After high school, more U.S. students are opting to travel during a “gap year” before they enter college.
The time outside the classroom offers teens a chance to gain real-world experience and to better apply themselves when they return to school, thanks to the knowledge they’ve gained from engaging with different cultures and seeing other economic systems, proponents say.
To help teens use the gap year productively, numerous companies are designing programs that combine travel with volunteering, lectures, tours and other educational components.
California-based Adventures Cross Country recently launched two semester-long programs for gap-year teens. GAP Africa explores the cultures and challenges of three East African nations: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. GAP Asia explores the cultures and challenges of Thailand, China and Tibet.
Both programs examine five main themes: Literacy & Education, Public Health, Urbanization & the Movement of Peoples, Environment & Conservation, and Microfinance & Economic Growth, the company said.
For more information on the two programs, visit adventurescrosscountry.com or call 949-218-0312.
Have you taken a gap year to travel or know someone who has?
Let us know what you think of the gap-year trend, long popular outside the United States.