As the dust settles on 2014’s A level results, if you didn’t get into uni or have just decided to defer your place, you might be plotting your gap year right about this second. Stats suggest a whopping total of 2.5 million young Brits are expected to plan a global getaway.
Gap years were once the reserve of dropouts and rebels, but underwent a cultural rebrand in 2000 when Prince William spent a year volunteering in Belize, Africa and Chile, making the gap year officially a thing.
Since then, their popularity has soared, and now gap year snaps are as ubiquitous Facebook fodder as passive aggressive statuses and Ice Bucket Challenges. Oh, and they went viral along the way with that YouTube video. Now you can’t swing a cat on Tinder without coming across a picture of a bloke posing with a tiger, a sun tan and a couple of palm trees. Proof that he’s spent the last 12 months broadening his horizons at Full Moon parties around the world.
But a recent spate of tragedies involving young Brits on their gap years has left us questioning whether that year abroad is really worth it. And if so, are we really, ready, aged 18, to explore the world like that?
In today’s No Shit Sherlock news, recent government research suggests that those that take gap years straight out of college are often more likely to engage in ‘risky behaviours’.
Jack Davies, 21, was recently found dead after a suspected suicide on the Thai island of Ko Phi Phi after his parents reportedly asked him to come home. Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22, were knifed to death in Borneo after a row with local thugswho accused them of being too noisy. Christi Kelly died in Kenya from malaria, after the anti-malaria drugs she was taking failed, and Henry Miller, 19, was found dead after taking local ritualistic hallucinogenic drugs in Colombia.
The preventability of these tragic deaths is debatable, but they do raise the question of whether at 19, or indeed 22, we are mentally or emotionally prepared to travel the world?
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In today’s big No Shit Sherlock news, recent government research suggests that those that take gap years straight out of college are often more likely to engage in ‘risky behaviours’. Just ask student, journalist and gap year-regretter Liam Deacon (whose piece* A Gap Year Is a Waste of Time, and You Don’t Deserve it* is a must-read) who went to Thailand – the number one gap year destination – at 17, inspired by social media-induced FOMO.
‘Safety wasn’t a priority at all. Some of the time you could even say we were actively seeking out danger. We were young, intrepid men, nowhere near our parents for the first time and looking for an adventure,’ he says to* The Debrief*. Often, that sense of adventure on includes alcohol.
Criminology student and fellow Thailand-goer Rosie Hobbs, 21, explained the consequences of losing her inhibitions at a Full Moon party at 18. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t good. ‘I was skipping with a fire skipping rope, jumped out of it and realised that my ankle, was literally on fire. The scab was gross and took weeks to heal,’ she says.
Gap360, who sell gap-year travel packages, reckon you’re safer travelling than you are at home because people are ‘more aware and alert as things are all so different.’ But bear in mind that a) they sell gap-year travel packages and b) they’re assuming a certain level of awareness and preparation from their customers.
They might offer advice on everything from safe sex to malaria meds, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to listen. And that’s even before a local guy tries to talk you into going whitewater rafting without a helmet, life jacket or indeed paddle, all for the princely sum of ten dollars.
I had never ridden a moped before and after a very wobbly riding lesson, we signed a waiver and went off up a mountain. I ended up being hit by a minibus and was hospitalised.
An often-lax approach to health and safety in different countries seems to be a common theme for lots of the travellers we spoke to, and you’ve got to be willing to stand up for yourself, and even risk being difficult if you want to stay safe.
Journalist Becky Barnes went travelling across South-East Asia at 23, and narrowly escaped death thanks to the safety consciousness she credits to travelling at a slightly older age. ‘When my friends and I rode mopeds in Pai, we had to specifically ask for a helmet and were taken out the back to some dusty old ones.
‘I had never ridden a moped before and after a very wobbly riding lesson, we signed a waiver and went off up a mountain. I ended up being hit by a minibus and was hospitalised. I somehow escaped without serious injury but if I hadn’t requested that dusty helmet, I could have been one of those names on the news.’
And it’s not just physical dangers that can affect a traveller. Going home after a long time travelling can wreak havoc with your mental and emotional health. Experts call this ‘Reverse Culture Shock’, and gap-year forums are full of its victims.
‘I travelled for approximately six-and-a-half months to 20 countries,’ writes one user. ‘I’ve been sad about being home pretty constantly since then. I just can’t shake the NEED to get back out there and travel. It’s there everyday. Will it ever go away?’
Gap-Year.com’s annual gap-year guide features extensive advice on preparing for, and hopefully beating the post-gap blues, from swotting up on RCS before you go to keeping a diary. But there’s evidence that the younger you are, the more likely you are to get RCS on your return home because your travelling experiences ‘do not build on the mature base of a well-formed personality.’
There is a small part of me that slightly regrets not travelling, but I definitely wasn’t confident enough to do it before uni.
And then there’s your career. Although past research has suggested that students who take a gap year before university get better results and take academia more seriously, does this apply to post-recession Britain? When young people are clamouring for a spot on the job ladder more fiercely than ever, and costs of living are ever rising, are gap years an out-dated luxury we can’t really afford any more?
Art Designer Jade Cooper-Collins put uni first, but then struggled to find the right time to travel afterwards. ‘After uni I set my sights on getting my dream job, which required A LOT of work experience, so I couldn’t risk taking a year off and missing out on vital opportunities,’ she says.
‘It certainly paid off, but there is a small part of me that slightly regrets not travelling. I definitely wasn’t confident enough to do it before uni. Instead I’m planning to take a few weeks off work to go travelling instead – a sort of compact gap year!’ Maybe a mini-gap year like Jade’s is the perfect solution for modern wanderlust?
Equally, there’s something to be said for reviving the idea of a gap year when you’re a grown up (read: over 24). Regional visual merchandiser Anna Sweet, 25, has been travelling to New Zealand and South East Asia with her boyfriend for the past year and feels, like Becky, she’s had a safer experience for delaying her gap year.
‘I’ve definitely had a better, safer experience. Mainly because I didn’t go for the partying and drinking, which is what I would’ve done at 18. I also know how to live on my own and look after myself. I’m a lot wiser now than I was back then. At 25, you’re a lot more street-wise and know what to look out for so you don’t get yourself into dangerous situations.’
Anna isn’t alone – the number of undergraduates taking a gap year has fallen by two-thirds in the last decade– with more people than ever under pressure to get a degree and work experience under their belt as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the average age for someone taking a gap year is ever-increasing. In 2012, 8 per cent of those taking gap years were over 36 (yes, 36). Just a year later, over half of those taking a year off were in their mid thirties or older. So if you do decide to take the plunge straight after your A levels, you might suddenly find yourself the youngest person in your hostel.
But despite their different approaches to timing their travels, and the risks involved, the young gappers we spoke to had one thing in common: no regrets. Becky said: ‘Even though I have been in risky situations, if it turns out all right, it tends to be a funny story.’ And as for Rosie, her experience (and scar) haven’t put her off travelling: ‘I recently re-visited Thailand,’ she tells me, before adding: ‘Although I steered well clear of any open fires at the Full Moon party.’
Sounds wise.
** Follow Gem on Twitter @GemFatale**
Picture: Rory DCS
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.