3 Easiest Gap Year Starters

Considering a gap year but finding it dauting? Here's three easy ideas to help you jumpstart the next twelve months into creating the most memorable experiences of your life.

A gap year is all about learning, meeting people and most importantly creating new memories of a lifetime whilst having crazy experiences. An easy way to kickstart the year is partaking in a volunteer programme, joining a travel group or simply knowing where to go to meet like minded people... Head to a hostel!

1) Arguably the easiest way to ensure you pack your suitcase and head off without any doubts is by booking a slot on a volunteer programme. These programmes allow you to meet people whilst having a structure and a purpose. The programmes are most attractive to solo travellers or duos and occasionally small groups of friends... so you wont stick out when you turn up on your own! You can make contact in advance to find out the statistics of solo travellers that attend their programmes if this is something you are concerned about. Teamwork is also often essential so you wont feel left out and you will get a huge sense of accomplishment for the positive impact you will have! Additionally to your luck, these programmes can be budget friendly (depending), with the flight costs to the destination often being the biggest contributor. Prices can vary drastically as they can be influenced by the the type of accommodation they provide, if flights are included, if there's a middle man who provides advertising, the meals they do (or don't) provide and any costs involved with the volunteering itself. For example, in 2023 I completed a marine conservation programme in the Caribbean that was significantly more expensive than many programmes. This was given it involved the renting and use of scuba diving equipment. Keep in mind it is also common to find additional costs for any social activities that happen in evenings and days off for volunteers. Lastly, these programmes can act as a gateway to meeting future travel buddies that you can continue your adventures with. They are also a useful way to ease yourself into learning about travel planning if it's is new to you given you usually don't have to work out every single logistic yourself such as suitable accommodation or airport transfers. You can find programmes through sites such as GoAbroad, GoOverseas and workingabroad.

2) Next on my list is joining a travel group. It is not uncommon to be leaving or having a break from education without friends that have the same interests as you. These travel groups are often for young travellers in general and not specifically for gap year students, but they work just as well. Many will have two ways of connecting you with other travellers. The first, is some travel squads will have planned hosted trips which you can sign up for. Unfortunately these are often pricey. Secondly, they may have an option for you to post your plans. This subsequently opens up the opportunity for others to get in touch with you so you can join together travelling or meet up at some point during your trip abroad. A growing choice which uses this system would be a group called TTS (The Travel Squad). They host regular trips with limited spaces which you can sign up for and also have a forum on Facebook for posting rough travel plans. The Facebook forum allows you to read other peoples plans and get in contact via private message if it could align and cross paths with yours or visa versa if you choose to post your own plans. Be careful with this and don't overshare specifics of your journey online for everyone to see!

3) Head to a Hostel! The last one is the simplest in my opinion especially if you are happy starting straight of the bat as a solo traveller or already have a friend to go with. They are a fantastic hub for young people to meet and interact with each other. Although they are getting more expensive as they grow in popularity, they are still much cheaper than many other forms of accommodation. Due to this growing popularity beware with some hostels (especially ones that have gone viral on social media!) you may have to book in advance. Hostels have communal areas where it is standard to rock up and start a conversation with new strangers. Some may even have organised activities for you to partake in as a good icebreaker but this is more uncommon especially for very basic hostels. Further, individuals that use hostels will typically be similar minded to you if you're reading this! Hence, they are a fabulous way to have a good time, socialise, get advice about the area and make new plans. You can find reliable hostels through apps such as hostelworld.

These are not the only ways to kickstart a gap year. You could also apply for a summer camp or apply for a job abroad. I discuss camp work here https://eee-xplorer.com/working-a-summer-camp-for-me/.