7 Unusual Gap Year Opportunities

Seeking gap year opportunities with a chance to gain new skills and explore new seas? As part of a superyacht team, you could work on a huge variety of sail and power vessels. Spanning more than 24 meters in length and equipped with no expense spared, superyachts are usually owned by very high net-worth individuals, who expect high standards of presentation and customer service. A two week course will provide the basic qualifications necessary to find work aboard a yacht, while a six week professional crew program could see you on your way to earning US$30-45,000 during your gap year, with few living expenses.

An Indo-Pacific species, lionfish became popular among aquarium owners due to their distinctive looks. Released into Florida waters, their voracious appetites have seen them begin to colonize this remote marine reserve, where they have no natural predators. This project conducts coral reef monitoring and research, filling a much-needed data gap in understanding the impact of lionfish on the World Heritage-listed Belize Barrier Reef and on juvenile reef fish, as well the impact on local fisherman. As a gap year volunteer, you’ll directly contribute to efforts to combat the unsustainable spread of the lionfish. Another aim is to stimulate local demand for these invasive fish, thus reducing the pressure on other key species such as grouper, parrot fish and barracuda.

Rather than being driven by hunting or lack of food, this conservation project is part of a wider community development scheme to help protect the income of rural communities. Spend your gap year volunteering here, and you’ll help care for the llamas and alpacas, vicunas and huanacos (South American ‘camels’ or “auquénidos”), which provide the wool for textile products created at Awana Kancha, a Quechua name that means “The Palace of the Weaver”.  The project works with 14 rural communities, with 420 families receiving advice on techniques and support to sell their textile products.

Work alongside pediatricians, nutritionists, social workers and nurses to help at a children’s hospital in Mendoza, Argentina, as part of the fight against infantile malnutrition. This gap year opportunity is part internship and part care project, offering the chance to learn all about malnutrition care from the professionals. When not observing or assisting the doctors, you will be an invaluable member of the care team, supporting children in their recovery.

Finally, this gap year volunteering opportunity in Senegal means working closely with street children, known locally as talibés, to help them secure a sustainable future for themselves through small-scale entrepreneurship. You will be involved in tasks such as reading through business plans, developing marketing strategies, managing loan accounts, monitoring the children who have already received loans, conducting weekly workshops and providing general guidance and support. You will gain a unique insight into the process of developing small businesses in a foreign country and how micro-credit can help disadvantaged young people find their way out of poverty and become self-supporting adults.

Stefan Wathan is the chief executive of the Year Out Group, a not-for-profit association of leading gap year organizations who commit to follow set operating guidelines, ensuring the best possible experience for gap year participants and their hosts across the world. The Year Out Group promotes the concept and benefits of well-structured gap year opportunities, and helps young people and their advisers to select suitable and worthwhile projects.