The Increase in Gap Year Travel in the Current Recession

A ‘gap year’ is becoming an increasingly popular choice for those currently in education. The tradition of ‘gap years’ found its roots in Britain, where the culture of taking a year off prior to entering college had been strongly developed in society and is now a common occurrence for people throughout the world.

It is therefore important to ask an underlying question, which is at the very heart of this trend. How can gap years benefit individuals? The answer is quite simple, and is precisely that by deferring entering college, students have enough time to discover their interests, and as a result become better able to plan ahead for the future, thereby ensuring increased effectiveness and motivation. Moreso, in this period of recession, it would be wise to take some time off and analyse what is it that you have to offer and which countries are most likely to contribute to your growth. This becomes a logical reason why the U.S. also began to encourage and foster the concept of gap years.

In these times of financial restraint, several trends have come to surface in different countries. In the UK, a greater number of students are thinking about taking gap years so as to avoid the recession; their most desired destination is reported to be Australia. The Association of Graduate Recruiters has forecast that there will be approximately 30% less jobs available for graduates this year. It stands to reason, then, that there will be an increased number of students choosing to take some time off and opt for a gap year with the intent of travelling the world, in order to search for appropriate career paths with growth prospects.

In the U.S. the gap year travel market, however, is expected to grow at a slower pace; the reason being parents have the responsibility of funding part of their children’s travel.

Today, though, in this ever-changing world where change is the only constant, the concept of gap years has also evolved over time. It has grown beyond its application to high-school students alone, and is now equally applicable to people at all stages of their life. In recent times, graduates have become inclined to take a break before stepping into their work life. Likewise, more recently, people already working in the market have also been seen to take some time off from their otherwise busy careers.

Gap years have become a means of giving students enough time and exposure to fulfill their desire of travelling abroad, interacting with people belonging to different backgrounds, learning about a variety of cultures, and accomplishing their wish to make a difference in the lives of others by offering their help in foreign countries. Gap years allow you to take on temporary jobs abroad and extend your effort in volunteer work abroad.

You have several options of planning your own gap year travel in this regard. It is completely at your disposal. You have the choice of selecting your gap year travel either by destination or by type. There is a long list of destinations you can choose from such as Africa, Asia, Australasia or Latin America. Likewise, you can also opt for the kind of work you want to do for your gap year job. In this respect you again have a wide range of alternatives to choose from, such as community, wildlife, conservation, and teaching English, to name but a few.

Therefore, in deciding to spend your gap year abroad you could select the nature of work you are interested in doing and then look for a country that provides you with related opportunities. If your area of interest is wildlife you may want to consider going to China and becoming involved in the conservation of pandas. If you are interested in teaching English, you may want to think about going to Thailand. Similarly if you are interested in working voluntarily with underprivileged children, you may choose Kenya as your destination.