Planning your trip!
Following the A level results, we remind those who haven’t got the results they wanted to that a gap year could be the next move!
Contiki found that 75% of people aged over 35 years wished they had spent more time travelling when they were younger. When mortgages, families and jobs are in full force, it becomes harder or impossible to achieve a dream of travelling.
65% admitted that if they could go back and tell their younger selves to travel more they would. Australasia, Latin America and South East Asia were top on everyone’s list of destinations, however less than 14% have actually gone.
Those who had travelled in their youth said that travelling helps you gain greater perspective on different ways of living, 50% and 29% said that as a result they had become more confident. 23% admitted that it helped them to be more tolerant of others. Each of these qualities are very helpful when it comes to applying for jobs and look impressive to prospective employers.
39% said that their travelling experience allowed them to enhance their CV, be less fazed if asked to work in a different country or to have change of career.
As someone who is nearly 28, I feel that I have missed out not being able to travel with work up until now. With a wedding next year, mortgage and children down the line, you really do realise that your post university and college years are the best time to embrace these opportunities and make the most of them. Any money or time after that is taken up by being a grown up and making roots.
Many of my friends have moved or travelled abroad for their jobs, not only has it been the making of them, but it has also been a great talking point. So many of their experiences have sculpted their professionalism and their attitude, which are attractive qualities in an employee.
Abbie Baisden of Milkround, who have been voted the most popular graduate recruitment site in the High Fliers UK Graduate Careers Survey for the last six years, says:
“We find that employers look very favourably on gap years as a sign of independent thinking, self-motivation and ambition. With so many job-seekers competing for fewer roles, employers can be pickier than ever before, so having something interesting on your CV, such as experiences in far flung places, is a great way to get in the door. Not only does travel give you a taste of the wider world, it’s also a great subject of discussion for interviews, and will help potential employers remember you as a passionate, interesting person. So instead of viewing travel as a self-indulgent activity, look at it as character building and even career enhancing. Having travel on your CV can be as valuable as those A grades.”
Matt Fletcher, Sales and Marketing Director for Contiki Holidays, said:
“Many young people find this time of year quite uncertain: maybe they didn’t quite get the grades they needed to secure a place at university, or they’ve decided to defer for a year. For those people, this year presents the perfect opportunity to travel before starting at university and before the responsibilities of the career ladder really kick in. Travel broadens the mind, deepens understanding of different cultures, and opens the eyes to different ways of doing things, which are all values that employers consider important.
“At Contiki, our motto is No Regrets; no one wants to regret the chance not taken, to sit on the side-lines experiencing the world through our friends’ status updates. So those that have the next 12 months with no fixed plans should consider the option to travel - they could find themselves learning to be a cowboy or cowgirl on a ranch in the US, learning to cook Thai cuisine in Koh Pha Ngan, watching the sunrise over Machu Picchu, learning to scuba dive in Australia or learning about the wildlife and precious ecosystems in the Galapagos islands.”
As expected, the research found that for 77% of those asked, lack of money was the biggest barrier to travel. However, with Contiki’s part payment schemes, this aspect doesn’t have to be quite so daunting, with clients able to top up their travel fund online as and when they can afford it, with their family and friends able to contribute to this fund as well.
And to help people on their way, Contiki is running a competition to win £1,000 off their gap year holiday with Contiki this year. Contiki’s ‘Life Starts Now’ competition is running from 14 August until 20September - for more information and to enter, visit their website.
Tagged in Travel