How You Know You Were A Gap Yah Traveller

Rather than guessing what you may or may not want to do for the next 50 years, why not climb Mount Everest or volunteer to teach English to children in developing countries? Within the past 20 years, the world has become a smaller place and suddenly flying to China for a four-month internship no longer makes you sound like a complete nutcase. That’s where the beauty of the ‘gap yah’ comes in and this is a list of all the things you can expect to happen once you come back from your adventure.

You find yourself correcting people’s pronunciation of foreign words

‘No, no, no – it is ‘le pain’ not ‘le paiN’. The n is silent! That’s what I learned in Paris anyway.’

You have cravings for food that you will never find in its original form in your home country

Whenever there’s a bad weather day, you remember the days when you were more worried about whether you put on enough sunscreen rather than enough layers

Running out of the house with nothing more than a pair of shorts and a t-shirt was just that simple. Now you actually need to check the weather forecast to see whether you shouldn’t take that hat with you after all.

You can make friends with just about anyone

When you have to kill five hours at the bus stop to get to your next destination, talking to strangers suddenly becomes so much more entertaining. The likelihood of finding like-minded people on the road is also a lot higher and with a bit of practice, finding common ground with strangers seems so much easier.

You don’t mind sleeping in accommodation that you would never stay in if you were with your parents

Although you may be used to sleeping in nice bed and breakfasts or beach resorts, travelling on your own teaches you to take what you get. From one star hostels, to the air mattress of a nearby couchsurfer, you’ve done it all. After all, that gap year budget isn’t infinite.

Your Instagram feed is full of pictures that might as well have been taken by a travel agency

Tropical rain forests and ancient temples – after a few months of seeing it all your family and friends will feel like they were right there with you. Besides, finding the right angles for all these sights comes in handy when you are back and are trying to keep up your social media game.

You start getting creative when things go wrong

There are so many things that go off plan while travelling. You could end up losing your wallet, have your translation app go on strike, or just not find the hostel you booked. Figuring out how to communicate with locals or making up alternatives, tends to become second nature after a while.

Meeting people from different backgrounds has made you more open-minded and welcoming

Rather than being scared by the strange and unexpected, you embrace any opportunity to gain new experiences. Whereas meeting people from all over the world or taking part in, say an African dance class, used to be something only your extrovert friends would do, it is now your turn to jump into the unknown.

Whenever you meet someone from the countries you’ve visited, you can’t help but start exchanging stories and experiences

Locals just seem to get your love for the places you visited and all the food you tried so much better, since they know what you are talking about. However, this will probably lead to you completely ignoring everyone else around you.

You will have probably come out of your one-year break being more confident and knowing that you can do anything you set your mind to (including travelling some more). And even though your wanderlust might never be entirely satisfied, you know that there is always the opportunity to start saving up and go back some day. But in the meantime you might as well live your life to the fullest under the motto ‘home is where the heart is’.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.