<p>Insurance: start with your current policies that cover your dependents. Contact them & see whether they will cover your dependent child while he travels & is not a student, tho still dependent. Also, check with your state insurance commissioner about COBRA coverage of your dependent (for extra premium--pretty expensive).</p>
<p>Some states have extended coverage for dependent kids by their state legislation (our state doesn't).</p>
<p>My S took his cell phone to Australia when he went there with the band for a week in HS but never used it there to call anyone. He rarely chats on the phone as it is anyway. If my S was going for an extended trip, I'd want him to have a phone card and/or cell phone for "just in case." It would give ME peace of mind, tho my S is very resourceful & has always managed just fine without contacting us. Call it a safety net for mom, if you need to, but that's just how I'm happiest.</p>
<p>PHones are useful, phones are wonderful, and phones are a way for people who love each other to keep in touch! I like and love both my children, and I enjoy talking with them. It was a pleasure to talk with my DD when she was in Chile, and receive emails when she was in China and Brazil. What's the point of not taking/buying a phone? to save money? To totally cut all ties so that your son is on a "walkabout" or rite of passage and has to prove he can fend for himself? If you don't want to communicate with your son orally when he is gone, I guess you don't need to send him with a phone or have him buy a phone. Me, I'd want my kid to have a phone!</p>
<p>Bottom line is that phones are not expensive and not hard to come by. Let him get one if he needs one.</p>
<p>My son has had some minor troubles in his travels, muggings etc, but he couldn't use a phone to help him in the situation. A joint credit card is probably more useful.</p>
<p>S1's 3 UK friends (girls) stopped in to see us on their Gap Year. They all had phones which they used to text friends in the UK. Mostly though, they used email.</p>
<p>One reason not to talk to sons is to encourage them to write lengthy emails--which can go in their journals and your memory boxes--and get forwarded to grammas. Mine tend to write more insightfully if they haven't had a one hour chat that week.</p>
<p>It depends on the country, of course. Yes, people didn't used to have cell phones. Things change. People didn't used to have a lot of things that we have now, and though we could survive fine without them, things are safer and/or easier with them. I got my first cell phone when I learned to drive because my parents wanted me to be able to get help if my car broke down. In the past a girl alone would likey have been forced to hitchhike to a gas station and borrowed their phone. I could try that now, but you may see my picture on the evening news. Your son will probably not have any problems that he can't handle through email or by borrowing someone's phone, but local phones are cheap and easy to carry, and I don't see a reason to resist getting one just because you didn't have one.</p>
<p>07DAD, I live in an undeveloped country and would encourage every college student to see more of what we call (affectionately) the weird world. </p>
<p>I'd agreed with the suggestion to overlay some structure to your son's gap year, maybe covering less territory but concentrating on three separate projects or programs in three different locations. Travel is infinitely rewarding, but it can also be lonely especially for a young person. There are so many choices in organized programs -- wilderness, volunteering, arts, language intensive. They aren't necessarily more protected or pampered; just more focused and, often, more fun.</p>
<p>I strongly endorse having evacuation insurance. Accidents happen and you don't want to see the inside of a third world hospital.</p>
<p>On the "dangerous" country topic: The US and many other Western countries have warned against travel to the country I live in for about 10 years. In that time I have hosted hundreds of professional and personal visitors without negative experience. (In fact the State Department employees and their families travel extensively throughout the country without much regard for their own warnings.) There is risk, yes, but in today's world the risk is pretty well equalized wherever you go. </p>
<p>Now for an unabased plug: Visit Indonesia. I know of no other place on the planet that offers so much in depth in culture and profound natural beauty. Bali, certainly, but the other islands as well -- Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Papua! Please let me know if I can provide any information about this weird and wonderful country.</p>
<p>I thought of a story about kids who were attacked by a rioting mob in Beijing in 2005. They called their parents as they were being attacked and their parents called the embassy and the ambassador. I'm not sure I'd want that phone call--but it does say something about the wisdom of having a phone in a totalitarian state.</p>
<p>Mom--no worries about Bali even after they let the Bali bomber out of jail? I know some 20-somethings who skedaddled out of there once he was freed. I'd love to take my boys to Bali to see Borabadour and Bali.</p>
<p>Momrath, what do you think about a kid who wants to go to Khartoum for a couple of weeks? Can he find a way to travel safely?</p>
Cheers, I worry about everything all the time, but, no, I don't feel the risk of being adversely affected by terrorism in Indonesia is any greater than it is in many many other places that I visit, including New York and Europe. Or as a friend of mine who is a scientist said about Indonesia -- you have to count the bad guys in parts per million.</p>
<p>By all means visit Bali and Borobudur. They are both extraordinary experiences.</p>
<p>I think it's like what they say about the New York subway: other lines are loaded with murderers and cutthroats but your own is perfectly safe.:)</p>
<p>I also took a gap year (ahem, years) and remember people always telling me I would never go back. Well, now Im on my to U of Michigan grad school on a scholarship. If you are destined to get back to school and thrive in that type of environment, it will happen!</p>
<p>I've also travelled around China and Thailand extensively. If your son is into community service type things, he should look into volunteer work in southeast Asia. It would make his trip more memorable (there's only so much novelty in drinking beer on beaches), and it would be a strong notch on his belt as he pursues higher education (of course this sholdnt be the main reason to do volunteer work but it is a nice bonus). In Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand there are loads of opportunities for young travellers to get involved in community projects.</p>
<p>I might have my mom take a look at this thread. I've already decided I'm going to take a gap year. --Actually, I just asked her, and she knows about the insurance stuff. She mentioned that we should get ahold of travel insurance so they can fly me home if something really bad happens. But the insurance deal also depends on what country I'm in...</p>
<p>I was accepted EA to Stanford University, and they actually have the gap year option on their enrollment response card: along the lines of, "Yes, I accept your offer of admission, but would like to defer matriculation until fall 2008." I was delighted to be able to check a box and know I'd be welcome there in 2008. :p </p>
<p>I plan on working as an au pair--probably in the UK--for over half the time, saving up as much money as I can, then I'll volunteer in Ecuador for the rest of the time (until May, 2008). My family will actually be living in Ecuador for half a year (I'll fly there with them and help them move in), but after the initial couple weeks of adjusting, I'll be in a city about an hour away from our house down there. </p>
<p>Then I'll return to the States alone (we won't have sold our US home, so it'll be available for my use) and work in my hometown until it's time to head to California. </p>
<p>I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only person thinking about this! Other people have responded like I'm deranged to take a gap year. :rolleyes: I don't understand what's so strange about it. It's pretty normal in Europe. </p>
<p>What do you think about a gap year traveling and working abroad for a S who is not too enthused about academics? (let's just say we don't have to worry about deferring merit aid!). He is looking forward to playing sports in college, but not to more schoolwork.</p>
<p>We're another family whose child is considering a gap year next year. Our daughter had planned to be a music major and spent her last high school years practicing 3 hours/day. She got in the middle of auditions and said that music was too consuming to allow her to explore her other interests and that it kept her away from her friends too much. So, she withdrew her applications from the remaining music schools.</p>
<p>She has applied for a summer architecture program to see if she's interested in that and will go to Europe in the fall to see a friend who's a foreign exchange student in her class this year. My biggest question is whether it is worth it to get involved with one of the organizations that "plans" gap years or whether to just see what things interest her and let her explore them on her own?</p>
<p>I haven't checked on the health insurance since our daughter will just turn 17 right before graduating, but our auto insurance said that as long as she's a dependent, she can stay on our coverage.</p>
<p>One of the problems with a gap year (especially with a kid who isn't too enthused about school) is that it may become a permanent gap, which happens.</p>
<p>I took a gap year and did a study abroad program in France. It was awesome because there were other Americans there already in college (studying abroad through their schools), so that got me used to the American 'college scene' if you will (I went to middle school and high school in Mexico so it had been a while since I was exposed to that). My French was perfect when I left and I was SO ready for college. The advantage to my gap year was I was still studying during it, so I didn't lose all motivation, BUT the studying was very light and it allowed me to travel and have fun.</p>
<p>My advice for slacker boys is doubly important--sign them up to a structure program for at least part of the time.</p>
<p>Although they might not seem like inspiring academic choices, Africa and China have been real turns academic turn-ons for both of my once-were-slacker sons. I know a few slackers who have been turned on by China, in fact.</p>
<p>ASW, I'm not sure about Architecture as a less intense lifestye, LOL, but I bet your D will come up with a few structured ideas by the time she leaves. If she is travelling to see a friend, that is structure in itself.</p>
<p>All Gappers and Gapper parents should rent the movie "L'Apartment Espagnol'.</p>
<p>I endorse the idea of some kind of structured program, at least for the start of the year, so there is some support for learning to thrive in a more independent or remote setting. My son found his fall setting (Aegean Center for Fine Arts) with the help of a local college counselor who also helps gap year planning. We felt the investment in this guidance was good because the counselor knew the quality of programs (runs one himself in Sienna) and also because my son really felt freer to discuss all kinds of possibilities without provoking the "anxious mom" mood in me--but we also had an avenue of input re budget, etc. Once he had done the first semester (and the program staff was a great source of guidance on living sensibily abroad), he was much more ready for a more independent, less structured second term (worked on a ranch in Argentina and then traveled on his own some). Came home and worked in a video store as a finale....Definitely do travel insurance for the peace of mind. He did not have a cell phone and managed fine with phone cards. I frankly think he loved being off line in all regards and I learned to live comfortably with little information (which has made me cope fine with the lack of communication from boys in college....)</p>
<p>Finished 6 months in Brasov, Romania and am now in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar) through June.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask me any questions or just get what you can from my pros and cons listed below.
CONS:
-You realllly really need to research the org. you go with. In Romania, I went through Projects Abroad. Big Mistake. In their journalism program I spent 3 months under the watch of dodgy staff and a lazy head editor who was more interested in wetting his whistle than publishing a monthly magazine (the last issue was published in December!!) I also was placed with a host who seemed nice at first until she decided to start robbing money from my room. Unfortunately, once you're with that org., you're stuck with them, meaning none of my problems meant anything to them since I was at THEIR mercy...</p>
<p>-It can be challenging finding programs in a particular country for a reasonable price. I really, really wanted to study in St. Petersburg but 1- programs are much more expensive and 2- my parents both are too familiar with Russia (both speak the language fluently) so they firmly put their foot down against me venturing there.....sigh.</p>
<p>-You will realize just how much America sucks and revile at the idea of having to return.</p>
<p>PROS:
-If you have a good staff, nice hosts, etc, it can be amazing! I'm now in Mongolia with Projects Abroad (a different country staff) and the experience is so much better already!! I get to do my own radio show and write for an English-language newspaper. I have Mongolian lanuage lessons daily and everyone here is so friendly! Then again, though, Mongolians have a better reputation than Romanians for good reason...</p>
<p>-Language and cultural exposure are invaluable, I think, at a young age. Better early than too late. Americans especially don't travel enough. I remember in 4th grade I came back from a summer trip to Greece with pictures, and instead of having any interest all my classmates could do was look at a picture of a sculpture and say "Ewww,that's girl's boobies are showing."</p>
<p>-The freedom with trained discipline it crucial to Uni. life, too.</p>
<p>-You learn more from one month abroad about life and people than one semester at most Universities. Sorry, it's true.</p>