Dunford George - Lonely Planet The Big Trip: Your Ultimate Guide to Gap Years and Overseas Adventures

It started with the Grand Tour. Way back in the 17th century, upper-class British kids would complete their education by heading over to parts of Europe to experience museums, paintings and, more importantly, wines that theyd only studied or read about in school. For a few months theyd tour the continent, though most only went as far as Italy (probably something to do with the wine). All of them returned with enough stories, souvenirs and sores to last a lifetime.

Fast-forward a couple of hundred years. Cheap flights have meant that even more people are taking a year off and seeing a world outside of school books and dull history lessons. Whether its a gap year, an overseas experience (OE), an exchange program, a working holiday, a sabbatical, a year out or a year off, people want to head off to India, Italy, Israel or a thousand places in between to see what the world is really like. Today there are even more reasons to head overseas.

But hang on, cant you just see all of that on TV or find out everything you need to know about the world on Wikipedia? Only if you want to fake it. Theres no substitute for getting out there seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling what the world is. Some of the smells and tastes wont be good BTW, but at least youll have done it. You can shut the most boring book-smart expert up at parties just by saying Have you actually been there?

For many travellers, what starts out as a vacation ends up a vocation, a passion becomes a profession. Take the economics graduate who thought he was bound to work in an accounting firm but did a stint with a music distribution company during his gap year. He was so inspired hes been in music business ever since, so his year off changed his future entirely.

Sarah Bruce was a traveller who didnt just have a year off but used the time to check out a field she might be interested in. I volunteered overseas for five months with Trekforce Expeditions. This really changed my perspective and my priorities and it opened a door for me to work in the charity sector, doing marketing.

The jobs you do, the people you meet and the experiences you have can show you careers and life choices you never would have seen back home. Opportunities open up when youre travelling. But as Tom Hall warns us, The trip didnt answer my questions about what I wanted to do with my life but it remains the source of some of my happiest memories. Tom is now Director of Digital Editorial at Lonely Planet, so perhaps travelling did nudge him slightly in the direction of a career choice.

ESCAPING THE PARENT TRAP

So maybe your parents arent so keen on you going away for months on end. Theyre probably making noises about going to university, settling down or getting a good job in a bank. They really need to move on. Here are our best arguments to stop them fretting and get them shelling out for airline tickets:

Protective Research If you can tell them about the place youre visiting, it can be reassuring. Everyones going to freak out when they dont know where someones going, but if you can explain your itinerary it will seem more real. Helpful facts (They all speak English., Theres more than 30,000 tourists every year and they all seem okay. or Its one of the safest cities in Central America.) can also be useful. You can even get them to read a few chapters of this book so they can see youre taking this trip seriously.

Get Involved Get your parents to help out with the planning and show them a detailed itinerary they can even check progress on your blog. Show them youve got a budget and you have a time limit on the trip. You can always change itineraries later, but let them know when you do veer off the itinerary to save the grey hairs and panicked phone calls.

Phone Home Create a schedule for phoning home, texting or whatever (there are more tips in Part One, ). Make sure its reasonable (calling every hour is crazy but only ringing once a month could lead to parental tears) and stick to it.

On Course Prove youre committed to the trip by doing a course (see , for more clues on this). Learning to speak a language, taking a first-aid course or even picking up some basic travel skills are all good ways to show that youre taking this seriously.