Our £9000 Travel Wishlist

When this time rocks up each January, we don't half feel sorry for you lot doing your A-Levels. We know how you feel; your life as you know it is in serious limbo and frankly, deciding whether you want to go to uni or not can kindly shove off.

We know a load of you won't be sure as truthfully, most of us weren't 100% sold whether we wanted to go to uni either. Between the Gap 360 team we're split 50/50 with uni goers, so it's easy for us to argue the pros and cons; there are loads for both! As the UCAS deadline is impending however, we thought we'd draw up our ultimate travel wish list for the price of one year of university/in case we ever had it 'lying abou't/for our impending lottery win. DREAMING, CONTINUE:

So, where would we go if we had £9000 in our pocket?

• We'd make sure we conquered Asia good and proper - and so we'd want to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. We'd recommend something along the lines of the Indochina Discover to get you started (it's always nice to start off your adventures with a group and to see three countries in one go!) and in 29 days you'll see all the big sites, from Siem Reap to Halong Bay. Sorted! Price = £1709
• Next stop, Thailand. The Indochina Loop only stops off in Bangkok so really, we'd want to see more... (especially after sampling how amazing Pad Thai is - we need more!). On one of our biggest trips, Thai Adventure, you see everything from the beaches, to the jungle - even packing in a chance to volunteer. Another 28 days down! Price = £800 in our sale
• We'd then fly on to Australia, the ultimate backpackers hub. To really get into the Aussie way of life, we'd get an Aussie working visa, get a job and work our way around the country. Wages in Australia are really good and casual work averages at $22 dollars an hour. With our Paid Work package (and £500 as back up money!) we'd hope to support our new lives in Aus with our work, and you can stay for up to one year. Ace. Price = £225 in our sale, and then £500 contingency money
• Aus is awesome- but once we're done working we'd move on to New Zealand, travelling from Christchurch to Auckland. We'll budget ourselves £600 for the week - we'll stay in hotels, hire a car and experience a bit of luxury! Price = £600
• Next stop - The US. We'll wet our whistle and stick to the West Coast, we'll go from LA to San Fran. On the Western Wonder it's all sorted for you, so it's easy like Sunday morning! (LA, Vegas, Yosemite and San Fran- yes please!) Price = £599
• We'll head down to South America next, and go to Brazil. Brazil's a great place to volunteer, so we'll stay for eight weeks and really get to know Rio and the projects we're working on - we're keen to make a real difference. It's a great thing to put on the CV too! Price = £1080 in our sale

Flights

It's so hard to predict how much flights cost - so we'll put down £2000 to cover all travel costs. Flight costs all depend on the season, airline and one off events (the World Cup has pushed the Brazilian flights up, for example) so it's definitely worth shopping around to see what's best for you. 

Altogether, we've raked up £7513 - and so we'll put down £1487 for general expenses. Want to do any mega activities on your travels? We'll take it out of the account!

Round up

For £9000, we've travelled to Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, New Zealand and the USA, and worked abroad Down Under for up to a year and volunteered in Brazil for 8 weeks #intheory. Not only will our CV be packed to the brim with great conservation starters for interviews, but we'll have great experience for our first job and loads of awesome memories. Boom!

So, next stop Africa - yeah?!

Interested in seeing the world? Check out our Round the World trips