[argonz]

It depends on your circumstances:

1. If you have money, consider going for a year to some cheap/sunny place and do exactly nothing. Take notes of that nothing. I've spent 9months doing that(although I stayed at home) and it was one of the most productive periods, in terms of self-discovery/reading/ideas. The downside can be absence of social connections but if you are the type you can love it. Another one that it somewhat involves your comfort zone, so you will learn a lot but a motivating team can be more effective(and harder/luckier to find).

2. PhD or any job is not a life-long decision. Go there, see it and if you don't like it move on. I've started a PhD at the moment and for me it's good as the scholarship is okay and I literally do whatever I want..

3. Getting into a phd can be much easier than what you think, you just have to write a myriad applications(~20) chances you can get something you like. Once you are in its usually pretty much up to you how you spend your time etc..

Cheers, M