Gap Year Royal

Taking a gap year is the fashionable thing to do! Prince Harry took a gap year between finishing his A-levels and starting a career in the army. He spent three months in Australia (starting with the Rugby World Cup) and then three months working on a ranch in southern Queensland, Australia, where he learnt how to handle cattle and repair damaged fences. He also travelled and worked in southern Africa where he visited an orphanage for children with AIDS in Lesotho, and helped build a clinic and road-bridge. Way to go Harry!

Prince William also took a year out after Eton, visiting Chile and Africa before going to study at St. Andrews University in Scotland. He spent the first part of it in the Belize jungle sleeping in a hammock; wearing jungle combats, and eating army rations. He also worked on a farm in the UK before travelling to a remote part of Chile. As a volunteer for the charity Raleigh International, William helped build new walkways and teach English in a mountain village in the south of the country.

WHAT YOUR GAP YEAR CAN OFFER
A Gap year is taking a one-year break before going to university or embarking on a chosen career. This is an opportunity to have an adventurous holiday with a purpose. To take some YOU time and see what the world has to offer!

Nowadays, travellers want to get a little bit more out of their travels, and give a little bit back to the special places and people that they encounter. They want deeper and more authentic travel experiences that are integral to local people's traditions, cultures, and rituals.

Here are some of the best gap year ideas: holidays and travel experiences from all around the world that ensure that you will not only enjoy a holiday, but you will learn about a different culture and contribute something to their society. If you want to see the world, experience new cultures, and give something back as you go, then volunteer travel is for you. Whatever your age, whatever your background, if you have a 'can-do' attitude and a desire to make a difference, there are a wealth of worthwhile projects that could do with your help, from conservation to community development, from teaching to tourism.

TSUNAMI VOLUNTEERS IN SRI LANKA
Some of the world's most exciting and meaningful conservation placements are in Sri Lanka. These include leopard research and monitoring, as well as Elephant research and monitoring populations and impacts. Following the devastation caused by last year's tsunami, various projects have been set up to restore the beaches and houses along Sri Lanka's western coast. The debris collected on these beaches are turning them into breeding grounds for disease and making them unsuitable for habitation.
Volunteer teams are set-up to help with beach clearance activities, beginning with Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala and Moratuwa and working southward. Volunteers must be up for hard, physical work.

Activities might include cleaning affected beaches and houses, creating awareness among the community and in schools, about the importance of keeping the environment clean, encouraging local residents to become involved in the work on a voluntary basis and planting trees to protect the beaches from erosion.

CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERING IN AUSTRALIA
Involve yourself in an "extreme adventure" in the outback of Australia. You have the opportunity to work on a real life cattle station as a "jackaroo" or a "jillaroo" (Australian version of a cowboy/girl). Try your hand at mustering cattle and riding through the rugged Australian Outback. For the even more adventurous, volunteer your services to one of Australia's crocodile ranches. Here you will learn the importance of conservation and even have the chance to wrangle crocs up to 12 feet in length! Conservation volunteers will be hands-on people who love the outdoors. Be prepared for some hard physical work: you must be flexible, as the project will involve a variety of activities. This placement would suit a volunteer with a lot of initiative who is prepared to work individually and in a team.
Tree planting, erosion and salinity control, construction and maintenance of walking tracks, endangered flora and fauna surveys all contribute to conservation in Australia.

GAP YEAR IN KENYA
Visit the wide open spaces of this breathtaking African country. This is your chance to work in a wild and vast country and help put something back.
Work on a primate sanctuary, helping to care for and rehabilitate the rare Colobus Monkey and other primate species, or the Coral Reef Conservation as well as community projects in a local village. Swahili lessons, safety and first aid training, area orientation and an introduction to the community and projects are available. The camp structure is a bush camp environment, with local beach facilities. Here you can really get stuck in, and absorb the culture and atmosphere of the local village.

You will enjoy several days on safari and have the opportunity to participate in numerous beach activities. Adventure activities to enjoy whilst you are there include: snorkelling, scuba diving, game fishing, kite surfing and jet skiing.

Author Bio
Worldwide Experience www.worldwideexperience.com is renowned for offering exciting gap year placements located in several amazing countries all around the world. Year-round gap year placement opportunities include conservation, marine, teaching, medical and sports coaching projects, as well as general day to day activity-based projects, all around the globe.

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