What actually happened

This blog has been sitting around now for a few years and I failed to post more than 3 times. I have noticed that it is still getting hits, presumably from graduates and those being hit by even higher university fees. To bring some closure to this blog, I'll write about what I did on my gap year back in 2008/9 and how I achieved the goal of spending no money on it. Almost.

June 2008 — Festivals

The very first thing I did after leaving college was to sign up for stewarding at Glastonbury Festival. There are always a few firms at these festivals covering different aspects of stewarding and security. Oxfam are a big player at Glastonbury with many voluntary places. There were always bright orange Oxfam tabbards at the checkpoints and the wearers were good company. Personally, I worked with Stuart Leisure Security, which pays its stewards.

The major advantage to stewarding is that one can freely roam the festival when off-duty. Sure, my sister and I spent 8 hours overnight outside the perimeter wall watching for invaders, but we were aptly recompensed by watching The Wombats, Elbow and a bunch of others without spending a small fortune on tickets.

We had to pay our own transport costs, for which I purchased a Railcard. The cost of the card was offset by the saving on ticket fares, so these are definitely a good buy.

I also went with SLS to Glastonbury spin-off Glade Festival. This was a toned-down operation compared to Glastonbury, which gave me more opportunity to chat with the staff and to do more security-oriented things. In the spirit of money-saving, I cycled from Glade Festival in Aldermaston to WOMAD in Malmesbury. The SLS staff were kind enough to carry my tent and a few other, heavy bits and bobs in the van and take it to the festival.

Stewarding at festivals is a lot of fun, helping people is rewarding and they look good on your CV. These were definitely a good idea. I even had some money in my pocket after train fares.

July – October 2008 — Work, work, work

I can't remember the exact ordering of this period, but I do remember that I was "signing on" for a few weeks. No damage to my pride, here: I know I'll pay it back in taxes. I probably already have.

I had a few jobs during this period: I was working at Subway during the day and at Pure in the Printworks in Manchester during the night. Making sandwiches and collecting glasses and puke. Nice.

A-level results day came by and I had performed reasonably well. On this day I do remember my mum pointing out an advert in the local newspaper after I'd told her my results. This advert was to lead to the next part of my gap year.

Winter 2008 — Winter Sports

I applied to and interviewed for Esprit Ski holidays as a Snow Ranger. That's Play Leader by another name.

This job took me off to the Austrian Alps to work on the ski resorts, there. I had on this job the most fun I have ever had whilst working (and playing). I was looking after children at work and skiing and snowboarding in my free time. Children + snow = fun.

The remuneration is excellent: accommodation, transport from HQ, equipment hire and a season lift pass. There's also a fortnightly wage.

I was on a great resort, the snow was great all season, the team was friendly and the guests were, thankfully, agreeable. This was definitely a good choice. Every season you go back, you get more in your pay-packet, too. I only did the one season — uni can't wait forever.

Summer 2009 — Sun, Sea and Sand

Soon after returning to Blighty from Austria, I took off to the Isle of Cyprus with my sister in the hope of finding work when we got there. Cyprus then wasn't in the financial dire straits in which it current finds itself. The timing of our gap year wasn't so peachy, though. That summer was the first of the global crash era. People weren't going on holidays abroad so much so the work was very thin on the ground.

All negativity aside, I did still have a really good time there, living off the money which I had saved up all year. We had an apartment with an enormous balcony overlooking the Mediterranean, went to the beach everyday and partied in copious amounts.

This part of the gap year wasn't exactly free, but I had saved enough to see me through it.

Reflection

Now that I am 24 years old and still at university, I look back upon my gap year and am always glad that I did it. Sure, I could have gone to university, have graduated by now and be earning real money. I wouldn't have the memories and experiences that I have, though. I would still have never been to a ski resort, nor would I be able to ski and snowboard. My CV would be much more bare than it is.

A year well spent and a decision I'd recommend everyone to consider.

First steps

Ok. So you think you might be interested in taking a gap year. So what now? Well, you have to ask yourself what you want to achieve in your year-and-a-bit out. Some people choose to work to save up some money for university. This is a fine option, as it will inevitably take some of the sting out of the new top-up fees that Uni's can charge nowadays.

However, this point in your life is a perfect opportunity to go and do something in another country, or even your own country - it's up to you. For example, after you leave University, you will probably want to be looking for a good job to put that shiny new degree to use. Then you may want your own place. So now you've got a full-time job and, perhaps, a mortgage, and you think taking a gap year would be fun, but you need to it arrange with your boss, and he/she/it may not be best pleased. Then there's the mortgage and loan repayments, maybe a partner, a car, etc...

So, you see, between College and University is a perfect time, when you have few responsiblilities and are still young. The nitty gritty bits regarding your gap year are not that important at the biginning. All you need is a bit of interest, and an internet connection (preferably). Have a think about where you would most like to go in the world. Now, what would you like to do when you get there?

I decided that I would like, perhaps, to go to Madagascar. And I'm very much into helping the envronment, and I love animals and outdoors. With this in mind, I went to WWV <http://www.wwv.org.uk/>, where there is a brilliant search engine to help you find some excellent projects. I just looked at some of these to give me a rough guideline as to project prices, training, and of course, content. You could always type volunteer abroad into Google and see what comes up.

Now, with a bit of research, you may or may not have a better idea of what sort of things you would like to do. What now? You could wait till I have written another post. Or, even better, keep researching till I have.

About

I think it might be a good idea to lay out what I am aiming for from my Gap Year and go through a bit of background.

People take a year out for different reasons. Mine is to travel abroad and participate in conservation work or similar things in the countries I end up in. All of my work will be Voluntary.

Taking a Gap Year was never really discussed in my 6th Form College. It never really crossed my mind, as all emphasis was on going to University. However, changing colleges changed all this, as I was now a year behind so I thought: "What harm is another year going to do?" Once the idea was in my head, that was it.

Okay, so I didn't immediately decide to take a gap year - it came about after a presentation by someone from WWV <http://www.wwv.org.uk> at my College. Naturally, most of the students who attended the talk have since lost interest, and I think there are only two, including me, who are still showing any kind of interest.

One thing that really surprises me is the reaction of most people when you mention your Gap Year. Common responses include "Aren't you afraid of getting lost/robbed/somethign worse", "But you'll be older than everyone else a Uni", and "You're wasting a year...". My answer? Not at all.

So, how to go about it then? Well, we were given some good websites that lists lots of Volunteering projects on different continents such as WorldWide Volunteering <http://www.wwv.org.uk>, well we were only given that one, as the speaker represented them. However, if you've ever looked at such projects, they tend to have large price tags attached. While a lot of this goes toward equipment and resources for the project and carbon offsetting, it's all very well if you have that kind of money saved up. As you may have noticed, I'm aiming for minimal spending, so these are no good for me.

If you are thinking of taking a gap year, I suggest you go ahead and look into it, as nothing is binding until you actually go, so you can change your mind if it's not for you. And you dont even have to worry about University until you apply to UCAS, which isn't till Upper Sixth (Year 13 in England). I don't know how university application works in other countries, but I'll discuss how to tell your university that you want your place held till the following year (a deferred entry).

First Post

Welcome. I've been intending to set up this blog for a while now, and here it finally is. Obviously it is lacking in content as this is the first post, and I've put it off for so long that the UCAS application is finished and the offers rolling in, but I can still write about it. And I will, another day, as it is late and a school night, so I need my beauty sleep.

I did, however, see the teacher at College who is the authority on Gap Years, having taken one himself and still a keen traveller. He introduced me to WWOOF <http://www.wwoof.org/>, who organise organic sustainability programs, but best of all - you don't pay! It's work for food and a roof over your head. No wage, but then that's Volunteering!

Anyway, more posts on another day.