Have you just finished school and you’re looking for some excitement before starting the next phase in your life? Or perhaps you’re looking for a break from the stress of your current job? It’s a familiar feeling for many people and one of the most popular solutions is taking a gap year.
However, gap years are about much more than simply finding sun and sand in tropical locations. You could enjoy a gap year with www.esl-languages.com learning a new language, experience a foreign culture and potentially make a real difference in your host community – not to mention they look great on your CV.
Here is a look at 6 of the most rewarding gap year experiences that are available across the world.
Community aid gap years
Volunteering is one of the most rewarding gap year experiences anyone can choose to embark on. There are countless communities across the world dying for assistance, with a particular need in developing countries such as Africa and India. From volunteering in a Kenyan medical centre to lending a hand in a Nepalese orphanage, there’s no shortage of help required.
Conservation gap years
Sadly the natural world has just as much need for help as the human world does. If you’re thinking about a career in conservation, science or animal husbandry, an environmental gap year could be extremely helpful in the long run. Some of the gap year ideas could include a visit to the Orang-utans in Malaysia or maybe a marine ecological conservation project in Cape Town.
Sports gap years
Sport is something that we are share across cultures and social classes. It is a great way to offer skills and enthusiasm and to make a difference in a community. Some of the sporting based gap years available could include things teaching volleyball in Bolivia or offering sports skills to refugees in Auckland.
Cultural immersion gap years
Cultural immersion gap years really focus on making you feel like one of the locals. So whether you choose a destination with a similar culture such as Australia or New Zealand, or perhaps somewhere as completely foreign as most African nations are, cultural immersion is all about synchronising your own thoughts, feelings and attitudes with the people around you.
Language study gap years
One of the most rewarding and long-term benefits of going on a gap year is the potential to develop a foreign language. They say the best way to pick up any language is by immersing yourself in that particular culture. Language courses abroad, with such schools as ESL (www.esl.co.uk), allow you to combine the excitement of a foreign location with a familiar and structured learning environment that guarantees results.
Adventure gap years
While some might argue that embarking on any gap year has elements of the adventurous to it, there are some gap year programmes that are more thrill-based than others. Ride a zip wire across the South East Asian forests or perhaps pay a visit to the incredible Big 5 animals at the local zoo.