Gap year holidays & travel; career breaks
Featured Sites
ABV volunteers» gap year volunteer programs, exploring new countries while doing rewarding, meaningful service work ... MORE
TourRadar» over 150 volunteer work & community tours from a wide range of operators in over 25 countries worldwide ... MORE
G Adventures – YOLO Adventures» authentic adventures and gap year trips for 18-30 year-olds ... MORE
Crewseekers International» gap year yacht work and sailing opportunities worldwide ... MORE
A Broader View Volunteers Corp Featured Site
based: Pennsylvania, USA
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US Non Profit Organization arranging volunteer projects abroad in 30 countries, offering travelers the opportunity to explore a new country while taking part in rewarding, meaningful service work in 315 programs. Ideal as gap year trips, short-term and Internships. Get A Broader View of the world: volunteer your time and efforts to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
| working/volunteer | gap year | Spanish language | ecological tours | Africa | South America | Central America | Asia |
Crewseekers International Featured Site
based: Hampshire, UK
Listing up-to-date gap year yacht work opportunities worldwide. Previous yachting experience is not always required and work ranges from stewarding to crewing. Destinations include the UK, Europe, the Mediterranean, Caribbean, North and South America, and the Pacific. Durations from one month to long-term.
| gap year | Worldwide |
Gap Year Diver
based: London, UK
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Specialist UK-based tour operator for career break and gap year scuba diving holidays, many offering internationally recognised PADI courses. They offer a selection of destinations, including the Red Sea, the Caribbean, South Pacific Islands, Thailand, Indonesia, Costa Rica and South America.
| gap year | diving/snorkelling | Worldwide |
Gap Year Japan – Japan Journeys
based: London, UK
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Providing all the assistance and cultural knowledge needed for a gap year trip in this most foreign of foreign countries. Discover this fascinating country and spend time working; teaching English, in hospitality or research, or interpreting and translating, or even acting.
| gap year | Japan |
G Adventures – YOLO Adventures Featured Site
based: Canada, London & Worldwide
YOLO Adventures from G Adventures offer a range of trips for 18-30 year-olds, great for your gap year trip! A range of trips for travellers who want to experience authentic adventures in a responsible and sustainable manner; they offer something for everyone, from volunteering projects to true adventure travel to all corners of the world.
| ethical/ecotourism | animals/safari | expeditions | walk/trek/hike | mountain biking | canoe/kayak | overlanding | multi-activity | working/volunteer | gap year | Worldwide |
Green Tortoise Adventure Travel
based: California, USA
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Adventure bus tours designed for fun-loving, independent travelers, the young and young at heart. Discover California, the West coast, cross country tours, Western USA, Mexico, Central America, Alaska, the Northwest, festivals and fairs, all aboard a Green Tortoise sleeper coach which converts by night to sleeping bunks for up to 36 passengers.
| singles | bus/coach | gap year | North America |
i-to-i TEFL
Gap year opportunities teaching English abroad, a range of TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) courses which can be combined with paid TEFL internships». Or TEFL experiences» which combine courses, teaching and adventure travel. Destinations include China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Spain, South Africa and Colombia.
| English TEFL course | working/volunteer | gap year | Asia | South Africa | Colombia | Spain |
TEFL International Prague – Language & Training
based: Prague, Czech Republic
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TEFL International Prague provides a 4-week TEFL course leading to an internationally recognized Certificate in TESOL. The course is externally moderated by TEFL International and accredited by Fairmont State University in Vermont, USA. All their successful course graduates get a teaching job guarantee in Prague and job guidance worldwide.
| English TEFL courses | gap year | summer schools | working/volunteer | Czech Republic |
TourRadar Featured Site
Volunteer gap year work and community tours, TourRadar offers over 150 tours from a wide range of operators in over 25 countries worldwide. With trips of up to 12 weeks duration, longer trips are ideal for gap year travel. Areas include: wildlife and conservation, education and language teaching, community projects, working with children, health projects ...
| working/volunteer | gap year | Worldwide |
Volunteer Latin America
based: London, UK
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Providing free and low-cost volunteer work in Central and South America for independent volunteers; offering a wide variety of projects including opportunities to volunteer and learn Spanish abroad.
| working/volunteer | gap year | Spanish | South America |
Blue Ventures Conservation
based: London, UK
Dynamic marine volunteering positions available in Madagascar, researching threatened coral reefs ecosystems.
| working/volunteer | gap year | diving/snorkelling | Madagascar |
ITALY: Gap Year Ski Instructor Training
For anyone interested in teaching skiing – this Interski course is suitable for those taking a career break, or gap year before starting/finishing university. Successful completion will result in the BASI (British Association of Snowsport Instructors) Alpine Level 2 ski instructor qualification.
Interski is the market leader in school and college skiing trips; they also offer the most inclusive ski gap course on the market. Interski are the only gap year provider in Europe who can guarantee up to four weeks paid teaching after successful completion of the course.
See dates, prices & full details»
SOUTH AFRICA: Sport event management & marketing
Keen on sport? A twelve week gap year program focused on sports event management and marketing. This tour package is based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
This is an internship with a young, energetic Port Elizabeth events company, organizing sports events throughout the city – with weekly water sports, fun runs, charity events and more. Participants will help to organize and implement these sports events, as well as helping the company promote healthy lifestyles and physical activities.
The fee includes accommodation, three meals a day, co-ordination of work activities, daily transport, support, weekend/social outing opportunities. Volunteer accommodation is in shared rooms in a dedicated house close to the beach; the house has a pool and a great social atmosphere!
See full details»
More like this»
WORLDWIDE: year-round hospi
tal work experience
This is a special entry for Gap Medics, a specialist gap travel company providing hospital work and practical healthcare experience abroad in medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry to students (16 and over) before they start their own medical training.
They have 1-8 week programmes in Tanzania, Thailand, Poland, the Dominican Republic and Croatia, and offer participants the opportunity to gain an insight into the work of doctors, nurses, midwives and dentists, allowing them to shadow qualified professionals.
Gap Medics welcome students to the programme from anywhere in the world, provided they can obtain the appropriate visa for the country they will be placed in.
Gap year travel and holidays and career breaks
This section lists holidays and travel for students taking a gap year pre-college break in the UK, abroad in Europe, Asia, America, Africa, South America and Worldwide. It also lists career break travel aimed at older people who've taken a sabbatical break from work.
Gap year holidays will tend to be longer in duration than working holidays and many are offered as dedicated 'gap year' breaks. Gap year trips may be entirely focused on travel and recreation, or may also include periods of work, often volunteer work, working in local communities on conservation, education or health projects. Much dedicated gap year travel is very structured, often taking the form of a set period of volunteer work, possibly a period of travel within the destination country and finally a period of rest and relaxation where participants can have a holiday experience and enjoy activities and cultural visits etc.
Conventionally a gap year is a period (typically an academic year) taken off between the end of senior school education and the start of a university or college course, at the end of an undergraduate course, or even between the years of a course. This time is usually spent travelling, discovering the world and working (in paid and/or volunteer employment). More generally a gap year describes time out between life stages, and can be taken anywhere, for any period of time and can be used for any activity. The section also covers career break travel and holidays for older people taking a sabbatical period (often a year) from their working life.
Worth a look
In this section gap year travel will tend to be longer breaks than those found in our working holidays section (although there is a lot of overlap and many organisations listed are found in both categories).
CATEGORY DEFINITION FOR TOUR OPERATORS WISHING TO BE LISTED:
The travel-quest gap year holidays section lists work career break and gap year holidays, travel packages and vacations. The holiday companies listed will specialise in gap year breaks.
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