Slightly regretting taking a gap year - nothing arranged - what are yours doing?

[Wendycoping]

As the title!

Dd concentrated so hard on her A levels that she didn't want to discuss her gap year at all, but was adamant she wanted one. She's been on holiday to France with a friend. Now she's back and working a couple of times a week. We aren't going on holiday this summer (I am retraining and have a placement starting in August). She's lost for things to do and I feel pressure as whenever I met friends their kids seem to be doing expensive gap year projects (Kenya teaching, turtle counting in Costa Rica etc!).

I'm torn between just making sure she has a nice happy comfortable home and letting her get on with it, and feeling as though I should be a bit more inspiring with ideas. We don't have a lot of money so she'll have to earn some before uni. My older dd spent her gap year working in Costa, and although she earned a lot of money she says she's always regretted not doing anything exciting.

What are yours doing?

Although it's too late for this summer, now would be a good time to maybe think about something like a working holiday.

For example, working as a counsellor or coaching an activity in a Summer Camp in America. The camps start recruiting in October for next summer.

Basically, they work for about nine weeks in the summer from June to August and get paid about £2,000 (well, the equivalent in US dollars) as well as having all accommodation and food provided. They can then stay on in the USA for up to another 30 days afterwards.

My DD went with this organisation:

https://bunac.org/summer-camp/camp-usa

Another rather off-beat suggestion, if your DD has an interest in skiing or snowboarding is Japan. Ski resorts in Hokkaido recruit English speaking hospitality staff for the season from November to May. But they are likely doing interviews for those positions now and in August.

The pay is only minimum wage but there is usually free accommodation as well.

https://nisade.com/seasonal-employment

https://bunac.org/working-holidays/work-japan/jobs

Mine is working the summer to pay for a 12 week turtle counting style trip. Then working again to save up for uni. He is an instructor at an outdoor tourist activity, thus timing fits quite well with him being away in the winter. He does enjoy the work and it's quite sociable - would be a bit of a slog otherwise!

If she’s staying local I’d encourage volunteering - girlguiding is desperately seeking leaders or helpers.

That's what mine did.

and she's going to mimble about until September when she'll have more of an idea
I remember saying to my Mum that I thought I'd have a nice few weeks relaxing between school and college and she said "You can have a fortnight then find a job"! 😁

https://notgoingtouni.co.uk Might be useful?

😆

I'm not bothered if she doesn't get a job straight away. I'm enjoying having her around. Sure that will have worn off in a few weeks though!

My dd is taking a year out as she's had enough of studying and reckons if she goes to uni in sept she won't work. Currently she is working in the local pub 4 shifts a week and is also coaching at her gymnastics club.

She wants to be a stunt woman so is planning on using this year to improve her skills in her martial art and get some experience as a film extra as that is a requirement to join the British stunt register. She's also joined a diving club and is learning to ride.

To be honest all she would like to do is travel and has planned a month in Greece bartending next summer and is saving to work her way back across Europe when she's finished. Although she is also looking at camp America for next summer or possibly going to PGL as an instructor - their interviews are in feb as far as I know.

I actually can't see her going to uni but her plan is to defer her place and see what this year brings - she can always go next September if it doesn't work out.

"We don't have a lot of money so she'll have to earn some before uni."

"My older dd spent her gap year working in Costa"

Why not spend half the year working and half the year travelling?

Depending on where you live there can be a lot of unskilled jobs available. I recall working for half of my year off at the local Sainsburys and my best friend worked at the local Birds Eye frozen pea factory.

We saved up our money and then later went travelling (overland to Kathmandu) during our gap year.

In more recent times, my niece similarly got a job at a local Tesco distribution centre (it was a chilled warehouse) before she went to university. It was shift work, 2pm to 10 pm, 37.5 hours per week. I think she was on around £13 per hour and she probably averaged taking home around £2,000 per month after tax. Although it varied over the year as she was paying a lot less tax at the start as she only started work in August

It was hard work but she was raking it in for eight months. She then used about half of the money she earnt to go travelling before she started at university.

😁

You could offer to pay her to do your cleaning (that might get her looking for a job pdq 😁)

What about having a look on the workaway website? People genuinely needing help (rather than voluntourism) and many with honest reviews. Might find something that appeals to her.
https://www.workaway.info/

Echo what others said. Son worked since he was in year 11 and saved up. She has a good 5 months until new year where she could work and save and then travel for 5 months and then still have a couple of months to earn some more before starting uni.

My stepson worked for six months then did a tour of Vietnam etc. Sparked a real love of travelling with just a backpack. She could do that - as work til February/Match then do a bit of travelling.
My DD did an Art Foundation diploma. Not a gap year as such as she was going to do a creative degree and many who do do a Foundation year (has since changed her mind). During the course she spent a month in Lisbon on work experience- that was the real highlight of the year.
Another worked at Sainsbury's for ten months then spent the last two camping around the UK on his own.
She doesn't have to have organised anything now, there's still plenty of time to earn some money and decide later. But agree it's good to have an idea, if only to get another friend who might like to go along. Or she may get a job at Camp America (or similar) for next summer? Work until then?

My DS worked his butt off from August to February and then travelled for 4 months. My DD about to do the same, though also thinking of a ski season, which will pay enough to cover living but not saving for those months. So she may have less travel time after that. My DS' girlfriend paid for a volunteering trip to Sri Lanka related to her longer term career plans. She also worked and paid for it herself. They're 18, the world's their oyster if they're willing to work hard and budget travel! Lucky beggars 😁

Has she deferred or will apply in September for uni?

If she has to apply then I think she should just take a little time off, get a job, take up a new hobby or get fit then apply to Uni. She might want to be home, rather than travelling when doing the Ucas stuff.

A year off to learn new skills, improve current ones, earn money for Uni, relax. A new experience doesn't need to be expensive travel it could be any personal challenge, such as raising money for charity, volunteering, learning uni skills such as cooking. When she is an adult she will look back and thing...wow I had a year to just to be and learn to grow as an person.

Gap years aren't for sitting around. She needs to work at least 4 days a week to stave off boredom and fill up that bank account. She could easily put £10k away between now and the spring which would be enough to go travelling in the summer AND make a good contribution to next year at uni. If she doesn't fancy trekking in SE Asia, or interailling in Europe, she could do Camp America or Workaway on a farmstay somewhere in Europe.

Mine worked as a lifeguard until Christmas and the travelled around South East Asia with the money that he’d earned.

There's loads of volunteering she can do in the UK that would look miles better on her CV than expensive voluntourism. If she likes spending time with the dog how about volunteering with an organisation involved with animals. Depending on where you are it could be a city farm, RDA, animal therapy organisation etc as well as the usual rescue type organisations or wildlife trusts.

I think one of the most valuable things you can do on a gap year is to properly research future career paths, including doing some related work experience/volunteering. I was involved in graduate recruitment for many years and students who had done that really stood out. They seemed far more motivated, were able to answer interview questions much more convincingly (eg. using their own reasons/real world examples rather than just regurgitating standard answers/trying to make their unrelated experiences fit the question). I think it's also a great opportunity to look in to ideas and/or test what they think they want to do.

The graduate job market is really competitive and most need to be applying for jobs in the second year/start of final year so a gap year is a really great chance to think about what they want to do without the pressure of studying/exams and application deadlines.

My DS hadn’t planned in advance either and he worked in a fast food restaurant from September-March - the job hunting took from mid July so don’t leave that too long. Then he travelled for 2 1/2 months (enjoyed New Zealand the most) and has come back to the job which he can now keep for university holidays while he does his degree.

I think both the job and the travelling have been really good for him in terms of growing up and taking responsibility. There were tough times especially at the beginning when all his friends had gone to uni but now he has work friends and sees his old friends in uni holidays. Hoping he will get his head in the game in September going back to academic work. A levels do feel like a long time ago now.