Gap Year Magazine

HOME OR AWAYA GUIDE TO YOUR GAP YEAR

Get to know...

SOUTH EAST ASIAFrom tubing in the VangVieng to cuddling TigersIn Chang Mai.

A DAY IN THE LIFEWhat it’s

really like to be a party

island worker

Your capsule wardrobe sorted for four gap year destinations

CAMP AMERICA Spend the summer

living your American Dream5 career

boosting destinations inand out of the UK

Editor’s letter

Hey fellow travelling enthusiasts, welcome to Home or Away, the December 2013 issue.2013 as a whole has been a crazy year for gap years, since the rise of university fees in 2012. There is now less of a hurry to find a univer-sity place and more time to spend travelling the world or gaining job experience, and with studies from the University of Western Australia showing gap year students receive higher degrees, there’s no better time than now. STA travel have labelled South East Asia the most popular destination for students looking to spend their gap year travelling. From tigers in Thailand to tubing in Vang Vieng, it has certainly got what it takes to attract over the 28 million tourists a year that it does.Other gap year experiences that are looking likely to increase in popularity over the next few years are interrailing and Camp America. More and more people have been trying these out as money isn’t such an issue compared to travel-ling to countries on the other side of the world. Interrailing can be done very cheaply thanks to low price train fare and hostels and Camp America pays you to work. A positive situation all round. But remember, gap years aren’t all abouttravelling and venturing abroad. Sometimes it’s best to work in the industry in the UK gaining CV and future job experience. It can only put you in a better position than before.This issue offers you advice, reviews and personal experiences on all the current gap year opportunities, whilst providing fashion tips for these occasions, interviews with people who have been there first hand and some light hearted embarrassing stories, just to keep us laughing. It also provides tips on how to pay for your gap year and how to get fit beforehand, as we’re aware many of you will be searching after that ‘bikini body’ if you’re travelling abroad.Our aim is to help you achieve your perfect gap year, offering any information we can. If it’s not in here, it’s not worth knowing. All that’s next is for you to get reading and decide on that destination. Best wishes on your year out,

Your Editor, Daisy Castle

Contents page

Editors Letter

South East Asia• Vietnam • Thailand• Laos• Cambodia

Working in the Uk

Fashion

Life’s a beach

Work in the U.S.A

Fitness

Life on the rails

What destination for me

Say yes to the gap year

Should I stay or should I go

No business like snow business

Ridin’ solo

Climbimg high

Money

Interview

Cringe page

2345

6

7

8 & 9

10, 11 & 12

13

14 & 15

16 & 17

18

19

20, 21 & 22

23

24 & 25

26 & 27

28

29

Picture courtesy of Alex Martinelli

SOUTH EAST ASIAFor most students, South East Asia is the perfect gap year destination. Whether you’re the ancient culture and architecture type, or just want to party on the other side of the world, Indochina offers it all. With over 28 million tourists each year, it is thought of as a favourite amongst students.Zach Greed, an employee at student travel company STA said: “We get most of the student travellers wanting to go to South East Asia, it is definitely the most popular destination amongst them”.

With that in mind, here is a guide of what to see and do whilst you’re there.

VIETNAM

Vietnam has a culture rich in war-time history. It has been occupied by China four times, been under French colonisation from 1802-1945 and was the scene of cultural genocide from 1956-1975.

The country’s demilitarized zone (DMZ), is the site and the remains of the American and Vietnamese war. Tours start from Hue visiting the Khe Sanh Combat Base, The Rockpile, Vinh Moc Tunnels and many more war settings.

For independent travelling, hire a 100cc moped from a

town is more known for its upmarket feel. It offers fine dining, shopping, historic architecture and personal tailoring.

Ha Long Bay is one of the most popular destinations to visit in Vietnam because of its beautiful blue sea and fascinating caves. Take a two-day boat trip around the bay where it’s possible to kayak in the sea, visit the floating shops and explore the caves first hand, before being able to return to the comfort of your boat with a personal chef. These can be arranged in any of the travel agents with prices ranging from £30-£60.

local hire garage. Mopeds cost around £4-£6 per day with un-limited fuel. Try trav-elling from the north to the south using Vietnam’s most dangerous road, the Ho-Chi-Minh-Trail, starting in Hanoi and ending in Saigon. The scenery becomes less about war and more about beauty the further into the south you go.

Other places worth a visit are the town of Hoi An and Ha Long Bay. Hoi An was once known for its spice trade to Indonesia in the seventh and tenth cen-turies making it one of the most important trading spots in South East Asia. Now, the

Page 2 Home or Away Dec 2013

Picture courtesy of Bernard Oh

Thailand is the most com-mercial of all the Indochinese countries since they went through an economic boom from 1985-1996. Tourism is the biggest contributing factor to the Thai economy, with more than 22 million visitors in 2012. Thailand offers travelling on a low budget, perfect for students but boasts a variety of five star hotels for anyone de-manding a more luxurious stay.

Bangkok is the city’s capital and offers everything you expect a capital city to with its busy streets and vibrant nightlife. The waft of food is not from a hot dog stand but from a streetfood stall offer-ing specialties such as pad thai and the taxis are not normal cars, they are tuk-tuks, which can only be described as a three wheeled, multi-coloured ve-hicle resembling a golf cart.Khao San road or ‘backpack-ers road’, is the main road for student travellers to stay. It was formally known as the major rice market in Bangkok,

explaining its translation of Milled Rice Road. However, now it is party central for the many travellers. The street stays open until the early hours of the morning with tattoo and hair braiding stalls, bars that spill out onto the street and underground clubs, perfect for letting your hair down.

For something more up mar

ket there is the sky bar onthe 63rd floor of the Lebua hotel, the highest bar in the world.

Situated 820 feet up in the air, the bar gives a great view of the whole of Thailand. As the set for a few scenes in ‘The Hangover:Part 2’ the bar has now become an iconic place to visit in Thailand with Thailand’s signature drink being the cocktail made for the cast whilst filming at the bar.

grown adults. For the ulti-mate relaxation experience try the southern islands such as Ko Phi Phi and Ko Samui. Ko Phi Phi was hit by the 2004 Tsunami destroying its entire infrastructure, but it has now mostly been re-stored.These beautiful islands with their crystal blue seas and bright white beaches are perfect for a relaxing few days. They were the set for Leonardo Dicaprio film The Beach so often receive many visitors wondering if it lives up to expectations. At night these beaches are home to the famous ‘full moon party’, a night that happens every full moon in Thailand where thousands of people gather on the beach with alcohol, music, per-formers and a lot of uv paint. This is a night many clubs in England try to recreate but nothing comes as good as the real thing.

THAILAND

Chang Mai is typically the next stop for travellers after Bangkok.

This is the adventurous part of Thailand where cuddling tigers, riding elephants through the forest and watching live mai thai box-ing matches are the norm. Tiger Kingdom is just ten miles away from the town centre in Mae Rim and is easy to get to via taxi or an ar-ranged tour.

It is a main tourist attraction where travellers can come and have their photo taken with tigers ranging from four month old babies to full

Dec 2013 Home or Away Page 3

Picture courtesy of roslin

Picture courtesy of Jimmy Hsu

LAOS

Laos is a country relatively new to the tourist scene and is currently trying to develop its towns to become more tourist friendly. As a third of the population live below the pover-ty line, tourism is a good way for the country to try and boost their economy.

With a population of 6.5million, Laos is a rather small country making it easy to get about. The Capital city of Vientiane is great for cycling around so bicycles are a popular choice among tourists to check out the rivers, wats and temples. Vientiane became the capital of Laos in 1563 after the country feared there would be a Burmese invasion. If you’re a woman be sure to cover shoulders and knees. Laos is a strongly religious country and it is considered disrespectful to show too much flesh.

One part of Laos that is known for its tourism and surprisingly a lot of flesh on shown is Vang Vieng.

This town is fantastic for the adventurous traveller, with its most famous attraction being tubing. This is drifting down the river inside a lorry tyre, stopping off at various tree-house bars on route for cocktail buckets. There are also slides and swing ropes set up for anyone daring enough to try.

In the evening, the centre of Vang Vieng offers many restaurants, bars and clubs which stay open until 7am with many deals on food and drinks. For a more relaxed evening there are the sofa bars. These bars, instead of chairs, have sofas with built-in trays for your food and drink. ‘Friends’ is played repeatedly on the TV so make yourself cosy for the evening, and take yourself back to the English way of life.


Picture courtesy of isriya

Picture courtesy of Krissyho

Picture courtesy of happychildhood

CAMBODIA

Cambodia, officially named The Kingdom of Cambodia is the last destination on the list. Its economy is on a con-tinuous high and has one of the best economic records in Asia. According to The World Bank, Cambodia’s economy grew by ten percent each year from 1998-2008 and is set to continue this way for 2014.The country is rich in reli-gious architecture such as monumental temples, built by the Indianized Kingdom. The most famous temple

This is just a whistle stop tour of what South East Asia has to offer, there are many more sites but these are the most student friendly. Now all that’s left to do is book those tickets and get out of here.

being Ankor Wat, where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider, which can be found in Siem Reap. Siem Reap has many other temples and ruins such as Beng Mealea, Bantaey Srei and the holy mountain Phnom Kulen.

Cambodia is also home to the Killing Fields, situated in Tuol Sleng. These are the sites where many were killed and buried by the Khmer Re-gime.This may not sound like a typically student trip but many who have visited say it was life changing to see. Rhianna Mcardle, a student

at the University of Central Lancashire said: “It was surre-al, there was still the markings in the trees and floors with scrap material of clothing on. I felt very emotional and I’m glad that I went as it definitely put my life into perspective and made me feel very lucky”.

Why not end your stay in Cambodia with a celebratory drink in Battambang at Cam-bodias first winery, toasting to the amazing adventure and preparing yourself for the reality of England to set in.


Picture courtesy of Pim Van Boesschoten

Pictures courtesy of Jens Lagemyr

Picture courtesy of Austrone-sian Expedition

Picture courtesy of jmw120

students to gain experience in the industry.

Volunteering is another way students can improve the state of their CV as it is a selfless deed and doesn’t involve being paid. Volunteering sites such as workingforacharity.org help to find people placements at different charities in the UK through foundation courses.

Pete Byrne, formerheadmaster of Hulme Grammar High school encourages his students taking a gap year to work in the industry if they have the chance. He said: “I believe students should try and gain some job experience before uni-versity. It will give them an advantage when applying for their first job and will help them work our their future career paths”.

By Daisy Castle

When most people hear the term ‘gap year’ they automatically picture them-selves lying on a beach somewhere hot or explor-ing foreign cities, map in hand. No one thinks about being stuck behind an office desk or on a shop till.

With 80% of students working in the UK at some point on their gap year, it is clearly a popular choice but when asked, most students consider a gap year to mean abroad.Rachel Whararrd, a studentat the University of Leeds is amongst this student mind-set. “When I hear people talking about their gap years, I instantly assume they went to another country, I never think of someone spending it in the UK. However now it’s beenmentioned, I can see it would be useful for thefuture”.

There are many reasons for students to choose the UK as their gap year destination ranging from wanting to earn money for university to the fact they just aren’t ready for university life yet. Laura Purcell, a student at Leeds Met University spent her gap year work-ing in Next in Cheshire to enable herself to feel confident leaving home. She said: “I never wanted to go travelling but I knew I wanted to take a year out before uni to build my confidence and grow up so I could cope away from home”. Students also spend a year in the UK to improve their CVs in order to be in the best employ-ability position for when they leave university. Large companies such as KPMG and Ernst and Young run summer intern-ships specifically for

Working in the UK

Picture courtesy of drivsanPage 6 Home or Away Dec 2013

Fashion Frenzy Whether you are off to climb Everest or work for a recruitment firm in the UK you are going to need a brand new wardrobe for that. Home or Away have done the hard work for you, bring-ing you the main items of clothing you will need for your destination of choice, they’re even easy on the pennies.

Thailand .

T-shirt-Topman. £14

Swim shorts-Topman - £22

Beach cover-Asos- £18

EverestWhen climbing the highest mountain in the world, clothing will have to warm and com-fortable.

Berghaus Gore-Tex Jacket - Out-door- £65

DeWalt thermo fleece- Tooledup.com - £33.95

Outdoor mask hood-Ebay-£3.95

Icy Park climbing boots-Zalan-do.com- £120

Magaluff For this popular party destination, the less clothes the better.

Vest-Asos-£6

ASOS denim shorts-Asos-£9

Chino shorts-Topman-£24

V hem crop top-New-Look-£9.99

Camp AmericaThink sports wear and comfort, and clothes you don’t mind getting tugged at by chil-

T-shirt-Topman-£7

Nike Dual-Nike-£30.39

Panache swinsuit-Asos-£17.50

For this modest country, think cover ups and cool t-shirts. The more clothes, the better for this place.


Roberts flew over to the Spanish Island of Magaluf in May 2013. With a one-way flight and only two hundred Euros’ in her pocket, she needed to find an apartment fast and a job that would keep her going for the next four months. “Me and my friend purposely booked early flights so we could spend the first day apartment and job hunting,” says Roberts. “Within the first few hours of landing we had somewhere to stay for the season and a trial shift promoting for Club M, one of the biggest clubs on the strip.”

After a month of promoting, partying and anything but peace, Roberts and the other workers were fully in the Magaluf mode. Waking up at two every afternoon, after only a few hours sleep, didn’t dampen her spirits, it only made her appreciate the fact that she wasn’t waking up to the constant doom and gloom of typical English weather.

“We would wake up, get dressed in our bikini’s and head straight to the Eurobar

for breakfast/lunch” explains Roberts. The Eurobar is a main hang out for the workers of Magaluf, where any food on the menu is only one Euro. When you want a decent meal without spending too much money, this is the place to eat.

When finished eating the standard breakfast of sausage, eggs and beans, Roberts and her friends would head over to Soltavento, a neighboring hotel with a pool, where most of the workers would meet up and relax in the day before starting their shifts at night. “Working at night was always the best option for me as you got to relax and meet up with people in the day, then at night you could party after your shift had finished. You got the best of both worlds,” she says. Constant tanning and relaxing by the pool must have been an added bonus!

After topping up on her tan Roberts would head back to the Eurobar for dinner, which usually consisted of saus-

Working every day in the boiling hot sun, rubbish pay and cheap food. Sounds horrendous right? Wrong! Leeds Metropolitan student Jade Roberts gives us the ins and outs of the typical

day-to-day life working in one of Europe’s biggest party destinations, Magaluf.

Life’s a beach


age and mash. Then a quick nap back at the apartment before getting ready for work, which started at 11pm.

Promoting on the strip involves ap-proaching groups of people and trying to get them to come and drink in the club you work for, “It is surprisingly hard go-ing up to people and trying to persuade them to do something when you know that they would rather be left alone” ex-plains Roberts. “Some people actually got quite nasty but luckily the bouncers of the club were always there looking out for the staff. For 50 Euros a night, it was worth the trouble.”

By the time Roberts finished work at five in the morning, she was already drunk as she was allowed to drink on her shift. As this was the time that the majority of clubs closed, all the workers would meet up and go to Tokyo Joe’s, a bar on the strip that stayed open until seven in the morning. “Sometimes we would walk down to the beach and maybe go skinny

dipping but usually we would go for a few more drinks and a dance.” The party-ing would finish at around seven, whenthe workers would head back to their apartments only to wake up in a few hours and start all over again.

When asked what were the downsides of working away for four months, the only answer Roberts could give was “Coming back to England.” A serious case of the ‘Magaluf blues’ lasted for about a month after returning. Missing the sun, sea and surroundings was only made better with the promise of a Magaluf reunion in Leeds in October. This is where all the Magaluf workers meet in Leeds for one night and reminisce about their time working abroad together and party like they did in Magaluf.

For anyone who wants to live a party lifestyle, this sounds like the summer of your dreams. Four months of sun, sand, cool cocktails on the beach, and constant partying with new and old friends. Perfection! Dec 2012 Home or Away Page 9

Picture courtesy of Lozula

In America there are an estimated 7,000 overnight camps and 5,000 day camps for more than 11 million children to enjoy the best summer experience they can. The camps are staffed by Americans as well as people from all over the world who apply through different online companies.Gap 360, Camp Leaders, Discover America are all websites where people can apply to work at one of the camps in a specialised area, or a general counsellor. However with 14,636 followers on Twitter and 31,591 likes on Facebook the most popular scheme students will go through is Camp America. Since 1969 the company has been the nation’s biggest provider for international staff to summer camps in the USA, hence why everyone knows someone who has completed a summer using this programme. In 45 years, 165,000 applicants have been placed in one of the camps around the coun-try and enjoyed one of the best summers of their lives. Ryan Maskell, 25 has worked for Camp America for five years now said: “Students get bored of the normal summer holiday with their mates, year after year. After that wild week away with your mates, what do you do for the rest of the eight weeks off? With the Camp America programme you have the most amazing summer ever and experience stuff that would be appropriate to tell the grandkids years down the line!’The application for Camp America is a lengthy process, but you can keep coming back to it bit by bit and it will be finished in

Fancy getting paid whilst seeing the world? Well now you can, working for the most establishedsummer camp programme there is...

BORN WORK IN THE

USA

no time. Just like any application process you have done the key is to big yourself up, selling yourself to someone who has never met you. Looking at the application at a glance you will feel you have to an amazing sporting athlete, or study childhood education to get in, you don’t. If you babysit your little brother/sister/cousin and play football with your mates down the park, these are vital elements that you MUST put in your applica-tion.

Once the application is complete, the next step is to choose two references that are sure to speak very highly of you, so choos-ing your manager a work when you turn up every day late would not be the smartest idea. Having completed the application you are contacted by Camp America and asked to choose one of their friendly and reliable staff members to conduct an informal inter-view. Camp America put their success down to the committment of their staff, quoting on their website: “They love the job and gain satisfaction from helping people fulfil their dreams. The staff offer unprecedented sup-port and dedication with most of our staff having been to Camp America themselves.”Aimee O’sullivan, 23 went to camp three times

“The nations biggets provider for international staff ”


FOUR FUN FACTS ABOUT AMERICA:

1. The most populated city in the US is New York City, fol-lowed by Los Angeles and Chica-go.

2. America was the leading force behind the development of the Internet

3.If Bill Gates gave every sin-gle penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.

4. The United States has a teen pregnancy rate of 22 percent - the highest in the world.

before she was offered the chance to interview Camp America applicants in her home time of Swindon. She said: “It’s good for returners to become interview-ers because they have experienced camp before as well as the American culture/life-style, making them more knowledgeable than someone who hasn’t had the experience. As well as interviewing, the re-turner can make the new applicant feel comfortable and excited about the programme.” After this the Countdown clock begins, go-ing about your daily life dealing with people asking ‘What are you doing this summer?’, friends booking their summer holiday whilst you are sat playing a waiting game with yourself , you even start to think will you eventually get placed. Then, imagine the feeling when you passed your driving test, got into University or col-lege … that’s the feeling you get when you get placed. Some of you will get placed and have months or weeks to prepare, others will have days, so be ready for anything. When people first apply for Camp America money is the last thing you take into consideration, but it becomes factor once you fork out £771, for flights, first night’s accommodation at a Ramada hotel an ex-cellent chance to mingle and the most im-portant thing you will need on the trip - your Visa. Camp America will pay you $700-$850 depending on your age, this is estimated at £450 - £545 for your six weeks work, and if you try and work out how much this is an hour – don’t. The 24 hours before you fly you are taken on an emotional roller-coast-er, excited for all the new opportunities and friends you will met along the way. Apprehensive in case you feel the pro-gramme isn’t for you, nervous, as let’s face it spending three months in a different coun-try, not knowing anyone is a scary experience. But you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel these emotion, just be happy you got a place and are about to spend a summer like no other.Most reading this will fly from Heathrow, the third busiest airport in the world, let this not faze you as soon you will be welcomed with open arms by the other plane full Camp America applicants.


Picture courtesy of Willow Grove

Picture courtesy of Heraldpost

Surya Campbell, 23 was a nervous, first timer last year recalls her airport experience, “Before Camp America I was the shyest per-son ever, so the bit of my Camp America experience I was most worried about was the airport, but I don’t know why. Pulling up to the car park in my Camp America shirt I felt I would be the only person making the fashion statement , how wring I was. At the check in the queue was basically full of people wear-ing the t-shirt so there was nothing to be worried about. I made friends instantly.”Once you come back from camp your Face-book friends will have doubled, as this is the best way to keep in contact with the people you got ridiculously drunk with on the first night in hotel, right? The morning after the night before, you are woken up to a typical American breakfast of a chocolate chip muffin , Lucky Charms and an Orange juice then off you and your new friends will be off to camp for six weeks of hard graft. Depending on the camp you are placed at activities range from specific dance camps, to special needs camps where you could be looking after a 56 year old man.

Once you arrive at camp, you will be given a room which you will share with fellow camp friends, these people are the ones who you will sharing your deep late night chats to, and nine times out of ten will become friends for life. During the first week of camp, you go through the orientation process, playing the typical ice breaker activities and completing treasure hunts in teams. In-between all this, you will learn about what is expected of you, in the time you are there, the eight weeks will be the toughest but best times of your life. The first day hundreds of kids turn up to your camp, will the first day it will hit you that this is your summer, so grab it with both hands and go and socialise with the kids. When the children first come, they will be sitting around for a good few hours, getting their medicine sorted and the most important bit – the dreaded LICE CHECK!To apply for this opportunity that will give you stories to tell the Grandkids log on to www.campamerica.co.uk . But you best be quick as applications close at the end of April and the competition is fierce. GOOD LUCK!

By Niamh Hamill

What to pack?

With a baggage allowance of 23kg for 8 weeks, think logically and invest in vacumm bags, these let you put almost double the amount of clothes in your case and at £6.99 for four from Argos, they wont hurt your wallet either.

Email your camp before hand and ask if there is anything specific you need, fancy dress costimes and a one peice costumes are noramally on the top of most counsellors packing list.

The weather in America can change drastically so be prepared by taking some tracksuit bottoms and thick jumpers as well as shorts and tops.

Picture courtesy of daniel.chodusov


Five Minutes of...FITNESS Going to the gym can seem like going to hell, and finding an excuse like ‘you have to paint your nails’ or ‘I’m finishing a TV series’ are easy ways of getting out of it. But, with only a couple of weeks left until you jet off to your chosen Gap Year destination you are more than likely going to want to shed those extra pounds, before strip-ping half naked in to your swimwear.

Eating Healthy The more colourful your plate is, the healthier the meal according to Food and Health expert James A. Joseph. It is a well-known fact that everyone is recommended to have 5 A DAY. This may sound like something you can’t do, but a 150ml of fruit juice counts as one portion, one banana that would cost you 20p would count too, as well as keeping your wallet happy.

Joining a GymWith the average gym membership costing £40 a month, accounting up to £480 a year it’s a won-der why people don’t use them. You do not have to sign up to the plushest of gyms, which have TV monitors planted in the treadmills, yes, it’s a nice idea, but you are there to work out and not catch up on Corrie. Pure Gym has 43 branches across the UK and costs £19 a month or £6 a visit if you chose the pay as you go option.

Home GymWell known celebrities and trainers each year bring out their very own fitness DVDs for you to do in the comfort of your own home. There is a workout DVD for every exercise imaginable from yoga to kick-box-ing. The DVDs include a combination of cardio and strength training exercises that aim to help you lose the pounds. The top selling fitness DVD on play.com is, Davina: fit in 15 by the former Big Brother present-er Davina McCall, costing £13.70. If doing a DVD in your living room isn’t up your street, why not actually run down your street?

Life On The Rails2nd Year student Declan Bullen tells the story of his journey around Europe as an

inter-railer

“It wasnt as easy as we expected”

The life of a young traveller has always been seen as a glamorous and adven-turous life. But what is the reality?

In order to experience living life on the rails, Declan Bullen, a History student at the University of Liverpool, gathered a group of friends and began to plot a route around Europe. From looking at train times and stations, the cheapest hostels, the best cities to visit as well as the route itself, it seemed as though the joys of travelling were not necessar-ily to be found in the planning.

“In theory it looked like we would just need to choose a few cities around Europe, pick the nearest hostel to any points of interest, and book a train. It sounded pretty simple to be honest and we thought it would be pretty easy

to do. It wasn’t as easy as we expected though” said Bullen.

After weeks of research into cities and possible train routes, Bullen and his friends had come up with a plan that would take them to eight European cities in three weeks. Their trip would start in Amsterdam, from there they would travel to Berlin then into Eastern Europe to Prague and Budapest.

“These were the main cities that we wanted to make sure that we covered while we were travelling. Partly be-cause we all know people who have been there and said they were great, but mostly because we knew that the beer was cheap” laughed Bullen.

At this point sacrifices had to be made when it came to the amount of time that the group were willing to stay on one train. The train that would take them from Budapest to their next des-tination, Milan, would require an over-night journey that would take over 14 hours to get them from one place to the other. “It wasn’t something that we wanted to do really but we just had to accept that it was just the way we were going to have to do it. There was no way around it really.”

The trip would then take them across Spain through Valencia and Barcelona and finally travelling through France to finish in Paris. With the route all set up, all the hostels and trains booked it was time to set off. “I knew that Amsterdam would be a great place to start just be-cause I had heard so many great things about it. It was also the easiest place to fly to and just made it easier to do a circular route around Europe without having to double back on ourselves at some point” said Bullen.

Amsterdam is the ninth most popular city in Europe and with the Red Light District, 51 museums, 36 nightclubs and 165 canals that offer a tour by boat, there is really something for everybody, and Bullen and his friends knew it. They stayed in the city centre for 2 nights and made the most of their time there. Some of the main attrac-tions that they covered included the Anne Frank Museum, the Heineken Brewery, and of course no trip to Am-sterdam would be complete without a night out in the Red Light District. With all these attractions ticked off their to-do list it was time to move on. Ber-lin has been a popular destination for groups of lads to spend a couple of


Life On The Rails2nd Year student Declan Bullen tells the story of his journey around Europe as an

inter-railer

nights soaking up the atmosphere as well as the steins.Over six million tourists visit Berlin every year and this year it was time for Bullen and his friends to join the ranks. “We all go to different universities and we’ve all been to the German market in our city centres at Christmas so we thought that if we enjoyed the UK ver-sion of a German night out then going to the capital would be something that we couldn’t really miss. You can’t beat a Stein after all” said Bullen.

The hostel that the group stayed at was located only half a mile from the famous Checkpoint Charlie meaning that not only was the group a stone’s throw from the city’s nightlife but they were also within walking distance of some of the city’s famous historical monuments. The next leg of their journey took them into Eastern Europe through Prague and Budapest. These are two of the most popular stag and hen party desti-nations in Europe and it soon became clear why. At less than £2 a pint Bullen and his friends were able to have the fun of a British night out for a fraction of the price.

“Prague was probably the place that I was looking forward to the most. I had heard so many great things about it and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint. Cheap drink is always going to help of course”.

Unfortunately at this point the trip took a turn for the worse. Due to rea-sons that still puzzle the group to this day they were not able to get a train that would take them from Budapest to Milan. This meant that plans needed to be changed. The group were forced to

get a train from Budapest to Geneva and then from there hop on a train to Milan. This meant that they would spend a total of 17 hours on trains just for this one section of the journey.

“It’s hard to explain just how we felt when we heard the news without swearing. The fact we need to go through all that just to cross two bor-ders is ridiculous” said Bullen.Regrettably the problems didn’t stop there for them. Whilst on a train trav-elling from Milan to Valencia one of Bullen’s friends had their inter-railing ticket stolen from their bag while they slept. This meant that they would need to pay for all of the train tickets that the pass would have covered. This could have added up to over £400 in train fares alone.

“Once his ticket was nicked it was game over really. It wasn’t worth him paying for the trains and we obviously couldn’t just leave him in Italy to fend for himself while we went off travelling. We just had to call it a day” said Bullen.

The group were forced to arrange an early flight from Milan only two weeks in to their three week intended trip. When asked if he had any advice for any future travellers Bullen replied:“It is definitely worth doing just don’t go near Italy or Spain. Keep clear of them and you’re laughing.”

By Dave Purcell


If you’re wanting to take a gap year but can’t decide what you’d most enjoy doing,

take a look at our following matches of which personality type suits which

destination best.

What destination is for me?

Page 16 Home or Away Dec 2013Picture courtesy of Paul+photos=moody

The hard worker

Want to visit a different country but still be able to build your CV at the same time? Try Camp America, in your days off you can still wander round the towns checking out the scenery and when you’re finished visit the Big Apple, but still be earning money. It gives you an opportunity to teach others and is a great experience for the future.

The home bird

If you’re someone who gets homesick very easily then maybe travelling abroad isn’t the right thing for you. Working in the UK seems to be the most suitable. You can gain good work experience through different jobs whilst still living at home and being with the family which will be very helpful for after uni.

The life of the party

Sun, drink and partying until 7am, if this sounds like you’re idea of fun then working in Magaluf is for you. To be a great holiday worker you need to be confident to speak to new people, full of energy and willing to stay up until the early hours. If you think you can handle it, give the party islands a go.

The photographer

If you love getting out the camera and taking a few snaps then interrailing across Europe would be ideal. There are many fa-mous monuments such as St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, The Reichstag building in Berlin and the Baths in Budapest to see. Interrailing is for the type of person who enjoys site seeing and won’t get tired or fed up walking around all day in all types of weather.

The adventurous type

If you enjoy a challenge and are always looking for new expe-riences, South East Asia (SEA) is for you. On the other side of the world, it’s an adventure just getting there. There are treks through jungles on elephants, cuddling tigers, motorbike rides on the Ho-Chi-Minh trail and much more. If you’re the type to get stuck into anything and don’t mind early morning travel-ling, SEA will be perfect.


Picture courtesy of lloydi

Picture courtesy of doryfour

Picture courtesy of Alex Mar-tinelli

Picture courtesy of Ted of DGAR

Picture courtesy of zadzap

Say Yah to the Gap Year

It’s been an ongoing debate since the rise of university fees in 2012 as to whether taking a gap year is really that beneficial to students and a study conducted by the University of Western Australia has revealed that it is.

The study has shown that students who take a gap year were more likely to graduate with a first or upper-second class degree than those who go straight to uni-versity from school and were also able to take their work more seriously and concen-trate better in lectures and seminars.

Annisa Suliman, Senior lecturer in Journal-ism and PR at Leeds Met University agrees with this study and has witnessed evidence first hand. She says: “Many students who have a gap year before attending university do seem to have additional skills and life experience which enhances their learning. They’re also more confident and many go on to get higher degrees”.

The study also showed that 88 percent of students felt their gap year had added to their employability, either through gaining experience in the work industry or

growing confidence from travelling around the world.

Annie Wong, a student at the London School of Economics spent her gap year working for Deloitte and feels she is in a better position for getting a job after univer-sity having taking the gap year. “I now have experience at a really good company on my CV which I wouldn’t have had if I had gone straight to uni from school. I worked there for the whole year, which will show my future employees that I am dedicated and focused. I also have one up on the people leaving uni without any experience in the industry”.

However it wasn’t just a positive outcome for post university actions, students said that taking a gap year helped them think about what subject they really wanted to do at university and prevented them from rushing in to a decision, leading to ahigher level of enjoyment at university.

The study concluded that overall, students who took a gap year were in a better position for achieving atuniversity.

Page 18 Home or Away Dec 2013 Picture courtesy of three-legged-cat


When applying to University there is always the question of, shall I take a gap year? Considering the rising tuition fees and the length of certain courses, it surely would make sense to go to University as

soon as possible, although is a break from education essential before you embark on your degree? Here two students explain their

feelings on gap years and how their choices have affected their University

GoTwenty-one year old Chester Humphreys is taking an online Business course. He previ-ously studied Psychology at Leeds Univer-sity for two years before deciding that this wasn’t the path he wanted to be taking. “Personally, I did not want to sit in a class-room any longer. I realised after my second year that it wasn’t for me, however I did want a degree so decided to do and online course which I felt would suit me more,” says Humphreys.

With an older sister who made the decision to take a gap year, Humphreys looks back at his decision to attend Leeds University straight away, as a mistake. “If I had the opportunity again, I would definitely take a gap year before starting a degree,” he ex-plains. “I believe that it would have made me understand myself more and I wouldn’t have wasted two years doing something that I didn’t enjoy.”

Travelling to different places around the world, experiencing new cultures and even gaining experience that would help with a degree are some of the benefits that come with taking a gap year. “I don’t think I real-ised how beneficial a gap year would have been for me and my future, travelling is definitely something I plan to do as soon as I

have finished my degree.”

Stay Events Management student, Anthony Alder-son, explains how he is glad that he didn’t take a gap year before starting University. “I would not take a gap year as personally I would find it too hard to come back to Uni and focus on my course and studies.”

Alderson had to take a placement year, as he was rejected a ‘fast-track,’ an option of taking the course without a placement year. He was told that a placement year was essential and he would have to complete it if he wanted to get his degree. “I found it very difficult to come back to University after a year of work,” he explained. “I was getting paid and it was a shock to me having no money when I re-turned to University. I can’t imagine what it would be like travelling around the world to the return to England and the education system.”

Experience is a vital part of a degree, however should a student be made to take a year out in the middle of their course? A gap year before University could be beneficial through gaining essential experience and the individual would come back to Universi-ty ready to work and focused on what they want to do. Students must consider taking a gap year when applying for University, it isn’t for everyone, however, it could be life changing for some.

Should I stay or should I go?

Picture courtesy of @Doug88888

Snow BusinessNo Business like

With an open year ahead and a passion for new experiences, keen skier James Botham, 18, headed for Canada in search of a position as a ski instructor in the heart of the British Columbia.

It has always been Botham’s aim to take a year out after his A-levels to enjoy his passion, having developed an interest in snow sports at a young age. Now the time had come. Botham deferred his place at the University of Bath to study Pharmaceutical En-gineering and picked up his skis and passport. Despite having achieved above his required grades Botham’s mind was already made up and his bag was already packed. Just under a month later Botham was on a plane to Canada to spend the ski season at the Grouse Mountain resort in North Van-couver. Grouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains and is known for its mountaintop theatre and wildlife

refuge. The resort has over 26 individ-ual ski runs that cover a variety of skill sets from beginner to “insane”. Being someone that was always looking for new ways to test himself, the idea of an “insane” level ski slope was the factor that made Grouse Mountain the place for Botham.

When asked why he had cho-sen Canada as his preferred location Bothan said:“I’ve got relatives over in Canada so it seemed like a good way of seeing them and doing some skiing at the same time. I had to think about the language barrier issues as well because I didn’t really fancy going to a coun-try where I would have to spend a load of time trying to learn the lan-guage before I could re-ally get going. I was more worried about the skiing”.Botham went on to describe what a

The life of ski instructor on a gap year in the mountains of Canada


Picture courtesy of dcsl

Snow BusinessNo Business like

typical day for a ski instructor consist-ed of. The day would begin with an early start at six in the morning, fol-lowed by a carb-fuelled breakfast con-sisting of mostly sandwiches, cereal, milk and even some days, doughnuts. “You’re out in the snow all day so if you don’t have the energy or a bit of extra meat on your bones then you will have a long, cold day” said Botham.

After a thirty minute coach journey up to the base at the foot of the mountain, Botham would need to make sure that each one of his stu-dents were fitted with the correct boots and skis, taking into consider-ation their height, weight and skill level.“Some of the older students were pretty good at just sorting

themselves out with the correct equipment. I was just there to make sure that some of the younger and less ex-perienced skiers weren’t going to wear skis that they

wouldn’t be able to handle if any tricky

situations came up” said Botham.This would be followed by the excit-able climb up the mountain on the cable cars to one of the 26 peaks. The next 6 hours would be spent guiding the students through the scenic path-ways of Grouse Mountain testing their skills as well as teaching them new ones all over the mountain.

Some of the skills that Botham would include in his lessons were braking, tight turning and jumping. If he was lucky Botham would have an hour free at the end of the day to have a free roam over the slopes where he would be able to experience the steeper slopes on his own without guiding his group.

Botham explained: “This is probably the best time of the day for me be-cause it is the time of the day where I get to focus on my own skills and basically just have some fun without having to keep one eye on the group”. Botham’s day would normally be


rounded off with a late supper back in his lodging followed by a casual drink in the bar with his fellow ski instructors. Not only was this a good way of relaxing after a day on the slopes but it also provides each of the individual instructors the chance to socialise with people who have similar interests as themselves outside of work.

While up in the mountains Botham knew that a skiing gap year is not a cheap way of spending your year out and he knew that he would need to get a job on the side of his ski instructing to make sure he could keep up with rent payments as well as basic ne-cessities like food and drink. To make sure he could stay afloat financially he decided to get a job in a local pub as a kitchen porter.

Over 90% of Level one or Level two ski in-structors try to find work that would take place alongside their skiing

“Obviously I would have preferred to have spent all my time there on the slopes but I knew that I was always going to need to find work there otherwise I would have only been able to afford to stay for a week or so before I was completely skint. I knew I’d have to work, it wasn’t a holiday after all” The ski season has always been a popular choice for anyone looking to take a gap year. There are literally thousands of differ-ent resorts all over the world so the choices

choices are endless. Ski season can be expen-sive but don’t worry because there are ways that you can find

funding for your own gap year. Websites such as NonStop.com offer opportunities for people interested in taking their gap year as a ski instructor.

There is also the possibility that if you were to become a volunteer ski instructor then organisations such as Gap.org.uk, StarTrav-elling.co.uk and GapYearAdvice.org provide funding and advice to all students who wish to volunteer their services during their gap year, not just in skiing but in all areas of charitable participation.

“I get to focus on my own skills and basically just have some fun”

Fun Fact: The oldest-known ski ever recorded has been dated back to

4,500 - 2,500 B.C


RIDIN’ SOLOThe destination has been picked, the bags are packed and you are ready to face the world on your OWN. At first the thought of being away from home and the UK can be exciting but once you step foot into another country alone, it can a whole differ-ent story. At Home and Away we want you to have the best Gap Year possible, in whatever country you choose so below are ways to cope without mummy doing your washing , phoning your mates up to come round for a beer, and feeling needy and not have your girlfriend or boyfriend there to cuddle.

Mummy and DaddyGetting away from the nagging of your parents can be a blessing in disguise at first, but after a while the novelty soon wears off and washing your own clothes can turn into a sad situation when your hot pink top dyes your white shorts. Although lucki-ly for all you guys, technology has moved on since your parents went travelling, so contacting home won’t take up the vast majority of your trip. Before you go get your parents on Skype, it’s a free video phone call service online that even the techno-phobes can use it. Also, parents love a holiday and coming out to see you will proba-bly be their summer holiday, so that can be something for you both to look forward to.

The other halfYou have been umming and ahhing about whether spending a year abroad would make or break your relationship with your boyfriend and girlfriend of six months. BUT, you are young and have your whole life ahead of you, so 12 months out of the rest of your life doesn’t seem like long at all. Before you go get your boyfriend or girl-friend to give you a series of dated letters, this is romantic and will give you some-thing to look forward to everyday. Also, just because you are in a different country doesn’t mean there is no technology; Facebook and Twitter are all excellent forms of free communication you can use to contact them.

FriendsGoing away with your mates, can be the best thing you have ever done. However a year away is very different to a party holiday for 14 nights. You are all in different stages of your life, where going away together for a long period of time will not be able to happen due to a number of reasons like money, jobs and university work. Fear not, you will make new friends and your friends will love the fact that they will have free accommodation when they come and visit you. Sticking pictures up and making your new bedroom as homely as possible will give you a piece of home.


Picture courtesy of plugged mind

Climbing high,pushing limits...

Mount Everest is literally located at the top of the world, rising 29,035 feet above sea level. As soon as it was crowned the world’s tallest mountain people inevitably had to climb it. One of these people includes twen-ty-year-old Katie Broadhurst, who climbed to Mount Everest’s base camp in Summer 2012 in order to raise money for charity.

The climb was organised by Leeds Metro-politan University, where Broadhurst is a student. She and twelve others applied in November 2011 to take part in the climb began to prepare themselves for the diffi-

cult journey they would be starting in just seven months time. Fellow student Aaron Dixon stated “I knew it was essential that we had to start training straight away or we would never make it to base camp.” Katie became a member at the gym Xercise-4Less, and started to improve her fitness with weekly aerobics classes and using the treadmill.

After months of training and raising £2540 for Children International, a charity that helps improve healthcare facilities as well as helping to prevent child trafficking,


Broadhurst began her journey, one that she would never forget. “I was pretty excited when we arrived in Lukla” said Broadhurst, “but the excitement was pretty short lived as it dawned on me what I was about to do.” Lukla is a small airport in Nepal and is a popular place for the visitors of Mount Ever-est to arrive. The trek began with a six-hour climb, “they wanted to ease us in as the first day was meant to be the easiest. This was the point when I realised how important the training actually was, because by no means was it easy and it was only going to get harder” explained Broadhurst.

Mount Everest base camp has an altitude of 17,598 feet. Altitude sickness is particularly important to consider whilst climbing Mount Everest. Altitude sickness means the effect of altitude on those who ascend too rapidly. Initial symptoms include, nausea, vomiting and headaches. Luckily she only experienced slight headaches and periods of light-head-edness. “I was very lucky when it came to altitude sickness, others were not so fortu-nate” says Broadhurst. Dixon experienced se-vere headaches and sickness. “It was difficult for me at the beginning due to the constant headaches but I didn’t let it wreck the expe-rience, I just dealt with it and carried on” he said.

On the eighth day, the group reached base camp. “I was so happy to finally reach my goal. People back home had told me that I’d never be able to do it, but here I was, proving them wrong,” Broadhurst explains. “To be honest base camp was a slight anticli-max as there wasn’t much to see, however the feeling of achievement was incredible.” With a diet limited to mainly potatoes, por-ridge and pasta, it is amazing what can be achieved with pure determination.

The entire trek took twelve days, eight days up to base camp and four days back down.

“By far the scariest day was when we were on the way down the mountain and a mem-ber of our group had an epileptic seizure,” she says “She nearly had to be taken to the hospital by helicopter but as it was only minor she was able to carry on, she didn’t want to quit this far in.” When reaching the end of the trek Broadhurst explained how she felt “completely drained, both mentally and physically,” however the entire group, including the Sherpa’s went to a local pub to celebrate, grateful that they didn’t have to walk anymore.

This however, was not the end of the jour-ney for Boradhurst and some of the other group members. Through Leeds Metropol-itan, they had the chance to stay in Nepal and explore the country. Spending only four hundred pounds, she was able to do things such as, bungee jumping, elephant safari, visited temples throughout the country and stay in Thamel, the main market place for shopping.

Although climbing the largest mountain in the world may not be everybody’s idea of a relaxing time on their gap year, it is safe to say that it is a huge achievement, and something that anyone would be proud of. A huge amount of hard work goes into the preparation for a trek like this but the re-wards are endless, especially when raising money for a good cause on the way up.

By Alice Kidd

“People back home told me I’d never be able to do it but

here I was proving them wrong.”


Everyone this issue is talking about... Money

A study carried out by the UK’s National Student Newspaper, the Student Times there has been a 20% increase in the number of students taking a gap year.

Higher education fees and the difficulty to find a job in the UK plays its part in why there is such a significant rise. When we hear the term ‘Gap Year’ we automatically think of going abroad to work or sight-see in as many different coun-tries as you can right?

Although you picture yourself in these amazing countries, it will just be a daydream if you don’t save, save, save.

Here at Home or Away, we want to help you get the most out of your Gap Year and of course get your moneys worth. STA has estimated that in the next few years the number of students taking a Gap Year will rise to 3 million, therefore keeping it at a budget is anecessity.

Working 9-5The average Gap Year costs three to four thousand pounds, so begging your parents probably won’t cut it; it’s now time to get looking for your very own job. Part time jobs can be easy to get, the hardest part is writing your CV, then heading out for the day, giving it to every store within a five mile radius of you. In the past year there has been a 7% rise of students getting a part time job, Endsleigh insurance provider conducted a survey along-side the National Union of Students found that 57% of students are earning extra cash, therefore if you feel you will be missing out on social outings with you mates because you are too busy working, they will more than likely be working as well. Minimum national wage is £5.03 per hour for 18-20 year olds and £6.31 per hour if you are 21 and older, therefore if you work just a couple of hours a weeks you will soon see you’re savings rise.

Money, Money, Money it’s so funnyNatWest, Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland, are well known banks in the UK trying to get people like you to open a sav-ings account with them, although at Home or Away our advice is– DON’T go to a bank. The simple fact here is that, if you are asked to go out for the night with your mates, but you have spent your weekly allowance you are more than likely going to politely decline to offer. However , if you logged on to your online banking and saw you had £500 in your savings nine times out of ten you will go out for ‘a quiet night out with you mates’, trans-ferring you savings saying ‘you will pay it back next pay day, and before you know it all your savings have disappeared. The best idea is to give your wage to your parents, letting them decide on your weekly budget, it will soon


Moneyadd up. Mike Roberts, 20 said: ‘I gave all my wage to my parents and lived on £30 a week for 7 months, it was tough , as the first thing you want to do after working 39 hours is go out with your mates, but before I knew it I have £2400 saved. So I would recommend the bank of Mum and Dad to anyone.”

The early Bid catches the wormThousands of students each year use their Gap Year to travel abroad, to work or see the sights of the world. If you are one of these lucky few, booking flights early will save you hundreds of pounds. Comparison site Momndo, researched price comparison web-sites and found out that the cheapest time to book was 59 days before you depart, this could potentially save you 38%. We can safely say we no longer has to have numer-ous amounts of tabs open searching for the cheapest flights around , Travel Supermarket and Scanner are recommended websites that users have found the best deals on. Abigail O’Rourke, 21 says: “On my gap year I flew to America with my friend , however I booked it in advance whilst she booked it closer to the time, and she ended up paying an extra £300 for the exact same flight so I do urge people to book early and shop around”.

Hotel, Motel, Holiday InnThe easiest way to book whilst travelling is to go in and ask on the day is there any room at the inn, or use the normal websites you would use at home for example Laterooms.com or Travelsupermarket.com compare hundreds of hotels all around the world. Don’t just stick to one website, as different websites carry different offers. On both these websites you can choose a price range, in the currency you prefer, then on the day the website will email you the hotel it has selected for you. Clare little, 23 says ‘Before I went to America on my Gap year and heard about these websites so me and few friends thought we would try it. In America you pay for the room and not how many people sleep in I which was amazing , so we had a generous budget between the five of us On the day they emailed saying the hotel was a Marriot , right in New York city , which cost us £30 each a night, which was amazing value. I would highly recommend these websites.’

ll

TOP TIPS WHEN ABROAD

FREE WIFI- Dont be caught out and pay over the odds for internet. Check if there is Wifi anywhere in the hotel as most offer it for free.

Happy Hour- Try not to spend all your money on alocohol, lim-it yourself and your money.

Packed Lunch - Wining and dining yourself can be an expensive and unhealthy option, so go shopping at the local supermarts to make your own food.


Picture courtesy of images_of_money

Over to you...We spoke to people on the streets of Leeds to find out how they spend their gap year

Where did you go on your Gap Year?“I spent the year in Australia working behind a bar.”

What made you choose Australia?“I have family over there and it is a place I have really wanted to visit.

How was working in Australia different from working in the UK?“Well for a start the temperature. In England you are glad to be indoors most of the time because it is freezing outdoors. In Australia you can see the sunshine out of the window and you jump at any chance to go outside.” Where did you go on your Gap Year?

“I took a year out in America so I could be a sports coach at one of the sports camps in North Carolina”

Did you enjoy your Gap Year?“Definitely! I would love to do it again next year. People told me that I wouldn’t regret taking a year out to do something that I enjoyed and I’m glad that I listened to them. I’ve always wanted to go to America and now that I have I can’t wait to go back again”

What did you do for your Gap Year?“I decided that I wanted to do some volunteering here in the UK”

What sort of volunteering did you do?“I didn’t really stick to one area I kind of just bounced be-tween jobs where I could just help out a bit”

Did you enjoy it?“Yeah, it felt good to help out without feeling as though I was doing it just to get a bit of extra cash. My favourite was probably working in the charity shops because it meant that you could also talk to the customers who came into the shop. It doesn’t feel like work when you can talk to all the different people that come in and out of the shop”

Claire Little21Sociology student

Emma Garrard21Events management student

Nathan Barr20Student of sports science


Picture courtesy of maladova

How embarrasing!Had an embarrassing experience happen on your gap year that you don’t mind sharing? Email it to us athomeoraway.gmail.com. Go on, it’ll cheer everyone else up, even if it’s at your ex-pense. Here are the latest stories we’ve received . Read and enjoy.

Last summer, I went on a holiday to Crete with my family.

One day I met this gorgeous guy round the pool and he asked me to meet him that night to go for drinks, of course I

agreed. After a few drinks at one of the bars we decided to go to the hotel club to carry on the night. We were getting on really well and

the alcohol was flowing, then to my horror just as he went in for the kiss, I felt a tap on my shoulder and my Dad was standing behind

me, telling me to get back to my room. I saw the guy the next day at the pool

but he ignored me, luckily I was going home the next

day.

I was in Madagascar building homes

in the deprived villages and so was very tired by the time the evening

came. Every night I caught the same bus back to the capital city Antananarivo where I

was staying. One night I was exceptionally tired, more than normal and I managed to fall asleep on

the bus, missing my stop and waking up in Mae-vatanana which was pretty near the coast and nowhere near where I stayed. I had to call up my team leader who then had to send a taxi

for me. It took ages to get back and cost a bomb. It’s definitely taught me a

lesson never to fall asleep on busses again.

I was in Thai-land with my girlfriend

and thought it would be nice to take her to see the tigers. I

didn’t realise how scared I would be beforehand, when we got there I found myself screaming like a little girl, infront of my girlfriend and the

rest of the people visiting Tiger Kingdom. I’ve never lived it

down since.

When me and my mates went away to Ibiza,

we went to a pool party at a near-by Hotel. After a few drinks they dared

me to stick my penis into the jet stream in the pool. Being drunk, I went along with the dare and immediately knew I’d made a terri-

ble mistake when I couldn’t pull my body away from the poolside . My mates were no help at all and just laughed hysterically for a few minutes before realising I was genuinely stuck and they

needed to go and get the hotel manager to turn the jets off in the pool. It’s safe to say I

didn’t go back to that hotel for the rest of the holiday and had a hard time

with the ladies for a while after that.

On the last night of our Zante holiday we

decided that we wouldgo skinny dipping on the beach to try and impress

the girls we had been grafting on all night , we secretly hoped they would be down for

it as well. Getting to the beach, we stripped off and ran for the sea. After only five minutes or so we had lost the girls and decided to head back

to where we had left our clothes as it was freezing. It was then we realised that some-

one had run off with our clothes and left us to walk back to the hotel through

the strip with nothing but our socks to keep our

Dec 2013 Home or Away Page 29Picture courtesy of elizalO

Get your game on

Now for the fun bit, de-stress from all the gap year decisions for a minute to solve a few puzzles.Find the words in the wordsearch. There are eight words to find, each relating to articles mentioned in this issue.

Name this wild animalUnscramble these annograms to reveal gap year destinations and experiences

IITEGNLRNRAI

PETANEHL

DESMRATMA

ETDUABSP

NSOTNCAVICI

OPRELNEAA

Quiz: answer the questions based on sto-ries in the magazine

1.How many tourists visit South East Asia each year?

2.What university found students who take a gap year receive higher uni grades?

3.Where are the most popular countries to do interrailing in?

4.How do you qualify for working in Camp America?

5. Which party destination did Jade work in for the summer?

picture courtesy of Lise De Vreede

Picture courtesy of Troy Mason

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