First, those who go to university after one or two years work, get work experience and earn salaries. Consequently in some western countries, most undergraduate students pay their tuition fees by themselves. For example, for students who work in Starbucks, one of the benefits of having a job there is that they make lots of friends and get a wage at the same time. This experience is valuable. Perhaps when they graduate from their respective universities, they have a much higher possibility of getting jobs.
Similarly to go travelling in the real world is not a bad choice either. Some would like to travel abroad, so that they enjoy sharing experiences with local people. They can share with other people observations with foreigners from different cultural positions when they are travelling in a different city or a foreign country. They never get this real life experience in the university.
Nevertheless, most undergraduate students would still like to go directly from high school to university. It is a process of studying step by step. From primary school to university, they get knowledge only from the courses they take and many think,that just as the old saying goes that" Knowledge is power", so they believe they still have some benefit.
To sum up, both alternatives have their advantages, but I support the idea that students are better to take a job or to go travelling before going to university.