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Gap year travel
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Gap year travel is all about making it happen. The concept of gap year travel is incredibly popular these days. If gap year travel is something you want to do there's almost no excuse not to do it. Colleges and universities acknowledge that gap year travel broadens horizons. Indeed many of them offer deferrals to applicants wanting to do some gap year travel, as they appreciate that most people return home re-invigorated and with a much better perspective on life. Gap year travel is incredibly easy to organise as well. Real Gap operates programmes all over the world so there is certain to be something to suit your interests - whatever you want from your gap year travel.
When you are planning your gap year travel it is important to prioritise where you most want to go and what you would like to do while you're away. When you research your gap year travel it's a good idea to buy some decent guidebooks and there's also loads of useful information to be found on the Real Gap website. Everyone has different tastes and it's impossible for us to say which part of the world is the best for gap year travel - all of our programmes have different benefits and it's very much a matter of personal choice. As a general rule, though, if you've not done much travelling before and don't want your gap year travel to be too off the beaten track or challenging then somewhere like Australia or New Zealand is an excellent choice for your gap year travel. Both of these countries have an excellent infrastructure for gap year travel and there's a very lively backpacker scene in both places.
The best way to get around on a gap year in Australia and New Zealand once you're there is by travelling on ‘Oz Experience' and ‘Kiwi Experience' buses. This form of gap year travel is used exclusively by backpackers and visits places normal bus services don't go to. It's an easy to use ‘hop on, hop off' gap year travel bus service, meaning you can stay in a particular place as long as you like before continuing on your journey when you decide to.
Many backpackers decide to supplement their gap year travel by getting paid work overseas in order to earn some extra cash. It's possible to apply for working holiday visas for Australia, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand and the USA before you embark on your gap year travel (speak to a Real Gap travel adviser for full details on how to do so). Working overseas, aside from the obvious benefit of giving you extra money, is an excellent way to meet people and fully experience the local culture on your gap year travel.
If you want to see as much of the world as possible with your gap year travel the best option is to buy a round the world plane ticket. This form of gap year travel allows you to circle the globe in one continuous direction, taking in pre-determined stops along the way, until you get back to your original starting point. It's a surprisingly inexpensive form of gap year travel as well - with many round the world tickets costing little or no more than the price of a return ticket to Australia or New Zealand. With this type of gap year travel the general rule is that you have an entire year from the date you first left in which to complete your itinerary.
One thing you could consider for your gap year travel is to do some voluntary work while you are away. Some people choose to make voluntary work the main focus of their gap year travel, while others might choose to spend just a few weeks getting involved with a project as part of one of their stopovers. There are loads of voluntary work gap year travel projects to choose from all over the world. There are volunteer projects helping people, wildlife and the environment - and working for one of them is an excellent way to give ‘something back' to some of the countries you visit on your gap year. This aspect of gap year travel is a two-way process as well, and most volunteers gain a real sense of personal achievement from the experience.
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