Gap year trip recommendations

[Dorsetlover]

My DS is planning a gap year once he finishes school this year. He wants to do some travelling for about a month at the start when his friends go off to uni in September primarily for growing up experience- wider plans are a then a mix of working and doing some workaways - he's lucky as he also has an EU passport and is good at languages.

He's just turned 18 and rather than travelling alone wants to do a tour with others. Asia is looking the most cost effective and Intrepid and Gap360 are on his list atm.

Has anyone's dc done this at this age and can pass on some advice to him / me!

Following!

Should also add G adventures - their 18-30 trips look to be the best that we have found so far. It's a lot of money still though for a 30 day trip.

Have you had a look at Project Trust?

When I went travelling years ago around Thailand we constantly bumped into people travelling in their own and hung out with them

On my travels back through Thailand I spent some of it alone so knew how to navigate it and where to stay that was full of solo travellers who all hung out together in larger welcoming groups

I think he needs to find out wher those places are Kho San Road in Bangkok is full of bars where you just sit and meet travellers passing through and they give you the advice you need of where to go and stay

Koh Phang nang (spelling ?!?) is full of solo travelers as it's a great place to hang out explore and meet people

If he goes with a tour company he will entirely miss the whole point of backpacking through Thailand or anywhere for that matter

You meet people on the buses and trains on the way to places, you're always meeting new people you can stay and hang out with or move on to the next place with

Australia first instance is full of backpacker lodges and full of solo travellers who make friends with each other and have an amazing time

I did that too but not alone but met loads of solo travellers I hung out with

Backpacking is like nothing you've ever experienced and going with a tour just won't be the same experience at all in the slightest

They'll just be sightseeing and it's not really just about that it's so much more

In Europe if he stays in any backpacker place then he'll meet people and make friends. They have to share dorms for a start so it forces you to and they have social areas, bars to hang out and kitchens to cook so you'll meet people like you would in halls at uni

If he’s got an EU passport he could do a ski season.

DS (18) went on the Thailand Bali adventure with Gap360 in October and had a great time. My god daughter did the East Coast of Australia with the same company. Would highly recommend either trip.

Their "guaranteed ranch job in Australia" was less impressive. DS ended up on a dairy farm in Tasmania for 2 months where his colleagues were much older and he slept on a sofa!

We opted for an organised tour because DS is quite shy and I was concerned he would struggle to make friends.

He had 10 days alone in Brisbane and ended up sitting in the hostel watching Netflix! I think he was bored and lonely.

Whether your DS is mature enough to be motivated to explore by himself and meet new people will determine whether he should opt for backpacking alone or an organised tour.

DS has done a couple of trips with Intrepid. It's not a cheap way of doing things but they were excellent in terms of organisation, quality of the trip and guide etc. He also liked the fact that they were organised tours but with plenty of flexibility to do your own thing in each location and the other travellers were a broad mix of nationalities.

He is still young and not organised at all. A trip right at the start is to give him the experience so he could do stuff later on his own. Honestly I wouldn't sleep if he went of on his own now! He definitely needs some kind of organised tour to get him started.

DD tried backpacking alone at 18 years old and came home after 11 days. She found the stress of navigating new cities alone hard.* She felt when things were going well she had no one to share the highs with, and when things were challenging she had no one to share the lows with or turn to. She found constantly being on the move hard and the lack of sleep in noisy dorm hostels only added to the misery.

She ended up doing au pairing and spent 4 months with a lovely family in Europe. She then went to Nepal and did 4 months with VSO living in a remote community on the side of a mountain. She loved her gap year... but not backpacking alone.

*Arriving in Budapest at 10pm as the train was delayed, with no local money. Having to find an ATM, then locate the bus station and try to find the bus goes anywhere near her hostel. Walking unknown streets at 11pm with google maps in your hand being afraid your phone is going to be snatched at any moment. Finding the hostel room is in darkness and trying to locate a free bunk. Doors banging all night with people coming in from bars...

Thanks- you've summed up my concerns about solo travel. I hear what others are saying about true experiences, but that can all come i figure. I just want him to get some adulting skills, have fun and be safe!