5 Programs for Aspiring Adventurers
The opportunities for a gap year experience are endless. They span across the world with a multitude of different focuses. I’ve boiled it down to a few reputable programs that dive into experiential learning in the outdoors, either as a student, volunteer, or employee. These programs are not limited to a gap year experience, and many could be intertwined through a semester away or simply summer break. Furthermore, these programs all function as a catalyst to spark your own curiosity and drive to pursue your own adventures. So here we go, 5 programs (not listed in order from best to worst) to help you embark upon your own challenging adventure.
NOLS
“It seems nearly impossible to put into words how much my time at NOLS meant to me. NOLS allows us to do things we would never get to do and be people we never thought we could be. It removes us from the tedious distractions of every day life, it teaches us things that we could never learn in a classroom, and in turn, we learn more about ourselves than we had ever known before.”
NOLS, National Outdoors Leadership School, is the best educational facility for learning how to safely conduct expeditions. NOLS notably runs semester programs across the world, including Patagonia, The Rockies, India, Baja, New Zealand, Alaska, East Africa, and the Himalayas. During these semesters, students gain a variety of important outdoor skills depending on the trip. Often they include backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, sea kayaking, and sailing. Students can go deeper into wilderness preparedness by spending their semester getting a Wilderness First Aid Certification or training with professionals on how to be an outdoor educator. These trips run for about 75 days with a semester program and 135 days with a gap year program. Embarking on multiple month-long expeditions is not for the fainthearted. Food rations, while sustentative, are not the normal cuisine many of us consume on the daily. The vast majority of days will require intense physical labor, while some days you may not be able to leave your tent. Nonetheless, this program offers such a unique opportunity to fully indulge your adventurous spirit and leave behind all you know for an excursion in a new place with new people. For further information follow this link to their gap year opportunities: https://www.nols.edu/en/gap-year/. If you already feel confident with many of the opportunities listed, maybe consider developing your own long solo expedition as well. Furthermore, there are job listings at their international base camps found here: https://www.nols.edu/en/about/our-team/employment/. The role of a rations assistant or similar could be a great first step in joining the outdoor industry.
Where There Be Dragons
“This course went beyond any expectations I could have had. The home-stays blew me out of the water and the lessons I have been able to learn I will keep with me forever. ”
Where There Be Dragons is a renowned program for international, immersive study. This program combines homestays with expeditions with service and more. Semester programs run for about 80 days throughout Nepal, Japan, Senegal, China, Indonesia, Mexico, India, and Spain. The program's focus differs depending on the place, so for in-depth descriptions, follow this link: https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/students/find-your-adventure/gap-year/. What makes this organization stand out are their core values: responsible travel, hand-crafted programs, expert instructors, genuinely immersive experiences, small groups, and offline relationships. This program is perfect for someone who hopes to truly experience a new place by living with a host family, working with and learning from the local community, practicing a different language, and exploring the surrounding nature. In order to provide transparency on the different programs, they are all rated on different aspects of the course such as trekking, social & environmental justice, language study, and independent study, a program to find your own way to connect with and contribute to the local community. You can use this information, as well as their detailed itineraries, to figure out if one of these opportunities captures your passion.
Work Away
Would you like to help at an artsy beachfront guesthouse with pets in Santa Marianita Beach, Ecuador? Help organize free activities for kids at a summer camp in Transylvania, Romania? Help develop an educational project or organic farming in Rajasthan, India? Join a family farm and enjoy jungle walks in foothills of the Himilayas, Karve, Nepal? Learn about Ecoprint workschops and the way of life of Doi Tao people, Thailand? Housesit in Clam Gulch, Southcentral Alaska, USA? Go on an Off-Grid Permaculture Adventure: Boat-Access Wilderness Homestay in the Kootenays, Kaslo, BC, Canada? Volunteer at a school in Trujillo, Peru? No? Well spend some time scrolling through the WorkAway host list, as the list of opportunities are all titles of WorkAway programs found here https://www.workaway.info/en/hostlist?all=1. These opportunities exist in 170 countries and include all the different elements illustrated in the picture. These opportunities allow you to truly travel with a purpose and pursue meaningful work through adventure. It is even possible to earn a globally recognized International Volunteering diploma through the Centre for Global Citizenship Studies. This program is for people prepared for independence and looking for full immersion in a new world. While this is mainly a solo excursion, it is very possible that other WorkAwayers will be at the same homestay, and there is always the option to travel with a buddy. WorkAway offers more freedom than organized student programs, and if this tickles your fancy, this is the way to develop your own unique adventure.
Sea Education Association
Sea Education Association is a rigorous, hands-on learning program for students with a love for the ocean. Their curriculum includes coastal and ocean policy, biodiversity, field oceanography, coral reef conservation, marine environmental history, cultural sustainability, and climate change. Their classrooms are located in their marine research center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the coast of New Zealand, the open Pacific Ocean, and more. Students are given the opportunity to pursue their own marine research with excellent scientific equipment aboard the ship. As students learn to sail a tall ship, they will also learn how to deploy scientific equipment into deep water and analyze water samples at midnight. The gap year opportunities SEA offers, https://sea.edu/programs/gap-first-year-programs/, are in New Zealand, but there is a range of high school and undergraduate programs that span across the world from Hawaii to the Caribbean.
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms
WWOOF is very similar to WorkAway, but has the sole focus of sustainable farming. WWOOFers live with host families while receiving educational opportunities about growing organic food. You can select the type of farm you hope to help on, such as fruit, grain, poultry, etc., as well as the methods of those farms including aquaponics, biodynamic agriculture, hydroponics, no-till farming, animal drafting, and more. These opportunities provide the chance to detach from city life with a million distractions and chronic overconsumption of unsustainable goods. Many farms are in the beautiful countryside and you can spend your entire day immersed in the outdoors. Nonetheless, farming is hard work and will surely leave you aching for rest by the evening. WWOOF offers the opportunity for all people, regardless of age or training, to directly help our environment and contribute to a greater cause.
