My Gap Year

It’s the end of senior year, everyone has been accepted to their school of choice, or some sort of plan for after (because that’s what you’re supposed to do). As someone who genuinely hates school, the way things are taught, and just the way schools are run in general, I knew I needed a break. My mother recommended a gap year, as she did the same thing when she was younger and said it was the best choice she has ever made.

Alright, so I love traveling. I traveled with my mother all throughout my childhood, whether it was our annual Christmas trip to Florida, or just a fun road trip to visit friends/family, My gap year was the first time I traveled solo internationally, at 18 years old. I did a Contiki tour (European Escapade), which consisted of drinking and adventuring around 11 Western European countries. I ended up with a group of maybe 50 people from all over the world, mainly Australia. It was interesting to see how common taking a gap year was in other societies as people in the US just rush to college just to say they’re in college. Traveling to Europeans and Australians, is like a rite of passage, which is totally awesome because it really did change my life for the better. After my month-long Contiki, I volunteered in Australia. I chose Australia because I have always wanted to go and I had a handful of friends I could visit.

I took part in an organization called Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), where I worked in a wildlife sanctuary at one of the universities, picked weeds, did trash clean ups, and learned about sustainable living. I worked during the week and then visited with friends on the weekend. It was a very good deal, I spent the first half of my time in the heart of Melbourne, and the second half in a beach town called Warrnambool, famous for the movie, Oddball (10/10 recommend).

After Australia, I went to Thailand. I think Thailand is my favorite place so far. I love the environment and being outside, just soaking up the nature around me, so that was definitely the perfect place for me. When I go to places, I like to experience them like the people that live there. Luckily for me, I was able to find an environmental/community volunteer project to participate in. Under this organization, Global Vision International (GVI), I treated turtles for disease, taught English/conservation at a Burmese school, participated in beach cleans, and did biodiversity surveys. On the weekends, I got to travel with my volunteer friends. From Bangkok to the Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngan, we had an absolute blast. Thai people really know how to live life to the fullest. I will definitely go back to Thailand in the near future!

Now that I’ve spent so much time outside of North America, it almost gives me a headache being back here. Thankfully, I can get rid of that headache by taking another trip. Being able to travel while volunteering was really a treat for me because there’s nothing I love more than taking in a new place and help others/the environment. I really recommend taking a break to just breathe and introduce yourself to new things and places. There is no medal for following traditional norms! Also, so many great friendships are formed along the way. I have met so many people from all over the world, and formed some unbreakable bonds with them. I even went to London this past October to visit one of my Australian friends that recently moved there.

Both of my volunteer trips were booked through Bunac.uk