Chris (Left) and Andrew (Right)
Andrew Buchanan (19):
When I tell most people that I’m on a Gap Year, the response is predictable: “What are you up to?” Friends emote enthusiasm while adults favor suspicion.
My usual response is something like this: “In a nutshell, I’m racing Ironman 70.3 triathlons, going on a road trip and sailing voyage down Baja, then flying to the West Indies for a camping and kitesurfing expedition. After that, I’m off to Chilean Patagonia for 6 weeks of mountaineering.”
At this point, kids show envy that I’m not in school but still offer their encouragement. Most of the adults approve of my response: at least he’s not staying put.
Then I add, “After Chile, I’m doing a 16-week tour-de-Asia. I hope to go trekking in Nepal, backpacking in China, and then riding railways through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. At some point during that trip I will visit Chris in the South Pacific.”
After this statement, most people stare at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. Adults aren’t sure whether to be supportive or worried for my safety. Younger people didn’t know if I invented the countries I just named.
The conversations usually become unpredictable at this point, but I eventually always have to say this: “Yes, those are safe countries. No, I’m not going to Afghanistan.”
The conversation ends.
In August 2019 I will start school at UNC Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. I will surely be asked, “What did you do on your gap year?”
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Chris Buchanan (22):
Along with Andrew, I’ll race an Ironman 70.3 triathlon, drive and sail around Baja, and then explore the West Indies. However, from Fall through Winter, I will be applying to medical schools for 2019 admission.
This period will be full of interviews, but I will still make it to the world’s distant shores. Prospective destinations include include Puerto Rico, Maui, Australia’s Gold Coast, Indonesia, Mozambique, Namibia, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand, and Kyrgyzstan.
From surfing Pe’ahi (Jaws) to kitesurfing through the South Pacific, I will hopefully not stray too far from the coast.
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