As in, skip a year of school/college?
If you go through the normal system you have to be 18 before starting uni because of the way the dates work.
For those that have been on a gap year...
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As in, skip a year of school/college?
If you go through the normal system you have to be 18 before starting uni because of the way the dates work.
Na going with my girlfriend. We were originally just going on holiday to Oz after we finished uni but we just got carried away and ended up going the whole nine yards. So now I've just been working at a cruddy supermarket job since I finished uni in July. Spend most mornings researching where to go and what to do. Can't wait to go!
No you don't, might be different in England but one of my friends was 17 when starting University, didn't turn 18 until the following Febuary, no years missed out.
sounds cool
my problem is I wouldnt even know where to set a point to start from I think once I got that i could probably build up around it
Soldato
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Soldato
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Stuff like this really makes me think like I've wasted a huge chunk of my life. I never took any time off, straight from high school to Uni, out of Uni across from NI to England, find somewhere to live and started full time work the next day.
Now stuck in what feels like a dead end job, not even getting call backs for others I've applied for. Owning a house in a crappy area, scrubbing eggs off the brickwork and car, living paycheque to paycheque and drowning in debt.
Feels like I'll never manage to achieve anything more than this tripe, and never experience anything better. When I finished Uni I simply had nowhere near the finances to take a year out travelling etc. Don't know how people manage.
Now stuck in what feels like a dead end job, not even getting call backs for others I've applied for. Owning a house in a crappy area, scrubbing eggs off the brickwork and car, living paycheque to paycheque and drowning in debt.
Feels like I'll never manage to achieve anything more than this tripe, and never experience anything better. When I finished Uni I simply had nowhere near the finances to take a year out travelling etc. Don't know how people manage.
sounds cool
Unfortunately as with most things it tends to revolve around money, so where you go may be restricted by your budget straight off the bat. Obviously if you have a more flexible budget and/or will work as you travel then you can go further afield.
We started off by making a very rough list of things we'd like to see and where they are. We then put them into groups that are geographcally close. e.g. I would love to go to do a trip down the Zambezi river but nothing else in Africa REALLY took my fancy when compared with the other things I had on my list so that was off the list. Then try plan a route which connects them in a sensible fashion and look into round the world flight tickets which covers them as flights are usually the most expensive thing on the whole trip. We did this and worked out that we couldn't really afford to do South America on top of our above trip so that'll have to wait for another time!
Hey,
I personally went over with £500 and spent a month in perth settling in ok befor looking for a job. Got one with in an hour and started the next day (perth is pritty easy to get a job if your not picky). Was $24 an hour and staf where great, got to know loads of people and had a blast!
Saved up $8000 and went travelling around with that then went to NZ and claimed my tax back (can do this when you leave the country or end of tax year). I got £4000aus back and used this to travel around NZ.
Cost me $650 for open flight from manchester. so... save up a grand and get going!
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I took a gap year a couple of years after finishing school. Hadn't done anything with myself except work and play (no uni, no career). I based myself in London for a year and saw a lot of Europe. Also met a girl...
Skip ahead to now and I stuck around for another 7 years, married, kids, mortgage... recently moved the family back to NZ to watch em grow up with an outdoors lifestyle. That 1st year changed my life and opened my eyes to the world around me. The missus and me agree that we'll encourage our little ones to do the same when they finish school/uni.
Skip ahead to now and I stuck around for another 7 years, married, kids, mortgage... recently moved the family back to NZ to watch em grow up with an outdoors lifestyle. That 1st year changed my life and opened my eyes to the world around me. The missus and me agree that we'll encourage our little ones to do the same when they finish school/uni.
Sounds like a plan - bear in mind that Queenstown is one of most expensive towns to live in down here and there's a lot of demand for employment. But if you've got skills in the hospitality industry you should be ok....I'm going out early though, I finish Uni July 2009 and will then work and save until June/July 2010. I'll then move out to New Zealand and stay for 6 months, working and travelling. Skiing to start with, maybe around Queenstown, then I'll try and get a stable job, otherwise I'll work and travel.
Can't wait till the day...
Soldato
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what would you recommend for me, if i was to tell you i cannot relax?
Budget isnt too much of constraint really I think I would like to visit Oz probably, Ill have to grab one of my mates because I couldnt go on my own I dont think
something to think of for the future I spose, I really would love to go travelling before I get the commitments of a house or children etc.In Scotland it's possible to go to a Scottish uni when you're 16 - I've got a friend who's about to turn 21 and graduated from a 4 year Law degree in summer. If your birthday's late in the year you'll be 17 when you finish the last possible year of school - that could get you into English universities at 17 to do a 3 year course as well. But if you leave a year earlier with decent highers you can go straight to a scottish uni.
As for travelling... I've just started 3rd year of uni and I'm doing the mongol rally next summer then going into final year and hopefully going to go travelling and such for a year after that.
As for travelling... I've just started 3rd year of uni and I'm doing the mongol rally next summer then going into final year and hopefully going to go travelling and such for a year after that.
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I wanna go to Thailand. A girl at my work had 6 months off unpaid leave so you don't need to be in Uni.
There's no possible way I could afford to go before university and there's simply no way now. I am however, going to work for a couple of years then disappear for six months, and I'm practically counting the days already; it's something I've wanted to do since I was little.
The only people I dislike who've been on gap years and/or travelling though, are those little annoying rich upper-middle class types who don't know how good they've got it, and wear the fact that they've been to <insert country here> 25 times as a badge of honour rather than embracing the opportunity. Meh.
The only people I dislike who've been on gap years and/or travelling though, are those little annoying rich upper-middle class types who don't know how good they've got it, and wear the fact that they've been to <insert country here> 25 times as a badge of honour rather than embracing the opportunity. Meh.
I did mine after uni. You should to!
I finished in June. Applied for graduate schemes like there was no tomorrow and had the worst summer of my life. I got an offer in September that started in a couple of years (I had to go to law school for a year). I then got an office job and saved a lot. Went in april till september.
I like the way you think.
How much did you take with you?
£1000 for each month abroad.
I speant like there was no tomorrow in SE Asia, only managed to spend £750. OZ was the most expensive due to sailing on the Whitsunday islands and 4x4'ing on Fraser Island.
East Coast Oz - the booze trail. Expect the most amount of going out you've experienced in your life with very very little culture! Sailing in the Whitsundays is a must and is an amazing experience, but be sure to pick a good boat. 4x4'ing on Fraser Island was one of the highlights of my ebtire trip, make sure you go with a company called "beaches".
Vietnam, beautiful amazing highlight of the trip. If you can afford to go to Whale Island off the coast of Nha Trang. Be sure to go to the Cuchi (sp?) tunnels nr saigon.
Thailand, go to Koh phangan. Don't stay in Hadrin. Stay in Thong Nai Pan Noi. If you can stay in the Thong Tapan resort. Search the web.
Bangkok - Khao San Road is an expereince, enjoy it. Beware of Tuk Tuk's taking you to every suit shop in town, but if you can get them to take you to every single tourist psot for next to nothing so long as you go to a couple of shops (they get free food/petrol for taking you) then it's well worth it.
Cambodia - buy a guide book before going round the temples in Siem Reap (Angkow W at) amazing. Be sure toy vist S21 Genocide museum and if you can stomach it the killing field - all in the capital Phnom Penh. If you need to travel from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap take the Mekong Express coach, by far the best - there are many rubbish ones.
The internet, there are forums just like this for travelling. Also travel books. All you need to do is find a place to saty and the rest you can make up as you go along. You neeed not have set travel days, in fact you find having them makes life harder as you'll make friends whilst travelling and then come up with an idea to go somehwre/do something that requires plans to be changed. This frequesntly happened when i was away.
Head up chap. Why not start saving, as little as you can, now. Stick it in a decent savings a/c. When house prices start to recover sell up. As for your job, think long an hard what you want to do and what your qualifications will allow you to do. The longer you stay in a dead end job the more likely you'll stay there forever. Expereince is key. I have said this to many people, and99% of the time it's worked. Once you've found what you want to do, and identified the businesses. Phone up, ask for recruitment, tell them you'd liek any experience on offer and are willing to work for free. Keep doing this till you get a placement. Research, find everything out you can about that industry - then work your socks off and ask for a temp job. Before you know you're where you want to be. Alternatively phone and ask the recrutiment agency of that business what temping agencies they use and apply to them.
Nothing happens by chance, you have to fight to make it happen.
Whale Island, Vietnam - off the coast of Nha Trang. If you can't relax there you never will be able to. It's a tropical island with just 17 bungalows and not much more. You eat at a set time, then you just chill out. You can go diving.
Look nice?
Or Thong Nai Pan Noi in Koh Phangan.
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Soldato
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i didnt mean somewhere which you might find the most relaxing ever, i meant something which is the most stressful/violent/rush
ive not slept for 43 hours or so, i cant even remember anymore
Cheers for the info Rossyl. It's interesting you say £1000 for each month away. Yet you said you only spent £750 in Asia.
I've heard a lot of people mention these figures; 700p/m for Asia and the like and more like 1000p/m for places like Australia/NZ/N America.
What type of 'lifestyle' did you live while in these places to work out at that budget? i.e were you roughing it in the extreme budget hostels or the better hostels or even the odd hotel?
And also, how much of this budget was spent on booze? By the sounds of you went alone so I'd imagine that people travelling alone will be 'going out' more to meet more people which for most will involve copious amounts of alcohol!
Whereas i'll be travelling with the gf so wont necessarily be getting wasted everynight (not that we'll be hermits or anything!), so was wondering how much money we might be able to save based on this.
I've heard a lot of people mention these figures; 700p/m for Asia and the like and more like 1000p/m for places like Australia/NZ/N America.
What type of 'lifestyle' did you live while in these places to work out at that budget? i.e were you roughing it in the extreme budget hostels or the better hostels or even the odd hotel?
And also, how much of this budget was spent on booze? By the sounds of you went alone so I'd imagine that people travelling alone will be 'going out' more to meet more people which for most will involve copious amounts of alcohol!
Whereas i'll be travelling with the gf so wont necessarily be getting wasted everynight (not that we'll be hermits or anything!), so was wondering how much money we might be able to save based on this.
Costs.
Your figures are correct.
Hostels.
The hostels were generally average. However, in SE Asia average means your own private room, no dorms, and ensuite. Also paying someone to wash my clothes. (FYI - don't buy that travel wash stuff it's awful. In SE Asai pay someone to wash you clothes it costs less than that travel wash stuff. In OZ etc, buy some normal washing powder and use the machines that are located in all hostels)
In the rest of the world I generally shared with about 8 in a room with a large bathroom for about 20-30 people.
Drinking
I went with a mate. We drank a lot generally in the evening and during the day saw a lot. However, not drinking will save you loads. It's hard to say what proportion of my money went on alcohol. It varies by country. In SE Asia a beer generally costs 50p-£1 maybe £1.50. In OZ it's obviously more.
I took a gap year - the period between finishing A levels and starting uni (and, to be fair, the first year of uni) was the absolute best time I've ever had. Spent the first half of my year working a few jobs to get as much money as possible, bought a 6 month open return ticket to Bangkok, with no real plan in between, other than to head around South East Asia and see what happens.
Ended up just going around Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam/China, would've liked to get more done, but I like the pace at which I did it - plenty of chilling in places with no real rush or need to move on other than "Which border can I get to before my visa expires in...****, one day."
I've since managed to go to Malaysia, and would definitely like to go to Indonesia if I'm back down in that area, but I do really miss it
Got to agree that short holidays and such just don't compare - I was in India for a month over the summer, but that still wasn't quite long enough to get back in to the kindof groove I had going on the gap year. Still, I'm in China for a year now, plenty of travelling to be done around here
I'm fairly sure I've posted opinions/recommendations/experiences of the places I went to in the past, but basically I'd say go, meet people, make friends and find out what they suggest doing in the area. You might get massively sidetracked from your original plan, or it might not be your thing, just don't restrict yourself to too tight a schedule.
Ended up just going around Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam/China, would've liked to get more done, but I like the pace at which I did it - plenty of chilling in places with no real rush or need to move on other than "Which border can I get to before my visa expires in...****, one day."
I've since managed to go to Malaysia, and would definitely like to go to Indonesia if I'm back down in that area, but I do really miss it
Got to agree that short holidays and such just don't compare - I was in India for a month over the summer, but that still wasn't quite long enough to get back in to the kindof groove I had going on the gap year. Still, I'm in China for a year now, plenty of travelling to be done around here I'm fairly sure I've posted opinions/recommendations/experiences of the places I went to in the past, but basically I'd say go, meet people, make friends and find out what they suggest doing in the area. You might get massively sidetracked from your original plan, or it might not be your thing, just don't restrict yourself to too tight a schedule.
A few people at my place have taken Career Breaks.
I went straight from High School (working 20 hours of evening/weekend) to College (still working) then straight into a full time job still doing a weekend. A Gap year would be a perfect way to relax now.
Something i have planned to do, is a 6-8 Drive across America with a friend.
Since i got no commitments other than work it is pretty easy to save money for the time when i actually come to not working/spending moeny for