EP10: Got Graduating Kids?Let’s Talk About a GAP Year!

We discuss the advantages of high school graduates taking a gap year. Enjoy an interview with Raina and Maxime, who took a year long, educational, gap year around the world with Education First, (EF.) *Side note, EF sponsors a team in the Tour de France! They wear the pink jerseys.

What is a GAP year?- A gap year is a break, typically after high school, to rest and recharge before moving on to college or another full-time endeavor, and it provides an opportunity to pursue activities like travel, community service, or experimenting with a new vocation. The goal is to regroup, contemplate and to have interpersonal growth to help clarify a path forward.

EF GAP YEAR- The company that we chose for Raina’s gap year. They claim that the benefits of this program are to “gain confidence and independence, to expand your global citizenship, to have self-discovery, and to gain real world skills”. The program at the time, (although it is very different now) had three main modules, language immersion, service learning/community service, and an international internship. EF also offers shorter programs like a semester abroad if the full year is more than you would like.

**Interview with our daughter, Raina, and her boyfriend, Maxime, as they share their experience taking an educational gap year and traveling around the world. In this interview, we discuss their decision to take a gap year and how that decision was received with friends/family. They share with us their expectations, fears, and goals for the gap year and how those panned out. They reflect on their time abroad with honest answers about their ups and downs, safety concerns, and describe the challenges and rewards and where they are now.

Learn more at https://efgapyear.com/next-steps/ and mention “MeAndHer Travel” for a discount!

PS- the photo on their link is of Raina and her friend Dez while in Barcelona on their Gap Year.

TIPS: Skyscanner and Google Translate App.