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.