Getting Started

How Do Adventures Start?

My Gap Year Plan, Why Take A Gap Year, and My Progress Thus Far.

When it comes to gap years or traveling advice I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. However, in an effort to help those; who like me need/needed some encouragement I have this... JUST GET STARTED!
But those three simple words are much easier to say than to adhere to. For example I have been waiting since February for a special day to punctuate my first blog and make it a special occasion (which was a great excuse to procrastinate.) However now, with 3 days until my gap year 'starts' I have finally decided to bite the bullet. And you, the reader, have a lot to catch up on.

The Master Plan

Which really isn't a master plan, it's just the 3 things I really wanted to do going into my gap year.

1. Become a Snowboard Instructor
2. Spend summer 2017 being a camp councillor on a North American kids summer camp
3. Volunteer abroad

Now three things doesn't seem too bad but believe me, these simple and naive wishes quickly filled up my time and emptied the money in my savings account! I've listed them in the order of my personal desires, in reality they will happen in the order: 3, 1, 2. So yes, I have managed get all the cogs in motion to make all of this happen - but I did not do this alone. In fact almost none of this would have happened without the input of my loved ones and their overwhelming support.

In other words.. after realising what I wanted to achieve, they were the ones who frankly yanked my head out of the sand and made me face the daunting, terrifying, exciting prospect of spending a year fulfilling some of my life long dreams. It too big to take in all at once, I struggled to grasp the reality of it many times but by breaking it down and sharing my worries and research; its happening.

Why Take A Gap Year?

For me it's a chance to take a break from the education system which just seemed to drag on through sixth form and didn't engage me as much as I wanted. It's a period of time to reevaluate my aspirations and make sure that if I commit to going to university I am doing a course I will love, and it will be worth the £27000+ of debt and the arguably more expensive - 3 years of my life.

That commitment scares the life out of me, I want a bit of adventure and life experiences before I get tied down with all these seemingly 'grown-up things' to an 18 year old boy. I'm the only one out of my circle of friends taking a gap year. Many of them seriously questioned my decision with reasons like 'you will be behind everyone else' - life this isn't a race between each other, and the fact that everyone expects a kid with a brain to go to university annoys me! It makes me question why.

So instead I'm taking productive gap year. Getting work experience, following my passion for youth work and sports education, and living my dream of traveling and seeing that massive, exciting world we live in.

My Progress Thus Far

It has not been easy sailing, planning a whole year is tough but it has taught me a lot. Now this post is already pretty long so I'm going to promise you more details of the planning process and my hard work that I am so very proud of for a later post. All you need to know for now is: 

I'm flying to Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday. Volunteering there for a month, the taking a 5 day safari trip in the surrounding area.

October-November when I get home I will see friends and family and work a lot ( in order to keep people happy and so that I can afford to eat for the next 8 months..) 

November 23rd I will be going to Panorama Resort, Canada to become a snowboard instructor and to work the ski season- and then over the summer I will remain in Canada become a camp councillor over the summer. Even thought that still needs to be ironed out- I know what I need to do.

So I have a lot report on this blog, and it will only grow as time goes on. So stay tuned!