After a trekking across the northern hemisphere in our last two blog posts on the major gap year regions of the world, today we’re going to finish off our tour by sweeping across Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
Africa
Africa is probably the least visited continent by people on gap years, perhaps because here in the West it is a continent that we are all too quick to associate with instability and danger. While North Africa is still in the midst of political volatility and sub-Saharan Africa is by no means the safest region of the world, those with a true sense of stepping outside of their comfort zone tend to come back from Africa with tales of experiences of life-changing proportions.
Things you can do: There are abundant volunteering opportunities in teaching, the environment, healthcare, agriculture and tourism–and they’re opportunities that will allow you to make a real difference to a local community.
An ideal destination for: people who want a gap year that is based around making a contribution to people and communities.
Maybe not for you if: you’d like a gap year where you can take a free and easy approach; backpacking from city to city and across borders is far trickier here than elsewhere.
Latin America
Latin America has undergone huge changes in recent decades, leaving behind the dictatorships and instability that characterized it for much of the twentieth century. And in the process it’s become firmly on the gap year map. There’s a bit of everything here to suit all different gap year tastes, from volunteering to raucous partying in some of the world’s hippest cities.
Things you can do: Backpacking in the truest gap year tradition; volunteering in teaching and conservation.
An ideal destination for: people who’d like to mix being involved in a voluntary project with a stint of carefree backpacking. It’s also a great destination if you want to pick up Spanish, one of the world’s major languages, as part of your adventure.
Maybe not for you if: Latin America is a more culturally homogenous region than some of the other ones we’ve looked at here, so if you’re looking for huge changes of scene in short distances, Southeast Asia may be a better bet.
Oceania
Our world tour ends in Oceania. And although this region is the furthest from the UK, in terms of culture and language it’s perhaps closer to home than all the other ones we’ve looked at. Nevertheless, Australia and New Zealand offer experiences that gap yearers have been raving about on their return home for years.
Things you can do: Backpacking through hip cities, beach communities, mountain ranges; working via a BUNAC visa.
An ideal destination for: people who are looking to combine the crazy fun times of travelling through Southeast Asia with the sort of familiarity you’d get by going to North America.
Maybe not for you if: You’re looking to use your gap year to challenge yourself by immersing yourself in a totally different society.