Gap Years

[_sophie_]

I don't understand how you're meant to save for a gap year.
I am determined to go to Australia in 2013 when I turn 18. The trip will be approximately £5000 for 12 months (however I want to go for 6 months so would this be halved? This price includes insurance, flights, spending money based on 12 months and includes the visa I need). When I apply for the visa I have to be 18, and not allowed to book any travel to Australia until this visa is granted. This means I would have no time to plan as I turn 18 in Febuary and plan to travel in March and come back in September for uni. I just don't understand how there is any way I will get this money, and arrange it all, and book it. It's so stressful! Feels like I should have started thinking about a gap year when I was about 7 and now I feel like this is never going to happen and maybe I should wait until after uni, but then I would be in alot of debt and not be able to afford it either. HOW DO YOU DO IT?!?!!?

[ummmm]

You get a job...

[B00]

Stressful?

Oh please, get a grip!

As ummmm says, get a job and EARN it.

[DTCwordfan]

work - and I mean a proper job not something that is not appropriate for these pages.

[sandyRoe]

Could your parents not give you the money needed?

[cazzz1975]

are gap years necessary? I dont seem to remember anyone having gap years when I was younger

[B00]

Why should her parents give her the money?

She want's to bog off, she'll be legally old enough to earn the money herself, so why shouldn't she?

[sandyRoe]

Isn't there a thing called : The Bank of Mum + Dad? What else are parents for if not to help their children get a good start in life?

[pastafreak]

Assuming sophie will work over the next two summers-full time for 8 weeks at whatever the max wage is for someone under 18...I suppose she can make around £2,000. She can't spend any of it-in fact,she should put it in a mini ISA or similar. Maybe suggest parents match an amount to help her along.

[boxtops]

What purpose will the gap year fill, sophie? Why Australia? It doesn't make you any more employable, and you have a year (or six months) where you will be out of the way of study habits.
You certainly can't assume that six months will cost half what a year costs, more like 75%.
If you must break your studies, why not get a place at uni, go for a couple of years, then take a gap before your third year so you can travel and learn more about your chosen specialist subject - make some use of it rather than a holiday. You will have enough debt (sorry to mention it) with your university course, don't add extra unnecessarily. Anyone I know who's been on gap years has either had a weekend job for a couple of years beforehand or has parents who are subbing the travel, or worked their way round to their destination and back.
Most of us could ask exactly the same question, and we're in work - we can't do it, because it's just not affordable.

[boxtops]

PS sandyroe - many of us don't have a spare £5k, not these days, and if I did I'd rather put it towards education or something for the future, not a jolly.

[bednobs]

yep, agree with the others, get a job for the money (or alternatively ask parents)
you can plan what you want to do and where you want to go before hand, and booking a flight will take you about 1/2 an hour to arrange! gap years are traditionally taken in the year after you leave 6th form and before you go to uni (so deferring uni for a year), When will you finish sixth form?
There will be nothing to stop you working casually in oz either. TBH i think £5000 is probably underestimating it a bit if you are including flights

[smurfchops]

Get a job and save for the return flights. If you want to go that much, you will work hard and earn enough. I am sure mum and dad will help you out if you don't have enough for the return flight - the return date can always be changed if you stay longer or decide to come home earlier, for a small fee. Get your Visa, very important. Look on the internet and book a Youth hostel / Backpackers hostel to stay in for when you get there, perhaps close to the airport for the first night, and then further into town for as long as you like. You will find your way around, everyone is really friendly out there.. If you are moving around, look online make a note of hostels in the areas you are moving to, and book them in advance. Don't expect luxury. Find a job in Australia, if you are of the right temperament, you will meet lots and lots of people in the same boat as you, mostly in the various hostels where you stay. It can be quite cheap to live out there, you can earn enough for your food and board. And if you are pleasant you will have no trouble finding a job. You can stay for a year on your Visa and can renew it if need be, and if you have a job. Good luck.

[Chaffinch]

Sophie, You could try looking for volunteering jobs in OZ, there are lots that provide food and accommodation and even ones that you can travel around the country, particularly Wild Life type ones.

On another note, what course do you intend to do at Uni? as you might get an opportunity to travel on your course, hence no need for a gap year. My daughter is in her first year at Uni, and is going to India for 4 months early in 2012, she chose this out of several destinations including OZ. She also has the choice to do another placement abroad at a later date.

[DTCwordfan]

other ones include being a camp supervisor for these school kid adventure hols etc - like Camp America equivalents.

[craft1948]

You want to go to Oz in their winter!

[Andyvon]

I agree with you Cazz. What is all this about gap years?

My brother was a student in the late 80s/early 90s and he got the standard non-repayable grant (not loan) that all students did then. He ran a car and had holidays but he never had a 'gap year'. They didn't exist then. It seems many of these students today think it their right to spend a year lounging about - then wonder how to pay for it. Gap years probably were possible when all students got grants and were paid to be students, but maybe these changes in funding will put an end to them.

[sophie_1003]

The gap year idea is promoted as a 'must' in so many ways; the media make it out to be something everyone should do; people who don't travel are looked down on by people who do, parents (in some cases) expect their children to go travelling and I think sometimes it's so they can claim bragging rights; especially if they haven't travelled themselves. In my experience there is a lot of snootiness with travelling; there seems to be a competition with some people of "Who can go to the place the least touristy" and "Who can stay in a strange remote place the longest" so the best way of 'winning' is to go on a gap year!

Apologies for the rant; Sophie; how old are you now?

[pastafreak]

My daughter had a 2 year gap...but only because she did not feel ready for Uni at 18. She worked the whole time,and did not do any travelling until after her 2nd year. Not everyone uses the delay to swan around...lol
Sophie-if you are dong your A levels-I think doing well in them should be your main priority. Consider a few weeks in Oz during one of your summer breaks.