Gap year advice?

sarah_2-2

I travelled on my own for 6 months, which at times got a bit lonely, but its so much easier to meet people that way. I spent a week in America, 10 days doing a scuba diving course (which cost £220 or so, cheaper than oz and definitely worth doing!), a month travelling round New Zealand with Flying Kiwi, which was great as there were about 10 other people staying on the bus with me for the whole month so we got to know each other quite well. I then spent Christmas and New Years in Australia, with my mum selflessly coming out to ensure I wasn't on my own and then had a 3 month teaching placement in Uganda with Smile International. I paid £2000 for the priviledge of volunteering, but it was definitely worth it. I had concerns paying so much for volunteering, so I looked at many many different companies and finally decided on Smile. They're a small Christian organisation, so I got to know the people who set up the whole thing quite well. As a result, I trusted them with my money, knowing that even if they didnt spend it all on my time in Uganda, they'd put it to good use elsewhere (they work in over 25 countries). I still can't quite bring myself to consider similar placements with the big companies such as i-to-i and BUNAC although I'm sure many people have had good experiences with them too.

Like others have suggested, the best thing to do is for her to sit down, think what kind of experiences she wants, what climate, continent etc (general terms) and then start looking for info on the internet. There is far more information than you could ever need, but for me planning my gap year was half the fun of it! Whatever she does, I'm sure she'll have an amazing time.