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TRAVEL: Travel Abroad on a 'Gap Month'
Thursday 30th May 2013 | Annalisa
The ‘Gap Month’ seems to be the new idea at the moment. Many young people often face a semi-crisis about choosing to go on a gap year or not nowadays, and so in order to reach a kind of compromise with their itchy feet, they sometimes choose to take a 'Gap Month'.
Although this might sound like a less exciting choice than taking six months to a full year out from study or work to travel the world and have amazing new experiences, you can actually fit a lot into a month. And by taking only a month out of your schedule, it means you can do this in the summer before going to university or starting work and not lose much time or momentum. It can be the perfect choice, giving time for new experiences and a chance for a bit of a break before continuing on with work or study, yet not taking so much time out that you fall behind in your plans. Of course, it should be said, that taking a full gap year is a fantastic thing to do and one that is not frowned upon by many universities or employers. However, if you don’t want to lose anytime with starting work or university, then a Gap Month can be a good thing to bear in mind.
In your short time away you can do all sorts of different things – you can go down the more traditional gap year route of backpacking and sightseeing, or you can do some volunteer teaching or conservation work for two to four weeks, you can take part in an internship that is related to your field of work or study, or you can even go abroad for paid work. There are so many options, and just because you have a short time in which to decide what you can do, it doesn’t mean that you have to do fewer things. It is very possible to have a decent trip full of adventure and sightseeing in Australia in four weeks, and with the cheaper fares and shorter distance to travel you could see plenty of Europe in a month. You could even fly to Fiji or Tanzania and become dive or TEFL qualified, and still have time afterwards to see some more of the country or move on to somewhere new. The possibilities are endless, even with only a month in which to travel or volunteer.
Sometimes, the fact that you only have one month to do as much as you can makes you do more, as you can carry less and you know that you have to make the most of it so can summon more energy to keep moving and do as much adventure travel as you can. It also means you have to save up less money or can save lots of money and not have to be constantly watching what you’re spending. There are many pros to having a Gap Month, and while we advocate going travelling for longer, the main thing is just to go and see as much of the world as you can, regardless of how long it’s for!
By Ellie Cambridge
Author Ellie Cambridge works for Frontier, an international non-profit volunteering NGO that runs 320 conservation, community, and adventure projects in 57 countries across the globe. She can be found blogging on Frontier's Gap Year Blog or posting on the Frontier Official Facebook page.
