Gemmel Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 My daughter wants to go travelling for a year, but it is not something I did and have no idea where to start. I could spend an afternoon on Google, but I am sure there are lots of posters on here that could save me a world of pain:D:D No particular route or must go to destinations, but it seems to be leaning towards Australia as a stop at some point. What I am after is any companies that cater specifically for this in terms of flight deals and maybe even hostels, but also some advice in terms of visa's etc., where you could perhaps do some bar work or something in any said country, as she goes along. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goatboy Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Trailfinders are very helpful. I recommend South East Asia. Cambodia is a must. The temple complexes around Siem Reap are a must see. Angkor Wat is simply breath taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevvy Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Gemmel, my son has come back from a years travelling Australia. The company that helped him was STA in Southampton, they will do what what ever you need or will guide you through the process if you want to do things yourself. I will have a word with my son when he gets in from work later tonight, STA have a website which is good, they do open days \ Evenings as well. Luke really enjoyed his year trave!!ing. Sevvy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Does she want to travel, or work abroad? If working then BUNAC are worth looking at; I worked a couple of summers with them (a long time ago now!) in USA, teaching golf. They find the job, arrange flights and accommodation, and take a cut from the weekly payslip for it. Makes it all very simple and you end up working with people your age and looking to do the same sort of thing, so its instant friends to be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmel Posted 6 April, 2015 Author Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Trailfinders are very helpful. I recommend South East Asia. Cambodia is a must. The temple complexes around Siem Reap are a must see. Angkor Wat is simply breath taking. Cheers- Much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmel Posted 6 April, 2015 Author Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Thanks all - brilliant stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 I wouldn't worry about accommodation too much in advance. It might be worth having a few places in mind but I wouldn't book anything beyond the first few days. Unless she really wants to go way off the beaten path then there will always be no shortage of accommodation with like-minded people in abundance (anywhere in Europe, SE Asia, Oz/NZ, etc). The amount of Irish around when I was in SE Asia was staggering! The most important thing will be to get flights and rough itinerary sorted, at least for the first few legs of the trip. For example, you probably wouldn't want to end up in NZ in Jan but that would be a good time to be in SE Asia, where you probably wouldn't want to be in late July or August. So, I would say the most inpritant thing is to figure out which coubtires she thinks are "must dos" and make sure she figures out the best time to be in each one. As someone suggested, a chat with a rep at STA would be well worth it - but don't just buy whatever ticket they try to flog without doing some more research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Apologies, typo above, NZ would be fine in Jan! Summer there then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsk Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 I can't advise much about traveling in Oz/Asia but I would recommend she joins 'couchsurfing.com'. Even if she doesn't use it for free short term accommodation, she can always write to people who live in the places she would like/wants to visit and ask for advice. I helped out many people visiting Minsk in such a way. Quite often, people will happily offer to meet up and act as a tour-guide; especially if they get a free English lesson out of it. Plus, a good thing about couchsurfing is that you can see what other people have written about any person on there - just for peace of mind, if planning to meet them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Forget Australia or New Zealand. Better to immerse yourself in a non-English speaking country, with a very different culture. I lived in Greece for 6 months before University in the early 70s. One of the best things I ever did. Went back there twice more in later years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey_saint Posted 6 April, 2015 Share Posted 6 April, 2015 Whilst Hamilton saint is right; definitely check out STA Travel. I used them when I did my year out. I do however regret not spending that much time in non-English speaking countries as I speak Spanish so South America is still a target for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CylonKing Posted 7 April, 2015 Share Posted 7 April, 2015 Did a year out a couple of years ago, booked round the world flights through STA, cannot recommend them highly enough. We did SE Asia, Australia, NZ, Fiji, Central America and USA (southern states). Can highly recommend it as an experience. Best thing we ever did. No need to book accomodation in advance, except maybe the first few nights. We had no issues just turning up somewhere and getting into a hostel. Would sometimes book in advance as we went round using Hostel World, would recommend that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st alex Posted 7 April, 2015 Share Posted 7 April, 2015 If it's a gap year before uni, I'd say it's a waste of time & money. If she ultimately plans to go to uni, then go, get the first easy year of uni out the way and then do an exchange in the second year, or apply to go to uni abroad. That way you emerse yourself much better in the culture of where you are as there's some point to you being there. I spent 6 months on exchange in Hong Kong in my second year at uni and had the time of my life there and learnt a huge amount. Travelling at that age (I'm making assumptions here, but I'm guessing late teens, early 20s) is the the best time to travel and will undoubtedly be a great experience. But I think the experience is wasted on many if it just entails going to Australia and working in bars or not working. If I had the opportunity to go travelling I'd want to try more unusual locations where there's more to be learnt. As Hamilton Saint said 6 months working in Greece (as long as it's not an English resort town) would probably be more beneficial and more of learning/growing experience than time spent in Australia / New Zealand / Thailand which must be packed with British 'travellers' by now. There was a time when travelling was seen as some kind of alternative, but it seems to be quite conformist now, with more people doing it and going to an increasingly narrow field of destinations. If a gap year is the model she's after I'd suggest doing a tefl course first and teaching abroad http://www.i-to-i.com/ or wwolfing http://www.wwoof.net/ but she's probably after a much easier experience. Although teaching abroad might be best done after uni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints Ward Posted 7 April, 2015 Share Posted 7 April, 2015 current exchange rate makes Australia very expensive. Fine if you are looking to stay there a bit and work. But there are great alternatives. South-east asia is amazing and much much cheaper. Thailand, Vietnam, cambodia, Laos - amazing places (someone mentioned Siem Reap, Angkor Wat - amazing place, went there for my honeymoon in Sept 14) Must admit I travelled Oz, NZ, Asia, States, South America some years ago, but I live by the lonely planet guides (even used them for my honeymoon recently), they advise good places to stay, places to eat for all budgets and advise on VISA and other things to look out for. Flights - STA, travelbag, trailfinders all good places to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 7 April, 2015 Share Posted 7 April, 2015 (edited) Better to immerse yourself in a non-English speaking country, with a very different culture. I lived in Greece for 6 months before University in the early 70s. One of the best things I ever did. Went back there twice more in later years. Agree with that. If you are staying away for a year its got to have some point and substance to it. After three weeks of beaches, sightseeing and getting ****ed it all gets a bit samey and you start wondering why you're there. I'd volunteer for someone like VSO, or do BUNAC as mentioned above. Base yourself in one place with a real job to do and colleagues to work with and use whatever money you've saved for weekend trips or a few weeks travelling before after. http://www.vso.org.uk/volunteer/opportunities/vso-ics-for-18-25-year-olds Edited 7 April, 2015 by buctootim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swannymere Posted 8 April, 2015 Share Posted 8 April, 2015 current exchange rate makes Australia very expensive. The exchange rate is almost at its best for the last 6 years, when i went 6 years ago it was down to AUS$1.38 to the £, three years ago it was around AUS$1.70 to the £ and when i was there this Christmas it hit AUS$2.01 to the £ currently its around AUS$1.85 so almost the best its been in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsdinho Posted 8 April, 2015 Share Posted 8 April, 2015 My daughter wants to go travelling for a year, but it is not something I did and have no idea where to start. I could spend an afternoon on Google, but I am sure there are lots of posters on here that could save me a world of pain:D:D No particular route or must go to destinations, but it seems to be leaning towards Australia as a stop at some point. What I am after is any companies that cater specifically for this in terms of flight deals and maybe even hostels, but also some advice in terms of visa's etc., where you could perhaps do some bar work or something in any said country, as she goes along. Cheers I may be wrong, but from the wording of your post, it seems that you are going to make all the arrangements for her.....I’m not sure this is the right approach, she will have a lot better understanding of what her itinerary is if she organises it herself. She can make amendments to it as the ideas start to develop and pick and choose what she likes the sound of etc., further reading and internet searches may give her ideas on places she has never heard of etc. Also, it’s probably not the best of starts to learning your way in the big wide world, if your dad does everything for you before you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCholulaKid Posted 8 April, 2015 Share Posted 8 April, 2015 As others have mentioned above - totally immersive experience in another country is what I would do. She'll learn more (and spend less) travelling round India/Nepal/Bangladesh for a year than she ever would in Aus/NZ. It's not the easy option but so much more worthwhile because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsdinho Posted 9 April, 2015 Share Posted 9 April, 2015 As others have mentioned above - totally immersive experience in another country is what I would do. She'll learn more (and spend less) travelling round India/Nepal/Bangladesh for a year than she ever would in Aus/NZ. It's not the easy option but so much more worthwhile because of that. This, travelling around India for 6 months was a very rewarding experience for me. Learnt more there than I ever did at school etc. Brilliant place with such diversity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerBadger Posted 9 April, 2015 Share Posted 9 April, 2015 I wouldn't plan in too much detail, book flights and may be first hostel and let it flow from there. If hopping around continents/countries then a book your flights in advance as it's loads cheaper but infinatley amendable once you begin. It's a must do for all kids I reckon, I'll be promoting it with mine instead of uni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachcombers Windowsill Posted 9 April, 2015 Share Posted 9 April, 2015 I wouldn't plan in too much detail, book flights and may be first hostel and let it flow from there. If hopping around continents/countries then a book your flights in advance as it's loads cheaper but infinatley amendable once you begin. It's a must do for all kids I reckon, I'll be promoting it with mine instead of uni. One of my biggest regrets was not slowing down and taking a year out before uni. Only a few years ago but feels like an opportunity that won't come back round for a long, long time, if at all. Bit sad really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now