The 'gap year' has always been a fantastic opportunity for travel, discovery and making a difference and the chance to take time off and see the world is becoming increasingly popular for all age groups. So whether you're picking up your A-level results this week, looking for that big career break or simply want to get the most out of your two week's off there's bound to be a volunteering placement thats perfect for you.
Here are some of our hot favourites, and some words of wisdom from travellers and the responsibletravel.com team who have had the chance to experience volunteering for themselves...
Community projects
Working in community centres and orphanages gives you an invaluable insight into how regeneration efforts such as these benefit individuals and their local communities. How about one of our community based trips like this
community project in Sri Lanka where you can spend up to 3 months working in Tsunami affected areas along the South-West coast?
We’ve got loads of fantastic community projects like this based in countries all over the world such as
Tanzania,
India,
Ecuador and
Thailand. Danielle Thompson volunteered in Tanzania and said "I think everyone should do this at least once as it's a real eye-opener."
Alex Lyons, part of our web team at responsibletravel.com volunteered for 6 months at a youth centre in New Zealand on his gap year. "I got to know the kids really well and had lots of responsibility for the social and educational activities the centre ran. Being so involved really let me get into the work and meant I could see how the project changed over time. It was a shame to leave in the end and I would love to go back and visit."
Conservation volunteering
There are lots of amazing opportunities to work on conservation projects as well and this is another great way to make the most of your time off. This
orangutan volunteering project in Borneo gives you the chance to work alongside some of the world’s most gentle and fascinating primates. Or you could help to monitor and preserve some of Africa’s most diverse wildlife in
South Africa.
Marine conservation is also one of our most popular types of gap year trip and with opportunities in
Mexico, Mozambique and even the
Galapagos Islands it is easy to find the perfect experience to suit you.
Jerrine Barnett in our customer services department spent three months on an elephant conservation project in Malaysia on her gap year. “It was a fantastic experience. We used to get up every morning and prepare milk and bread for the baby elephant at the sanctuary. In the afternoons we took the adult elephants down to the river to wash.
The sanctuary was free for tourists and we talked to them about the importance of conservation and protection in the Malaysian rainforest. Once we even had a school of 200 children visit from Kuala Lumpur which was brilliant if not a little overwhelming! Evenings were spent with locals in the village where we stayed. It was an unforgettable experience for me.”
Expeditions with a bit of volunteering 
We've seen a huge rise in enquiries from travelelers looking to combine volunteering within their holiday or gap year. Expeditions often combine adventure travel with a period of volunteer work and so create a popular balance between spending time getting to know a community and seeing the fantastic attractions of a whole country.
This
Inca and Amazon expedition combines two community projects in Ecuador and Peru as well as one week’s Spanish lessons and the famous Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu. Or how about the chance to discover India’s vibrant cities as well as sailing down the majestic Ganges and working on community projects in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?
Career breaks
Our career break section is packed full of great opportunities for those wanting to take time out from working life too. Teaching projects can be a really rewarding way to spend time away and we’ve got some fantastic teaching breaks on offer in
Ghana,
Thailand or
Peru.
Sylvia Schwall went on a teaching project in India and said "I really felt like I was living in India and experiencing every day life there and seeing how the locals lived."
Putting more specialised skills to use in another country is also a good way to get something out of a career break and advance your knowledge and experience of an area. How about a journalism internship in Honduras or business mentoring in Kenya?
Sophie Tanner in our account handlers team put her love of dogs and experience of working in animal rescue centres in the UK together to work at a street dogs rehabilitation centre in Mexico.
"I was struck by how many wild dogs were free to roam the streets in apalling conditions and doing this work really made my experience in Mexico worthwhile."
And finally...make sure your volunteering is responsible!
With everything from conservation and volunteering to cross country expeditions on offer it’s easy to see why gap years are becoming a more enticing option for many. But whether it’s a community project or a trekking holiday it's important to check that your gap year is really beneficial, for both you and the countries you are visiting.
Amelia Shepherd, Customer Services Manager at responsibletravel.com warns travellers of the importance of booking with a company that holds responsible tourism at the core of its business:
"Gap years are a great opportunity to take some time out and explore the world, picking up new skills and friends along the way, and we are hearing from more and more customers who have a real desire to do something worthwhile during their time away too.
"We strongly encourage travellers to choose companies that run trips and programmes that maximise the benefits to local communities and environments. Particularly with volunteer holidays, it's important that you choose a project that has been developed together with the local people so we recommend doing plenty of research and asking lots of questions of the companies you are considering."
Whatever you choose, volunteering really can be a life changing experience and finding one which benefits local communities and the environment is the perfect way to start.
Take a look at our great gap years and career breaks
Need help finding a great value holiday? Contact our helpdesk at rosy@responsibletravel.com
