I agree with you that it is a great opportunity to see the world and find your soul. However, a year is a long time, you really cannot foresee what will happen. There will be so many unknowns... maybe something will happen and will make you want to change your original plan, maybe you will wanna stay in europe, maybe you will meet someone and fall in love, maybe you will hate it and be homesick, and of course you might love it. What I am getting at is have a Plan B. If the year goes well, then that's fine, but if you hated it, let's say, 3months into it, then what??
A friend of mine applied for UC Berkeley, then got accepted, then he decided to go backpacking in Europe, so he wrote the school a letter, explaining his plan. They understood, and "hold" his spot, and he ended up coming home after a few months from Europe and started college.
You cannot predict the future, but it is always safer to have a backup plan.