Mind the Gap!

So you have decided that you'd like to take a Gap Year. A year off between A levels and university, between university and the rest of your life, or just a year out from whatever it is you're doing now!

Well you aren't alone. Many people do it every year for lots of different reasons, such as…

• Wanderlust - get out there and see the world while you're still young, and can take nights of partying, travelling and sleeping on the floor etc
• Having a rest! - You've worked hard for years, it might be nice to do something different before plunging into a degree or a career.
• Earn money - Relieve the burden on your bank balance, or prepare for 3 years of expense!
• Get work experience - Give yourself some life experience, pep up your cv and test out some ideas on what you might like to do with the rest of your life. Help yourself get onto that course you are really interested in.
• Broaden your outlook - Some jobs/courses prefer to take on people with a bit of life experience.
• Escape from your parents - Get some independence, making your own way around the world might just sort that for you.
• Do something really worthwhile - It's a great opportunity to work for voluntary organisations worldwide.
• All your friends are doing it - All your friends are doing it…

Work it out
So now sit down and write down all the reasons for taking a Gap year - including not having to feed the dog and running away from your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Can there possibly be any disadvantages?
Well, maybe, but hey, that's life! So what could they possibly be?

It's important to have a think about why you want to take a Gap year and what you think you will get out of it. If it's simply that there are places in the world you just have to see then that's fine! As long as you didn't mean to be furthering your plans to take over the world but instead spent 12 months lying on a beach in Goa then you've done what you set out to!

Here are some other problems you might face:-

• Expense - If you decide to go travelling then it will be expensive - but not so expensive you can't manage it of course! You'll need your tickets, money just for 3 meals a day and accommodation as well as for the great historic sites, scuba diving trips, mountain treks…
• Getting a job that's not so good - You could end up being unemployed for 3 months and then sit in a bank for the next 9 months. This is fine if you want to work in banking eventually. But not if you want to be in marketing (although almost any experience can help you get a job see our brilliant Get ahead in…Presenting yourself!)
• You'll be a year behind - Not such a problem in today's ever changing job market, but something to think about nevertheless.
• You don't really want to do it - If what you really want is to get on with your life, or continue your education and you're only thinking about doing it because everyone else is…then don't do it! You can always do it later on if the mood suddenly strikes you!

Work it out 2 - The revenge
Now sit down and write down all the downsides to taking a gap year - including missing the dog and running away from your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Happy now?
Compare your lists. Do your problems outweigh the benefits?
Be honest. Are you happy about this? Maybe some of the next points will help you to make a decision.

Proceed to the next level.

Sorting out your Gap
Year Planning what you are going to do is the key to enjoying your Gap year. If you get to the month you intended to go travelling and discover that you haven't got enough cash you'll be pretty pissed off. So roll up your sleeves and plan it out.

Getting a job -
It's really down to you whether it's bar work or an exotic job in the City. If you want work experience it would be better to go for a more high powered option, but if you just need money to pay for beers on your travel then shop work, bar work and odd-jobbing might cover it. It's a question of applying, doing the interviews and then knuckling down to it. Try local careers services, your schools careers service and local newspapers. See our Survival Kit section for tools to help you plan your attack and get that job!

Ways to get cash -

• Get a job. With the minimum wage at £3.80 full time, if you work for 9 nine weeks you'll earn about £2,000 - yes you'll have expenses like going out, but you will have money at the end of it. You could wait tables, do bar work, or even clinical trials!
• Get sponsored - this is a good one if you are going to work on a voluntary programme or plan to do a bike ride or walk for charity. IN fact, it might be essential for some of the opportunities out there but you could also….
• Get a grant - yes someone might actually pay you to do work experience for example! Find out more about both by going to http://www.gapyear.com/community/features/maw-01-04-12.html

Travelling -

• Tickets - Buying your ticket will be the easiest bit of this. Check out special deals for students and under 25s and increasingly any age on the STA Travel site
  Remember that if you want to travel within a country you will need to budget for flights, buses, trains or your chosen mode of transport.
• Health - Get yourself down the doc's. Have a clear idea of your itinerary and they can tell you what injections you need or what pills you may need to take. Bear in mind that you might need to pay for some of these and that you may need to start them a specified time before you leave. So it's best to sort out early!!
  Also buy yourself a sterile needle kit. You don't know what health needs you might have and many less developed countries have real problems with Aids and other similar diseases. You can get these and a simple medical kit from Boots.
• Visas - Once you know where you are going you'll need to sort out any visas - check the countries you are interested in on the gapyear.com database.

Actually doing something-
Doing something challenging or exciting on a Gap Year can give you the opportunity to travel and get some really useful skills and rewarding experiences. Plus it sounds really cool! But where do you get the information? Here are some suggestions…

GAP - who can match your skills and wishes to projects
Operation Raleigh - join Prince William in developing your skills and challenging yourself!
National Centre for Volunteering - local and national volunteering opportunities - polish that halo!!
Do-it - http://www.thesite.org/do-it/ - search for national and regional opportunities to be a volunteer according to postcode. Make it easy on yourself!

by James Richards.