Posted 28 Aug 2009

Gap year travel offers people the chance to generate "positive" energy in an otherwise gloomy economic climate, one expert has asserted.

Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, explained that taking a gap year is "one of the only things you can get out of a negative atmosphere".

He suggested that if people are currently feeling the effects of the global economic downturn and have lost their job, then they could use a gap year to fill their time and turn the situation into one that is more positive.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that unemployment for people between the ages of 18 and 24 was 722,000 in the three months to June 2009.

Mr Griffiths recommended that people think about what they would like to achieve from a gap year – such as improving a CV through learning skills and gaining experience in new areas – and then set out to achieve it.

"You have the opportunity as an individual to say ‘ignore everything from the past, you can only play the cards which are on the table right now, I’m going to do something positive and life-changing," he concluded.

Category: General Travel