Deciding to take a year out can be one of the largest decisions you make. Whether it is after School, after University, or as a Career Break it is important that you make the most out of this time, and do not look back with any regrets about how you decided the spend your crucial time off.

Here at Ticket to Ride we have designed our Gap Year programmes to ensure that the experience covers all the essential ingredients to the full Gap Year Experience.

What are the benefits of a Gap Year?

• Gain New Skills
• Our Surf Adventures are more that just an experience. No previous surfing experience is required on any of our courses, and in learning to surf, you will have a skill that you can take home with you, and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

• Gain qualifications
• Gain internationally recognised qualifications in both surf lifesaving, and surf instructing. A lot of our Riders return and spend the Summer in Cornwall or do a European Summer Season working as a surf instructor. This will not only give you a Summer to remember, but will also earn you some good money.

• Enhance your C.V.
• It's important to return from your time Gap Year and have something to show at the end of it, and if you can put yourself above the crowd then even better. With Ticket to Ride you'll have done something for yourself, helped out those in a less fortunate position than yourself in community projects, and gained international surf instructor and surf lifesaving qualifications. This will not only make your C.V. stand out to employers sifting through thousands of applicants but will also demonstrate to future employers that you possess confidence, leadership qualities, people skills, responsibility and a sense of adventure that cannot be taught.

• Increase confidence
• Spending a Gap Year in South Africa, travelling with newly made friends, learning to surf, getting involved in charity projects, and getting qualifications, will be a huge step in your personal development and will increase your confidence on a number of levels.

• New Outlook on life
• Get out there, and put yourself in eye opening situations. There's no better way than travelling, learning new skills, and meeting people from all walks of life, to give you a fresh perspective on life. Whether you've come straight from school, university, or a career this blend will enhance your experience, and ultimately change your life for the better.

• Universities and employers recognise the benefits of a Gap Year
• Increasingly universities and employers are attaching value to the enterprise, initiative and sustained commitment that a gap year brings to an individual. When talking about gap years UCAS state that 'experience compliments education'. Learning outside of the classroom is a positive for future life, and at the end of the day people are measured by what they have achieved, and by spending three months with Ticket to Ride on our surf adventure you'll achieve more that you could ever imagine.