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A gap year (also known as a "year out," "year off", "deferred year," "bridging year," "overseas experience," "time off," or "time out") is a term that refers to a prolonged period (often, but not always, a year) between two major life stages. The most popular gap years are taken pre- or during matriculation in a university or college, between college and graduate school and a profession, during a career change, pre- or post-marriage, upon having a first child, or pre- or post-retirement. It is generally a practice undertaken by those from developed countries. Overseas experience (OE) is a term commonly used to describe an extended working holiday taken by travellers in a country other than their country of origin. ... A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... For other uses, see College (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see College (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

(From Oxford Wordpower Dictionary : a year that a young person spends working and/or traveling, often between leaving school and starting university)

History

1960s: Where it all began

The origination of the 'Gap Year' concept came in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed amongst governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars. However, the first 'Gap Years' actually started in the UK in the 1960s, when the baby-boomer generation in the midst of the 'Swinging sixties' headed off to India on the infamous Hippie Trails, inventing the 'independent travel market'. In 1967, Nicholas Maclean-Bristol set up Project Trust, an educational trust, and sent his first three students to Addis Ababa, inventing the Gap Year Volunteer Placements market. These have been the two key elements to the gap year market ever since - 'independent travel' and 'volunteer placements' [also known more recently as 'Voluntourism']. Work Travel (or 'Work & Travel') appeared as a third key element with the introduction of student work visas (or 'Working holiday visas') in the 1980's. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...

1970s: the pioneers and the growth

The demand for what was essentially new 'Independent Travel' continued through into the 1970's and resulted in the pioneers of the independent travel market establishing businesses to satisfy this demand. Australian Graham 'Screw' Turner based in London in 1973 loaded a double decker bus with the first paying customers and drove them to Kathmandu. They arrived 3 weeks late. Top Deck Travel, the company he founded, still exists today. In the same year a young Brit by the name of Tony Wheeler, headed off on an overland trip across Asia. His need for basic travel information inspired the book 'Across Asia on the Cheap' and was the first title under his Lonely Planet brand, which became the world's largest travel guide publisher. With a tour company and self help travel advice, the independent travel market was born. In 1979, another Australian Dick Porter, founded STA Travel to bring in the final piece of the puzzle. A high street travel agent for students and 'youth' (those under 26), with which he was able to develop global youth travel as he opened student travel agents around the world. Initially 'Student Travel Australia' it renamed to the 'Student Travel Association'. Nowadays it is simply 'STA Travel'.

Whilst the first uses of the actual term 'gap year' are hard to find, it was certainly helped along with the launch in 1977 of GAP Activity Projects, a UK organization facilitating volunteer placements for the 'Gap Year' in between school and university. Continuing on from where Nicholas Maclean-Bristol had forged the way 10 years earlier with Project Trust, GAP Activity Projects brought the gap year to the schools. A year later in 1978, The Prince of Wales with Colonel John Blashford-Snell formed the basis of what we know today as Raleigh International, launching Operation Drake, the first ever Gap Year Expedition - a round the world voyage following Sir Francis Drake's epic route. In 1984 Operation Raleigh was formed, renamed Raleigh International in 1992, by which time gap years were becoming more popular as a pre-university option to the wealthy few in private schools around the UK.

1980s: steady growth

In the UK in the 1980's the baby boomers were settling into family life with their young children and so traveling less and the next generation were influenced by the obsession for money, careers and wealth generation. The housing market crash meant less funds available for parents to fund youth travel. Steady UK and global growth continued as STA Travel opened up branches around the world. Other businesses followed suit (Usit Campus / Usit World), round the world tickets were developed for this new breed of young gap year traveler and the scene was set for the explosion of the 1990's.

1990s: the boom

A combination of the baby boomer's children reaching 18 (whose parents encouraged world travel as they did in their youth), the UK coming out of recession and new, exciting, colorful media channels to bring gap year products to market resulted in an explosion of activity in the UK as Gap Year Travel and Gap Year Volunteering took off pre-, during, and post-university. Demand grew, prices for air travel fell and the roots of it becoming a 'rite of passage' were set. In Australia the first serious waves of young Australians heading to live and work in the UK started to appear.

2000-present: online developments, global growth, natural aging

The modern Gap Year pioneers came in the form of Tom Griffiths and Peter Pedrick who brought the gap year market onto the web in 1998 with the launch of gapyear.com. The two pioneers have invented products, offerings, phrases and concepts that form the skeleton of the global ‘Gap Year’ industry seen today. Known as the 'Gap Year Guru', Tom Griffiths is recognized as a global authority on gap years and acts as a media spokesperson around the world.

July 2005 Mintel Gap Year Reports show a market valued UK outbound at £2.2bn and globally at £5bn. The fastest growing travel sector of the Millennium, predictions are that the global gap year market will grow to around £11bn by 2010. The market demographic is split into those aged 18-24 (pre-, during and post-university), 25-35 ('career gap' also known as 'Career Break' - and 'Career Sabbatical') and 55-65 (pre- and post-retirement gap-takers). Very much an option for all in transition between life stages, the effect on the entry into higher level education, the changing travel markets and staff retention in businesses around the world is staggering.

Gap Year growth is accelerating across all age groups in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The US is expected to witness a boom in the coming years as the small percentage of those who have passports starts to rise.

Activities

Some students spend time traveling. Others spend their time working, and many combine these into an international working holiday. A popular option for gap year students, also known as "gappers," is international volunteering. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, a great number of the volunteers who helped in South Asia were on a gap year. Also, many gap year students earn money while overseas by working cash in hand, often in the hospitality industry. Another growing trend for gappers is to enroll in global education programs that combine language study, home stays, cultural immersion, community service, and independent study. Such experiential opportunities exist in countries ranging from India to China and Morocco to Brazil. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Working Holiday is facilitated by a special visa which permits a traveller to engage in gainful employment during the course of a holiday in a foreign country. ... The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake,[1] was a great undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004 with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... The underground economy consists of all trade that occurs without detection by government so that commerce and income are not taxed. ... For the Venetian Snares album, see Hospitality (album). ... The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is a communist state, comprising most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. ...

Gap year among American students

In the United States, the practice of taking a "gap year" before entering college remains relatively rare. Students either enter college (half enter the post-secondary system through community colleges) or the labor force directly after high school. After college, most university undergraduates directly enter the labor force. This trend can be partially traced to American culture, which stresses economic independence as well as the considerably higher cost of post-secondary education in the U.S. Many American students may not be able to afford a year off. In 2004, over 65% of 4-year college students relied on loans to finance their education, with the average debt of roughly $20,000. Among graduate students average debt totaled roughly $42,000 in 2004.^[1] Some organizations have offered young Americans structured gap year programs. These include: For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• CIEE, offering gap year abroad programs in China, Japan, and other countries.
• Dynamy, with sites in Worcester, Massachusetts and Santa Rosa, California.^[2]
• City Year, an American gap year option with locations in urban centers around the U.S.
• LEAPNOW: Transforming Education, offering a year-long program with one semester group travel in either India or South America and one semester individual internship.
• Carpe Diem Education ^[3]
• Rustic Pathways, offering cultural immersion community service and travel programs around the world.
• Andeo International Homestays, offers language immersion and homestay programs around the world, 4 weeks to 12 months.

For other uses, see Worcester (disambiguation). ... Location in Sonoma County and the state of California Country State County Sonoma Area  - City 40. ... Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1988 by two Harvard Law School Students, Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, City Year calls on young people to dedicate one year of full-time community service to their community and country. ...

Gap year in Australia

Australia currently has 19 reciprocal working holiday programs with countries which include: Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium, Estonia and Taiwan Typically restrictions for the working holiday visas include being 18-30 yrs, can prove access to funds and hold a valid passport. Work restrictions also apply to ensure that the purpose of the holiday is not to further an individual's career. A working holiday visa is a travel permit which allows travellers to undertake employment in the country issuing the visa for the purpose of supplementing their travel funds. ... This article is about the Korean civilization. ... A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit. ...

The UK and Canada remain two of the most popular destinations for Australians to visit every year, with 35,061 UK and 6,517 Canadian working holiday visas issued in 2003/4. Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the sixth-largest country in the world, the only country to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. ...

Youthworks run a gap year option in Sydney for Christian school leavers called Year 13 Gospel Gap Year.^[4] It has a continuous option for students living in Sydney, and an intensive option for regional NSW, Australia-wide and international students. Anglican Youthworks, otherwise known simply as Youthworks, is the youth and education department of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia. ...

Gap year in the United Kingdom

British citizens are able to take advantage of the Freedom of movement in the European Union to live and work in Europe for an extended period of time. Australia, New Zealand and Canada remain popular destinations due to the cultural similarities with the United Kingdom and the preferencial visa status granted to citizens of the Commonwealth, an echo of the British Empire. Title page of a European Union member state passport. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2007 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma Appointed 24 November 2007 Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total... For a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire, see Evolution of the British Empire. ...

Gap year in the Netherlands

The most common form of gap year is work-holiday travel to another country, preferentially on another continent if the person taking it can afford the tickets. Australia and other English-speaking countries are among the most popular due to the high standard of Dutch high school courses in English, but culture/language immersion programs in Spanish-speaking countries are increasingly popular, and are sometimes offered on all-in basis. Most will leave the Netherlands for only half the year, spending the other six months working to finance the trip.

References

1. ^ Student debt, U.S.. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
2. ^ Internship Opportunites with Dynamy
3. ^ Carpe Diem International Education
4. ^ Youthworks - Year 13 Gospel Gap Year College - Sydney, Australia

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Gap Years at the Open Directory Project