Short on ideas for your Gap Year? Our student blogger Hannah has a few ideas…
Updated: 29 Apr 2025So you’ve decided to take a gap year, fantastic! What are you going to do? If you’ve got no idea, don’t worry – here are a few to get you started…
Interrailing is the perfect way to explore multiple European cities in one go. Interrail offers a range of ticket options, from 10-day to month-long trips, and even better you can choose if you want to travel around just one country and really soak up the culture, or go for a Global Pass which covers 30 countries! It’s relatively simple to plan (as long as you give yourself enough time) and doesn’t break the bank.
Thankfully the website also includes hints and tips to booking hostels and reserving trains. I would recommend taking a look at a very handy website, www.raildude.com, which has even more advice and tools to help you search for the best train times and ways to avoid paying a hefty reservation fee. If a bunch of your friends also decide to take a gap year, interrailing is the perfect way to go travelling as a big group as well as meet new and exciting people as you go.
Interrailing involves a lot of self-motivated planning and booking your own hostels, and can often leave parents quite anxious. A Contiki Tour is possibly a better option for those of you who prefer to have things already planned and do thing that are tried and tested.
Contiki tours aren’t limited in destinations whatsoever, with trips covering Europe, Asia, Latin-America, USA & Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. You can choose the length of your tour – anything from a short break to Amsterdam to a 21 day round-trip across America – and you can do it individually or with a friend as well as other young people from 18 to 25.
One of the downsides is that you may not be able to visit a certain tourist site or city because the route doesn’t follow it (which interrailing does allow). Certain activities also aren’t included in the upfront price, so you may be forking out extra cash for something you don’t really want to be a part of. The nice thing is you will have a good sense of security as there will be guides, organised accommodation and transport (meaning you and your parents may feel more at ease).
There are countless organisations that provide volunteering opportunities abroad. Whether you’re an animal lover or a people person there is something for everyone, and with some companies you can even do both in one trip (as well as relax and soak up the culture)! The cost will depend on what you’re looking for.
Sometimes a volunteering opportunity can cost next to nothing, but you will be away from home for roughly 6 months, which can be daunting for students who have only just left school. Luckily there are shorter trips that may cost slightly more, but mean you can still help educate children in the poorest parts of the world, care for endangered species or help build water wells to remote villages (while still coming home to your family before the homesickness hits you too hard).
Helping out in an foreign country isn’t the only way to make a difference, either; working with local charities and raising money at home by hosting events, taking part in races or doing other amazing things like a sponsored sky dive can make a real difference in your community. Volunteering – whether it’s abroad or at home – looks brilliant on personal statements and CVs as it shows to prospective universities and employers that you are independent, interested in the world around you, and – simply put – a good person. It can be life changing, and may even guide you onto a career path you didn’t realise you’d be suited to.
Once you’ve decided on one of the above three options (or maybe all of them), you’ll need to think about how you’re going to pay for everything; getting a part-time job is a great way of funding your adventures. Sometimes it can be quite tricky to find a job, but if you apply just before summer starts you should have little problem finding something right for you, as companies are always looking for people during busy holiday seasons.
Make sure you have a good CV – even if you’ve never had a job before, fill it with other accomplishments from school, sport or drama that show you have the relevant skills like punctuality, leadership and creativity. If you think it’s not enough, help out at a charity shop once a week; while gaining experience to put on your CV, you are also helping your community, which again looks great to employers.
It’s not enough to have just a good CV, though – you need to use your initiative, call them up and ask if they have had a look over your CV, go in and introduce yourself to management, and most importantly have a positive attitude; give the impression that you are excited about the work and the response will hopefully be a positive one.
Having a job doesn’t only provide you with money, but you will also meet new people and create good friendships. If you’re a good worker, you will hopefully be able to get a position back at the company when you come back from your travels.
Carrying on from number 4, more career specific work experience may be a valuable part of your gap year. Not only will it deepen your understanding of your possible career options, but it can also be a great networking opportunity, allowing you to create contacts that may be of great use after graduating. Alternatively, having a taste of working in a specific field may make you realise it’s not for you, and give you the opportunity to rethink your options and explore other routes.
Get a taste of the uni experience without having to get up for lectures the next day! Take a little two-day trip every now and then throughout the year to visit your friends who are spread all across the country. It’s the perfect opportunity to explore and learn new things about the country you’ve lived in your whole life.
Catch up with mates and experience a wide variety of student nights out all around England, and check out the university as it actually is, not just how they are on open days. If you start early enough – say September/October time – it may even help you decide where you’d like to apply if you didn’t get a deferred entry.
Hopefully this helps spark some of your own ideas and you gives you some inspiration to create your own perfect gap year!
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