<p>This is a brief overview of our gap experience in case any parents are considering it for their kids. A lot of work was involved, but the dividends are tremendous. </p>
<p>Key Bullets</p>
<p>• Our son wanted to take a break between boarding school and college, travel to another part of the world, find a paying job, become fluent in Spanish, be independent, return with the experience of a lifetime and be ready to tackle college with a rejuvenated mind and spirit. We supported the idea.</p>
<p>• Gap years can be spent in a million different ways. Our son chose to spend it in South America.</p>
<p>• At one end of the spectrum of gap years, you have structured programs where Mom and Dad fork over bucks (sometimes big) to a third party and the child is supervised, lightly or heavily, while he or she is away. The other end of the spectrum is less structured/ more independent, where the kid is responsible for designing and executing a gap year plan and is largely self-directed during the experience.</p>
<p>• There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach and every family will assess the risks and benefits differently.</p>
<p>• We mostly fell into the latter category – the more independent, self-directed route. </p>
<p>o Son had to present to us a self-funded 12 month plan that was physically safe, would increase Spanish fluency, would be culturally immersive. This included building a real budget and making all the arrangements himself. Our role was to approve, disapprove, or modify the plan or some of its elements, and to provide help if he asked for it. He had to finish this process before he was graduated from boarding school.</p>
<p>o Son had to (with our advice) develop back-up plans in case of emergency (theft of money, injury etc). On the insurance side, I paid for a plan that took care of any emergency medical costs. We also asked him to keep a blog so that we could follow his adventures.</p>
<p>o Son had to pay for 100% of the trip, except airfare. (I used mostly points for this, but there was still an outlay of about $300.) Also, I had to chip in another $300 toward the end of the trip when he fell just short of his budget. </p>
<p>o To fund the trip, he and his friend (who was doing a similar exercise with his parents) had to work the first six months to pay for the second six months. The trip itself was a three-month volunteer effort in Chile followed by three months of sightseeing (and playing) in Argentina. </p>
<p>o Son got a job at a busy, local Irish pub – emptying trash, bussing, keeping the bar stocked, cleaning at the end of the night etc. Nasty job, but he cleared about $500/week in tips and wages. He did this for just about six months – July through December. The trip itself was January – July.</p>
<p>o The first three months of 2009 were spent in the southern Patagonia in Chile on the program I noted at the top of this thread (see link). This was physically demanding volunteer work, a couple days at a base camp each week and then five days at a remote location (in groups of 5 – 10) where you would work a long day, cook your own meals, and camp in a shack or a tent at night. Thacher had taught him and his friend how to camp in the wilderness so that was not an issue. </p>
<p>o The cultural experience in the Patagonia was amazing – son was exposed to the people and living conditions as they really are, to the lifestyle and language, the foods. He came away with a lot of affection for the Chileans who barely scrape out a life, but who are also invariably warm and friendly. The pics he posted on the blog were breathtaking. Son and friend had hundreds of memorable moments, nearly all positive. </p>
<p>o They made no money in the Patagonia, but their expenses were paid as volunteers. So, with the exception of the occasional trip to “town,” their budget was untouched. They finished the three months in better financial shape than they had expected.</p>
<p>o The next three months in Buenos Aires turned out to be more vacation than anything else. They had tried to line up jobs while still in the States (no dice) and they sought jobs for the first few weeks they were in BA. But, there were none to be had for young Americans for such a short time period, except in call centers, which they didn’t want to do.</p>
<p>o Before they left on the trip, they found and rented (on their own) an apartment in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. They took care of all these arrangements themselves, which were conducted in Spanish. </p>
<p>o While in BA, they saw all the sights, made their own meals, did quite a bit of partying at night, entertained friends from the States, spoke tons of Spanish. Befriended dozens of locals, young and old. Had the time of their lives. </p>
<p>o Some of the funniest (teachable) moments occurred during this period. For instance, my son would always carry his wallet in his back pocket. I tried to get him to carry a small money/credit card clip in his front pocket to minimize the chance of pick pocketing, but he resisted. About two months into the trip, on the way back from a bar at night, a group of “women” approached them. The blog entry is below – still makes me laugh.</p>
<p>BLOG ENTRY START</p>
<p>Deuces </p>
<p>Since our last blog entry, we’ve seen a lot more of the city and gotten a better feel for our own neighborhood. Many of our explorations have been nightlife-based. We’ve been to probably every top recommended night-club in the city, danced to the best of our abilities, and had plenty of fun. We somehow made our way into a V.I.P. section of club “Crobar” where we perhaps had too much fun and were politely escorted away from the premises. That’s not to say we’ve been doing nothing but partying… we’ve also been to the Museum of Modern Art, the Zoo (which is right around the corner), the Women’s Bridge, explored Puerto Madero, and even went to a Hooters (ok, maybe not in the same cultural category). </p>
<p>Unfortunately we had a rough encounter with three pick-pocketing prostitutes on Thursday night. We thought they were run of the mill hookers, but we were very wrong. They aggressively groped us and it quickly became apparent that not only was something wrong, but they were not women by any stretch of the imagination. </p>
<p>It started to get a little physical as they continued to look for our wallets. Two of them pursued Griffin and one came at Harry. Griff quickly noted that his pocket was a little light and caught a glimpse of his wallet in one of their hands. He snatched it back. Harry aggressively pushed and yelled at his assailant causing her/it to flee, but not before she/it grabbed his wallet. Griff told Harry to check his pockets and Harry immediately sprinted after the three who by then had reached a cab that was in cahoots with them. He ran with the cab for a block, but it had the green light and got away. Luckily, there was no money in his wallet and he got all his cards canceled in time. </p>
<p>All in all, it’s a lesson learned. It sucks to get robbed, but it happens. Other than that, everything is great and we’re still living the life. A few tranny/prostitute/pickpocketers can’t keep us down. </p>
<p>BLOG ENTRY COMPLETE.</p>
<p>o Anyway, after 6+ months, they headed back to the States, our son to D.C., his friend to California. They were happy, energized, with new friends in two different countries. They had enjoyed total cultural immersion in both rural Patagonia and glitzy Buenos Aires. Because they had created and paid for the whole trip, managed their own affairs in almost every way, the experience gave them a sense of personal satisfaction and self-confidence that was exciting.</p>
<p>If I can answer any specific questions about this experience, please PM me. I wish I had taken a gap year “back in the day.”</p>