employment. The urge to hang around hopefully by the photocopier at a City law firm or carry trays of coffee enthusiastically round an advertising agency while sporting an impossible haircut must be overwhelming. But to anyone experiencing this urge I say stop. Stop in your bloody tracks.

There is a good and fine reason why gap years are called gaps. They're supposed to be what they say on the tin. They're a hiatus from the madness. You've just spent every year since your memory began in formal education. You've been hunched over books, writing essays and taking exams since TIME BEGAN.

You're probably a bit tired. Oh look. What's that in the distance? It's the dark and brambly pathway to the rest of your working life. It's covered in the cobbles of despair and smells of ennui. Why in the name of HELL do you want to get on it without tossing yourself to the wild winds of gay abandon first? Smash the emergency glass, press the big red button and just STOP. Step off the Yellow Brick Road, get mixed up with some flying monkeys and throw yourself into all manner of trouble. Trust me. IT'S YOUR LAST CHANCE.

I took a gap year. I managed to be in an earthquake, got sprayed by a skunk and found myself in a never-to-be-repeated scenario whereby I was kidnapped by a dwarf in a red Ferrari. I was penniless, had nothing to sleep in and gave serious thought to actual begging. But this is what being young and stupid is about.

It's all part of the grand scheme of things. You've got the rest of your life to be sensible and responsible. Let your hair down, say farewell to rhyme and reason and go and shit yourself on a bus. Chances are you will learn more about yourself than you ever will sitting behind a desk sucking a ballpoint pen. You'll see the world and you'll come home with a rucksack full of stories and experiences that you can draw on for the rest of your life.

I had not one penny when I went on my gap year. I did a couple of jobs here and there to get me from A to B but I was footloose and fancy-free. And I can happily declare that despite the hardship, despite the total madness, I had the time of my tiny life. My gap year made me the person I am today and no amount of work experience will ever give you the joy of a summer sprawling ahead of you with nothing but an open road and not the first clue what you're going to do from one day to the next.

So forget about being sensible. Forget about money. You've got the rest of your life to earn that. Take a deep breath and go wander through a meadow, swim an ocean, cross a desert, climb a mountain, traverse a continent, come back broke and I can guarantee you'll be nothing but fulfilled and happy.