Two Week 'Gap Year'

I'm sort of in a situation where I'm going to be on a gap year but still studying an A-level or two part time, so I can't take too much time off to travel. I'm happy to go away for a couple of weeks, but this time limit means that it's difficult for me to find anything worth doing in that time. I'd like to volunteer, perhaps teaching or at an orphanage, and ideally I want to be going away sometime this October or November.

Can anyone recommend any good gap year companies that do shorter trips? My budget for the whole thing, including flights, is around the £1500 mark, so somewhere not too far away is preferable as flights will be cheaper. Or is it better not to go with a gap year company at all? How does volunteering work if you go it alone?

Or is it entirely pointless me doing something like volunteering in the space of two weeks? Should I just give up the idea of volunteering and just go somewhere I've always wanted to go for the sake of it? Egypt is very tempting.

Thanks for any advice!

Reply 1

xhelen1989x

Hey, ive looked into volunteering in an orphanage in moldova- which is on this site www.realgap.com think its about £500, then flights but seems to be in your budget.
Think im gonna do a tour with trek america, going to boston, montreal, toronto, new york and niagra falls for 11 days its gonna be around £1000 with flights...id prefer to go with a company rather on my own feels abit safer lol :smile:

but the websites www.trekamerica.com lots of good reviews about it!
Been to egypt too...went in august a couple of years ago but could hardly do anything in the day it was sooo hot! so decide carefully which date you go lol.

Reply 2

caffee

realgap, projects abroad (a tad pricey??), i-to-i, concordia (specialise in short trips to africa and asia), frontier... the list goes on there are hundreds for volunteering.
And then organised tours intrepid travel, trek america, geckos... there are just hundreds!

I have used projects abroad and intrepid travel and would recommend both!!

Reply 3

allieRAWR!

2 weeks volunteering abroad is hardly going to provide a truly meaningful service, especially if it's with a company like Real Gap or I to I (who, by the way, are owned by the travel company First Choice). Sure, you may be volunteering in areas that aren't economically developed but this doesn't mean that they are so desperate they need anything they can get. I'm not saying this as an attack of anything, just so you don't go into the voluteering thing with the deluded notion that you're bettering the world as best you can by volunteering abroad for such a short period with, effectively, a holiday company.

Having said this however, if it's first and foremost a personal experience you're out for, I've found most people that go volunteering abroad for whatever lengths of time and with even firmly capitalist companies [generally find it a personally rewarding experience. (However, that's based just on the research I've done). If you want to do this then, I've heard original volunteers do relatively cheap placements (think it's generally £150 a week) to a range of destinations. But, I'd steer clear of Real Gap and companies like it...I can't imagine your placement being relatively sub-standard compared to what else is out there, but you'll be paying for it alot more then it's worth, with a big chunk going to just Real Gap (which is disheartening, given that you'll be servicing a charity)

You can always do some volunteering in Britian itself. Vitalise (I think it's called) from what I remember run activity holidays in britain for disabled people that require resendential volunteers for the week or two that they run. And, I'm sure there's similar, entirely charitable projects going on that you could find if you did your research.

Reply 4

deadwing

http://www.unaexchange.org/

^ This company seem relatively cheap and do shorter placements...?

Reply 5

caffee

Or there is original volunteers? They are waaaay cheaper, do short placements and I think are a not for profit organisation.

Reply 6

rupertbear91

im doing the 2 week real gap moldova orphanage and know loads of people who have done it nd loved it :smile:

Reply 7

ntycnk2

I went to Kenya for three months with a company called GVN (Global Volunteer Network) They were very cheap, and although somewhat capitalist I had a great time, however I do know that the orphanage I worked at would be more than happy for a volunteer to stay with them for a small contribution of around £5 a week and they wpuld feed you, hus all you would have to pay for would be flights, if you are interested, I would be more than happy to give you further details.
My kids were great and I had the best time, you would definately meet other volunteers and Kenya is an amazing country.
Please let me know ([email protected]) I would love an update on those kids!
Natalie xxx