THE EVOLVING GAP YEAR

FROM ENHANCING A CV TO BENEFITTING A LOCAL COMMUNITY OR TRAVELLING WITH PURPOSE, THE MOTIVES FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE A GAP YEAR ARE INCREASINGLY NUANCED.

- BEN CLATWORTHY

Destinations such as India, South Africa, Brazil and Peru have seen an increase in popularity among gap year travellers, due to the variety of experiences they offer - in the latter, travellers can go from the Amazon Rainforest to Rainbow Mountain in a matter of days

For decades, the gap year recipe remained virtually unchanged: cheap hostels, all-night parties, banana pancakes and months spent ‘finding yourself’. Throw in some bungee jumping, quad biking and moped riding, along with days doing not very much, and you quickly paint the stereotypical picture of the fabled ‘year out’ of old.

The gap year travellers of today, though, are far more likely to be found doing sunrise yoga on a beach before a day of volunteering. Evenings are less about getting blind drunk and more about sitting around a campfire, herbal tea bubbling away on a stove, discussing the day’s work.

Once synonymous with those taking a break between A-levels and university, or after a degree, the gap year has evolved into a catch-all that includes anyone seeking an escape before joining the workforce. And according to Student Universe, the world’s largest youth travel agency, the post-pandemic era has seen the biggest shift in students’ desire and motivation to travel in 50 years.

While pure ‘leisure’ — fly and flop, adventure tours and festivals — still has a place in the market, the prevailing trend among gap year students is for educational or vocational trips.

“Their main goal is to do something ethical and responsible,” says Milly Whitehead, co-founder of specialist gap year travel company The Leap. “We’ve seen a huge growth in the demand for volunteering programmes and trips that have a proper structured itinerary.