MORE INFO
contiki.com
statravel.com
responsibletravel.com
raleighinternational.org
afid.org.uk
babble.com
thegrown-upgapyear.combreak do a stint volunteering as part of their
travels. Just be realistic, says Justin Francis,
CEO of Responsible Travel. “You’re not going
to change the world, but for those you do
help, you can make a world of diference.”
Francis says it’s imperative to research the
organisation you’re volunteering with to be
sure that there’s a real need for your skills.
“If you have genuine skills you can ofer a
community, then do, but before taking any
employment, consider if the job is one that
could be illed by a local,” he says.
Companies like Raleigh International can
set you up with a placement that plays to your
strengths. It’s also worth seeing if there are
schemes tied speciically to your profession
— like AFID (Accounting for International
Development), which sends up to 180 British
accountants to work with charities abroad
each year (interestingly, they have a 50:50
gender split). “By using their professional skills
in a diferent context, they reenergise,” says
volunteer manager Dave Busby. “Oten they
come back and decide they want to go
in another direction more permanently
— they look for work in the charity sector. Or
they’re happy to go back to the commercial
world — they’ve scratched that itch and have
a diferent perspective on how valuable their
skills are. They come back with soter skills
too — they’ve worked in a diferent culture,
with limited resources, and have worked with
non-inance people. Having that perspective
is good for an employer.”
Some volunteers never come back, of
course. Others have an epiphany and make
life-changing decisions. A sabbatical in
Costa Rica and Nicaragua prompted Damian
and Joanne Withers to ditch their careers
in architecture and photography and start
a hosted self-catering business, St Mark’s
Stays, in Cumbria. Janice Miller spent 20 years
working for multinational companies before
a volunteering trip to Peru led her to found
Kidasha, a children’s charity in Nepal. Then
there are the more personal revelations: writer
Katie Butler’s year in Australia and Southeast
Asia by bike saw her shed 35kg and ultimately
become an endurance cyclist.
It’s not all about work, though; a career
break like this is about doing something for
yourself. A grown-up gap year eliminates
responsibility, says Lianne Young, who
went from being a gym manager to a sex
and relationships counsellor following a
round-the-world trip. “Having less means
obtaining more, both physically and mentally
— we oload mental, physical and material
pressures,” she says. “Backpacking makes you
realise we don’t actually need so much in our
lives. Your conidence grows as you travel and
you see life from a new perspective. It’s the
best therapy.”
So will you regret it? Not according to
55-year-old supply chain consultant Chris
Barrett, who took a grown-up gap year 28 years
ago. Before leaving, he wasn’t sure whether
it would harm his career; now he says he
wouldn’t hire anyone without some travelling
under their belt. “My only regret is that it
leaves you with an appetite to do more — I
can’t watch travel programmes because I get
intensely jealous,” he says. “I’m fairly conident
it didn’t do me any harm in my career. If any
organisation was unwilling to consider me,
they’re not the kind I’d want to work in.”October 2019 197GROWN-UP GAP YEARS