Is there a gap yah thread/forum?

[Jibo]

Anyone?

There is the odd thread but it is not a routine thing.

Mine took one. Cookery course and then stayed on as a potwasher, so ended up with a really good grounding, which has saved a lot in terms of living costs since. Then ski season. Amazingly hard work but she skied every day and gained a lot of resilience. (And a realisation that she will never want to work as a paediatrician.) Then US summer camp followed by three weeks travelling around the US. It was tough yet a great experience, so no regrets at all. Academically it was good to have a break between school and University. She was very ready to get back to studying, which she would not have been the year before. There was a level of mismatch between those away from home for the first time, and those who had that extra year's maturity and experience, but this was not necessarily a bad thing. Degrees are expensive, and the job market is competitive so a year out can prove a real advantage.

(There are still some chalet jobs available to non EU citizens. Try Workaseason and Crystal. The posher jobs are often looking for people aged over 21. The Camp America process was pretty smooth.)

I’ll join you!!! Son is planning a gap year . Plan in the loosest possible sense. Working locally to save money then a bit of travel with friends. Then current thinking is working holiday visa to Oz where we have family. I’m a bit hmmmm about these projects unless it’s something they’re passionate about. They gain more from organising their own year than their parents doing it for them , I’m having to sit on my hands!

Also joining! DS planning a gap year. Planning to work locally all summer to save enough to do a bit of inter railing which I didn't know was still a thing. He's then planning to do a ski season. He's got dual nationality so has an EU passport which should help. Once the ski season is done he's thinking of Bali or Australia to do surf instructing. Big dreams.. and why not. Have totally encouraged him to do this.

Checking in as my DD is planning on working for 6 months then backpacking around SE Asia with her best friend. Ideally she'd do some voluntary work so not constantly on the go but there doesnt seem to be a lot out there any more. There used to several gap year organisations but they all seem to have folded 😔

They gain more from organising their own year than their parents doing it for them

This, this and this again. DS's planning and organisational skills were shit hot by the time he had got visas, jabs, flights, and the long distance trains and buses sorted for a six month trip in India and Nepal. Plus a huge increase in confidence before he'd even left.

It was very hard to just sit on my hands but he learnt so much. We only put our oar in to insist on really good travel insurance which we offered to fund. Glad we did because although it wasn't a worst case helicopter off a mountain scenario, he got quite ill a couple of times, and was able to get all the necessary tests and treatment without any quibble.

DD is planning on taking a gap year and wants to go travelling but hasn't made any plans yet. She will be funding it herself so I'm guessing she'll have to work the first part of the year and travel the second. Excited (and a little envious!) to see what the year will hold for her. Looking forward to hearing about the adventures of your DCs too.

Dd is planning a gap year. She and a friend won't be 18 until the August - but friends they are travelling with will be - anyone got any experience or tips for 17 year olds? I think they are advised to carry a letter of parental consent? Hoping she doesn't get quizzed at the borders too much. Otherwise, really excited for her. Hoping she will be adventurous.

Thanks all. DD18 is looking for a project somewhere like Bali where she can work with children (first choice) or do some sort of conservation work (second choice). I am keen for it to be genuine/ethical rather than a fake orphanage or somewhere that allows unqualified teenagers to come in as English teachers for a week or two at a time! The ideal would be a genuine school where the teachers are local and gap year students go in as classroom assistants and/or to run activities and games outside of lessons, in a small town rather than in the middle of nowhere. We can't find anything online that looks quite right.

DD did a gap year and it was such a positive experience. She organised it all herself. Worked in a cafe and then a nursery (she wants to work in child mental health).

Went to Thailand by herself and had to quarantine for a night in a Bangkok hotel before joining her tour group.

Organised all the camp America paperwork herself including going to an interview at the American Embassy.

She learnt so much, gained so much confidence and fantastic experience for her future career. Saved money for university.

I'd highly recommend it. I'm so proud of the way she did such thorough research and planning and travelled alone during covid.

Daughter took a gap year. She worked, volunteered at the local hospital and volunteered at a charity shop, then went interrailing. She also visited some of her friends at their respective universities.

She was ready to go to university by the end of her gap year.

So good to find this thread. My DD planning a year off. Hasn’t done much about it but wants to do ski season most prob. Does anyone have any good tips for agencies ans partic ones who take UK passport holders. She would like to do either hospitality or childcare.. any ideas where she can start?

Both my DC had unplanned gap years. DD decided to take a gap year the week before A level results and to defer her university place.

She worked at an International summer school at a local boarding school for 6 weeks then went solo inter-railing. She found solo travel hard. Having a full-on itinerary, staying in noisy hostels and getting very little sleep, constantly moving-on and having no one to share the highs/lows/worries with. She came home after 13 days.

Next she did 'Workaway' and lived in Germany for 3 months au-pairing with a German family. She loved it! The family paid for language school 2 evenings a week, she worked as a language assistant in the older children's secondary school once a week, she went on long dog walks daily, fed the chickens, picked the toddler up from nursery and helped around the house. She fell in love with Germany and the language. She has been back to the family since and done another workaway month elsewhere last summer. www.workaway.tv/video/107

Two weeks after returning from Germany she went to Nepal for 4 months with ICS (a government run scheme that partnered with VSO) that sadly, post Covid, is no longer running. She lived in a rural community with a Nepalese partner and worked in the local school (1.5 hour trek over the mountain and landslides). She helped run community projects with the women in the community too. Covid brought them home 10 days early.

The gap year was so worthwhile and changed DD mind about her university choice and course. She was all set to study politics and is now in her final year of Geography with German. (She never did German A level and it was her worst grade at GCSE!)

DS was part of the Covid Year and was not awarded the grades he hoped for. He only wanted to go to one university for one course.

He took his A levels in the October series and went up 3 grades so had the grades for an unconditional offer.

He worked at the Post Office sorting centre during November and December and picked up lots of shifts.

He also worked at a Covid Testing Site for 8 months and then transferred to the site near university. He was doing 7.30am-8.30pm shifts and getting £140 a day.

There was no foreign travel for him, but he earned lots of money, bought a car, went on camping trips with friends and learnt so many life skills that has meant he lots of experiences to draw on when applying for jobs. (Tell us about a time when...)

@Oldowl DD also completely changed her degree during the gap year. She had a place to do marketing but her heart wasn't in it (DH had pushed her in that direction).

She withdrew her place and reapplied to do psychology and education as she wants to work in child mental health. She got so much amazing experience working with children during her gap year, it confirmed that it's what she's good at and enjoys.

I would 100% recommend doing a gap year, just working and traveling and being out of the pressure of the education system for a year did DD the world of good.

Just found this (mentioned in the Sunday Times) - anyone got any experience of it?
www.theleap.co.uk