Advice on Au Pair Plans

I’m 19 and currently an au pair in Spain. I started au pairing in the south of Spain at the beginning of this year and stayed with my first host family for six months. It was honestly a very bumpy experience, and unfortunately, we didn’t part on particularly good terms.

After that, I went back to my home country (Germany) for three weeks and then found another host family in Spain, about two hours away from where I had been before. I’ve now been with them for about two months, and the difference is huge. They are an amazing family, they’re incredibly kind, and I’m genuinely very happy here. So in a way, I’m actually quite sad to leave.

However, I’ve already decided to go to France afterwards. I’m leaving in 11 days, and I’ll be staying with a French host family for around 10 months. I found my Spanish family through an agency and the French family through AuPairWorld.

Going to France has been something I’ve really wanted to do because I want to learn French. I’m German, and my role with the French family will actually be teaching the children German, although they already speak German fluently. The parents also understand some German and speak English quite well, so I don’t think the language barrier will be too overwhelming. My main goal, though, is obviously to learn French and hopefully become genuinely fluent.

After France, I’m also considering going to the US for a year as an au pair. That has always been a dream of mine, and I think it could be an amazing experience. I already speak English, Spanish and German, and I’m hoping to add French to that.

Eventually, I want to go to university and study something internationally oriented, possibly international law, diplomacy, or something similar. I feel like being able to speak German, English, Spanish and French would be a huge advantage in that field.

The thing is, if I follow this plan, I would be around 21 when I start university.

Some people have told me that I’m wasting my time or that I should just start studying next year. My mother especially wants me to start university next year. I haven’t actually told her about France yet, partly because she can be quite controlling and I’m honestly a little scared of how she’ll react.

But I don’t really feel like I’m wasting my life. I’m travelling, living independently, learning languages, experiencing different cultures and figuring out what I actually want to do before committing to a degree.
At the same time, I do wonder whether I’m being unrealistic or just postponing university because I’m afraid of settling down. I just love travelling etc and I think that now is the best time.

So, what do you think? Is starting university at 21 actually “late” or am I worrying about nothing? And does spending these extra years au pairing and learning languages make sense if I eventually want to work in something like international law or diplomacy?

I’d especially appreciate honest opinions , including if you think I’m making a mistake :)