Round the World Complete Tailor-made Gap Year

Location:

Tailored to your choice of destinations

Duration & Price:

from £3169. Full price list

Deposit:

Pay £250 deposit, 50% of the balance 20 weeks before departure and the remaining 10 weeks before departure.

Accommodation:

This will vary between programmes

Meals:

This will vary between programmes

Dates:

You choose when you want to go

Information Pack:

Round the World Complete Tailor-made Trip Pack

Getting started

Some people know exactly what they want to do and see as they traverse the globe, whereas other people just know they want to get out and see the world but don’t have any specific ideas… Here are a few tips to get you on your way:

Examine a map of the world. Make a list of all the places you’ve always wanted to go to and any others that take your fancy.
Have a think about what you would like to do in each of your choice destinations – volunteer projects, paid work, just travelling and sightseeing or a mixture of all of them.
Have a look on the Gap Year For Grown Ups website at the sort of things we offer in the countries you’re considering.
Think about how long you would like your whole trip to be and how long you’d like to spend in each country. Can you arrange a career break or sabbatical?
Consider your budget – how much can you afford to spend on the trip and how much spending money will you need to take with you.
When would you like your adventure to begin? Have a look into the climate conditions of each of your chosen destinations and use that as a guide.
Are you going to be travelling alone or with a friend/partner/travel companion?
Do you need to put any arrangements in place for your home, family, car etc?
Contact a Gap Year For Grown Ups travel advisor with your thoughts and get a quote for your trip.

What are the options?

We can help you put together a trip lasting from a couple of months to an entire year! Gap Year For Grown Ups has developed a wide variety of programmes to help you make the very most of your time away.

You have a choice of hundreds of rewarding programmes in over 35 countries, including:

Volunteering with underprivileged communities and teaching English to children in developing nations
Work hands on or hands off with wildlife
Live alongside monks in Thailand
Conservation work to help protect our precious planet
Paid work in China
Adventure tours in USA, Australia and New Zealand
Learn an exciting new skill such as a new language, yoga, PADI diving qualification, field guiding, cowboy skills or salsa dancing!

Please note that if you are under the age of 30 you will be eligible to obtain work in the following countries (please ask your travel advisor for further details):

Australia
New Zealand
Japan (priority given to those aged 18-25)
China (available for anyone age 18+)

Quality, not Quantity!

It may be really tempting to try and cram everything you’ve ever wanted to see and do into your trip. After examining your world map you may find yourself with a huge list of the countries that you would really like to visit. However, you must be careful not to try and fit too many places into a short amount of time – you’ll end up rushing through all of them and will hardly see anything or get a real feel for each place. You’ll miss out on immersing yourself in the culture and getting to know the people, their values, traditions and customs.

If you are able to cut down the number of nations to six or seven in a 12 month period, you will gain such a better understanding of each place, see and experience so much more and generally enjoy the trip that bit extra.

Flights

When you tailor make your trip we will include your flights in the cost. ‘Round the World’ flight tickets are an excellent option and we will explore the different routes and the best deals for you. The concept of a round the world flight ticket is that you travel in one direction around the world (though it doesn’t have to be literal circumnavigation!) with a set number of stop offs along the way or a certain number of flight miles. You can go in either direction although it is not possible to back track, for example going from Thailand to Brazil to Australia.

Once we know where you want to go we will do all the research for you and let you know the options! Tickets are also very flexible in allowing you to make multiple date changes en-route if you decide you want to stay somewhere longer or leave earlier.

Add some overland travel to your trip…
‘Over landing’ is the term used for travelling between countries on land-based transportation (also water in some cases!) as opposed to flying. This can be done independently in hired transport or by bus or train, or on an overland tour. Travelling overland is a great way to really see a lot more of a country and get more of a feel for the day-to-day lives of the native people.

Travelling on local buses and trains is an especially good way to do this and also to interact with the local people. It is also a very good option for getting the cost of flights down and seeing a country on a budget. Here are a few examples of round the world flight tickets with popular overland routes added in:

UK – Thailand //overland // Malaysia – Australia – New Zealand – Fiji – Los Angeles //overland // New York – UK

UK – Moscow //overland // Beijing – Australia – New Zealand – Cook Islands – Los Angeles //overland // New York

UK – Singapore – Australia – New Zealand – Chile //overland // Brazil – UK

UK – Beijing //overland// Bangkok – Christchurch //overland//Auckland – Santiago //overland// Quito – San Francisco - New York – UK

UK – South Africa //overland // Kenya – Australia – New Zealand – Hawaii – Los Angeles //overland // New York – UK

When to go?

You can choose any month to depart – whatever suits you best. Flights can be busier (and more expensive) at certain times of year such as the school holidays and around Christmas, which could make it a little more difficult to get the flights you want to your desired destination. You should also consider the climate of your chosen countries, for example, when is the best time to arrive for good weather. Also you should make note of any major dates/festivals you would like to be in a country for, such as Sydney for New Year, Chinese New Year or the Rio Carnival. These very popular events will take a little forward planning, as accommodation can get booked up months in advance.

Staying Flexible

Although it is a good idea to have some sort of trip structure by planning some parts of your trip before you leave the UK, it is pretty unrealistic to plan all of your accommodation and activities for every single day that you are away (especially when you are going for more than a couple of months!).

During any volunteer projects you decide to take part in, your accommodation, food and daily schedule is normally planned out and organised for you.

For places like Australia and New Zealand, where you will be more independent, we will usually organise the first week’s accommodation for you and then leave the rest for you to organise independently, although we can help with ideas and options. This will provide you with the flexibility and freedom to do more of what you want to do. If you would like your trip to be more structured, please let your travel adviser know, so they can schedule more accommodation, tours and projects in your chosen destinations.

Still not sure how to get started?

If you still have no idea where you want to go, don’t worry. This is perfectly normal and we find that many people know that they want to travel, but just aren’t sure about the ‘where’ or the ‘when’. If this sounds familiar, then simply call the Gap Year For Grown Ups office or drop us an email and we will get you started. We can plan any kind of ‘round the world’ trip from a couple of months to an entire year, incorporating as much or as little as you like, and always getting you the best deals when it comes to flights. Our travel advisors are experienced travellers, so they can offer advice on anything from the climate in each country to what to pack.