Choosing to take a gap year is the most amazing opportunity. You now have a whole year to travel, work, volunteer, learn new skills, pimp your CV, gain independence and meet new people. I decided to spend 3 months of my gap year on the BTC programme with Travel Hokkaido where I have been able to do pretty much all of these things!
Here’s some tips on how to plan and therefore make the most of your gap year:
1. Research!
Do lots and lots of research as soon as you decide you want to take a year out!
List up places you want to go and the things you want to do, then try to match those 2 lists up: marine conservation in Belize, back packing around Europe, etc. I knew I wanted to go to Japan and I knew I wanted to study Japanese without it being too serious, so through hours of research I finally decided that the BTC programme was best for me. It gives me the balance of study and travel that I wanted, without being unaffordable, as well as the 5-week internship which will look great on my CV.
Research is most important if you want to do some volunteering during your gap year. To make sure you are doing genuinely meaningful work that sustainably benefits the cause you are trying to help, carefully choosing which project you’re going to do is vital. If you are going with an organisation, look into their previous work and see how effective they were: Do they continue to support their cause over a long period of time? Do they ensure that they are providing this support with a sufficient skill level – not just having untrained and unknowledgeable volunteers do some superficial work more for their own benefit than the benefit of the cause. Do they perpetuate white saviourism? Or do they take measures to prevent this? Are they certified? Do they have good reviews? Are they overcharging you – overpriced gap year projects tend to mean that you are not doing much work or being of much help, and the project benefits you more than anyone else. I recommend choosing projects where you know you are making a REAL impact, because
- You are helping an important cause and are an asset to the team you are with
- You become part of something incredible and will make some amazing, like-minded friends
- You can put it on your CV knowing that you genuinely made a difference; not just doing it for the sake of sticking it on your resume
- The project is probably a lot cheaper
You want to make sure you’re making the most of your gap year, whether that’s working in order to save up money, travelling to learn more about countries and their cultures, interning to prepare for your future career or volunteering to benefit a cause that you are passionate about – thoroughly researching ensures this.
2. Who should you travel with?
Deciding how you want to travel is almost as important as where. Travelling with an organisation/company and partaking in a volunteer/internship/working abroad programme is usually a much cheaper way to travel rather than simply travelling by yourself or with friends. However, these programmes tend to mean staying in one place for a relatively long period of time (and are usually only more affordable when staying for a minimum of 2-4 weeks), as well as not giving you the flexibility that comes with travelling on your own. But when travelling to more dangerous countries (e.g. higher crime rate) travelling with an organisation is usually best, due to the support they provide, especially if you are part of a team. Try and see what’s best for you!
For example, if diving is something you want to do during your gap year you need to decide whether that is just something you would like to try a couple of times (or go snorkelling instead), or would you like get your PADI qualification too and do some volunteering too? If you just want to experience some diving and nothing more, travelling without an organisation in a country of your choice may be best, but if you would like the latter look into some marine conservation projects!
Throughout my gap year I am travelling both with and without organisations. With longer term travel where I have another aim other than just travelling (learning the language, interning, volunteering) I decided travelling with an organisation would give me the best experience and would be most affordable. But with shorter term travel where I may be travelling around places more and is based more in simply exploring where I am, travelling without an organisation is what I determined to be best (solo backpacking around Europe and spending 2 weeks exploring some of Central America with a friend).
Some organisations/companies to look at:
3. Just do it (please don’t sue me)
Taking a gap year and travelling can be really intimidating, especially if you’ve never been away from home for so long. But you need to just throw yourself in and go for it.
Go to that country, learn that language, volunteer for that cause, apply for that job, intern for that company; honestly just do it! It can definitely be overwhelming at times and you probably will get a bit homesick, but I promise you that you will have the best time and make some amazing memories. You won’t regret it.
Learning to enjoy my own company is one of the best skills I learnt; being able to explore on my own, go to restaurants and just looking after myself by doing what I want to do. Being here has allowed me to experience and learn so much. There were definitely points prior to starting my gap year where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to cope being away from friends and family for so long and it made me second guess my choices. But I’m so glad I’m here in Japan right now. You just need to take the plunge 🙂
