Deciding to go is the easy part. A fifth of A Level students thinking of taking a gap year admit they have difficulties planning their trip and one of the hardest things is convincing parents it's a good idea.
Women are more likely to face objections from their family - nearly a quarter of those who have been away say they had to try really hard to convince their relatives. And for the older age group, one in five feel that convincing their partner to go with them was as hard as convincing the family.
Once family and relatives have been convinced, the two major difficulties faced by those taking a gapyear are saving up the money to go, and sorting out the relevant paperwork, especially getting visas.
Difficulties experienced prior to trip:
Time ceases to have the same meaning when travelling - with every hour dedicated to adventure rather than a nine-to-five job, weekends merge into weekdays and the weeks drift into months.
So having an idea of what to do with all that free time is vital, and most research is done at home, before even boarding the plane. The vast majority use friends and family as their main source of information - over half -compared with just over a quarter who consult a guide book. It's clear that the most popular way of bringing the idea to life is to actually talk to someone, rather than trying to imagine it from the pages of a book. The Internet is also becoming a popular way to interact with people who can provide advice or share their own experiences online.
