This is it. You’ve waved your last goodbye to compulsory education, and you’re ready to embark upon your long-awaited, much-anticipated gap year! Whether you want to spend it in the comfort of your homeland or you’re looking to venture abroad, there’s a multitude of amazing travel tour companies out there just waiting to guide you along what will hopefully become one of the best years of your life. The question is… which company do you choose?
Ultimately, the most important factors this comes down to are:
- Where you want to go
- What you want to do when you get there
- How much you’ve got in your budget
We’ve spent some time picking out some of the most reputable tour travel companies in the business for a variety of gap year dreams, and ways to make extra money to fund it!
To work
Location: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America, South America, UK
From activity instructors to chefs, teaching internships to Au Pair-ing and even ski resort hospitality, Best Gap Year has a plethora of working gap year opportunities on offer, ranging from ten weeks to several months.
2. Australia Working Holiday
Location: Australia
Australia Inc. offers fantastic ways of making extra money during your gap year, and promises to help you develop essential career skills such as team building, working under pressure and relationship building – on top of getting to explore some of the most amazing places on earth, of course!
3. BUNAC
Location: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan
Experiencing totally new cultures whilst having an unforgettable experience with lots of new friends sits right at the heart of BUNAC’s work experience opportunities. If it’s a high wage or high waves your searching for, delicious foods and stunning beaches, or something equally exotic, read on!
To volunteer
- Pacific Discovery
Location: Central America, South America, Nepal & Tibet, Southeast Asia, New Zealand & Australia
Based on the concept of experiential education, Pacific Discovery’s volunteering programmes are designed to challenge, broaden horizons, and merge cultural insights and environmental sensitivity with fun and adventure.
2. Frontier
Location: … Well, where not?
“You dream it and we will make it happen” – quite the promise, but as goabroad.com’s Top Volunteer Abroad Organization 2016, Frontier’s marine conservation, environmental science efforts, and medical endeavours do truly bring a whole new meaning to volunteering abroad.
Location: All over the globe!
As the world’s most trusted and experienced volunteer travel provider, IVHQ is definitely worth a look-in. With projects ranging from teaching and childcare to arts and music, women’s empowerment and special needs care, there’s something on offer for everyone. What’s more, they’re super budget-conscious!
For adventure
Location: Pretty much everywhere!
If you consider yourself an especially adventurous individual, Intrepid Travel has your name on it. Activities range from cycling to sailing, walking and trekking and much more, with the goal of building human connections, supporting local communities, respecting the environment and drawing everyone just that bit closer together.
2. Trek America
Location: USA, Canada, Alaska and Central America.
If exploring America is your dream, Trek America has over 50 incredible gap year tours to choose from, ranging from 3-75 days. These guys know where all the great and unusual sites and activities are and how to give you an outstanding gap year travel experience in America that’s really fun – and fair on your budget!
3. Exodus Travels
Location: Again pretty much everywhere, but their top destinations include Italy, Nepal, France, Africa, and Peru.
45 years of experience gives Exodus Travels the ultimate edge in adventure travel gap years; especially as they now offer an extraordinary 500 itineraries across more than 90 countries! The possibilities for action and adventure are equally as endless, such as walking and cycling tours, wildlife encounters, and more.
So there you have it! We hope this has given you an appetising taster of the gap year opportunities available out there for you to choose from. We know travelling isn’t particularly cheap though; one of the ways you can make extra money to bolster for your budget for the adventure ahead is by taking part in paid market research. If this is something you’d be interested in, do get in touch and we’ll help you get started!
