Organize Your Gap Year Well & Live It to the Fullest

If you are planning a gap year, it’s perhaps the most perfect decision, because you are going to see the real life and experience the real world, moving out from the comfort of home and classroom. But remember that planning the itinerary of gap time can be tedious especially if you are doing it all on your own. You have to take care of many things, as it is not just about traveling, going to places and coming back. Of course, you have one easy option always through which you can pay a good company for organizing a part or entire of your journey, so that you don’t have to worry about anything. But if you want to go all on your own, here are some points to consider.

If you have planned to see the world during your gap time, it’s a fantastic decision. But planning is of course more essential as you have a vast range of places to choose from. The first and foremost thing you need to do is to decide when and where you want to go, for how long and what your budget is. At first, this may be mind-boggling as you possibly have never thought of this type of travel before. Here are some tips which can make your planning more fun than a task.

• Take the help of a world map travel planner and note down all the destinations you wish to visit.
• Arrange them in a rough order of “must-sees”.
• Arrange them also in their geographic order, i.e. which place would be convenient for you to access first and which one after that. This may also include the traveling options more easily available for you to certain destinations due to which it’s easy to visit those places first.
• Make special notes regarding, for example, segments which you would like to travel overland to.
• Decide when you want to leave your own country and how much time you want to spend at each destination.
• Decide what budget you want to plan for flights. A less amount will give you a few stops, while a bigger amount can give you a dream itinerary with more than 20 stops.

It’s not necessary that you should travel by air. It’s also possible that you don’t like air travel much or have some problem with it. In that case, you will have to plan your journey based on your choice of traveling option, i.e. ship, train, etc. However, to some places you will have to take flights, which too you should remember.

If you don’t consider taking out insurance before starting traveling for your gap year, it may be very risky. And it is also risky to take out inadequate insurance. Taking out insurance with a good insurance provider can save you in the event of problems in your travel, loss of possessions, political instability in another country, theft, medical conditions and so on. But before you take out insurance, inquire well about the company and also about the coverage given by various policies.

Along with the regular items you pack for traveling, don’t forget to carry enough warm clothes, sturdy and comfortable footwear, medicines for minor ailments, and sun-protection and insect-repellant creams. But also avoid carrying more items than just necessary. Remember that you can buy these items wherever you will be going. Also keep yourself informed about whether a particular item (like a medicine) which you need regularly to stay in shape is available in countries where you are going.

If you have paid to a company for planning your gap time, it is expected that they will provide you full preparation before you start your journey. If you are doing everything or a part on your own, you can take additional assistance from gap year management companies.

There are many companies which also offer courses regarding what safety measures you should take while planning your gap time. You can enroll for such a course.

Some quick and common safety tips are:

• Be health aware.
• Check visas.
• Get insurance
• No drugs.
• Be careful about alcohol.
• Take care of your possessions.
• Study the situation in the places which you will be visiting.
• Keep in regular contact with your near and dear ones.
• Have contact details of your country’s embassies in the places which you will be visiting.
• Carry a list of emergency phone numbers – both written and in your telephone diary.
• Keep enough money ready for any undesired situation, but don’t show it off in public.
• Keep your documents secure.

When you are traveling on a gap time, you will probably have a lot of information! It’s insurance details, passports, medical information, tickets, important names, addresses and telephone numbers, and much more. It is difficult to manage such vast information. In that case, you should keep all this data safe on some online storage system. An example of this is MyTSafe.com where you can keep copies of important documents safe and accessible any time, through any computer, smartphone, tablet or laptop, and through majority of browsers.

If you think doing all this is quite impossible for you, an easy option of hiring a good company for organizing your gap year is always available, which makes you free from the hassle of complex matters like arranging flights, visas, accommodation, insurance, health problems, safety issues, and more.

Planning your gap year itinerary should be fun and not exhaustion, and then you can enjoy your gap time in a true sense and live it to the fullest.