By taking a Gap Year you will open yourself to amazing and new opportunities. A Gap Year down under is an experience like no other, and previous Letz Live gappie Brie shares her experience. Brie is from Boston, and spent her Gap Year down under working in Brisbane. This will teach you how to travel Australia during your gap year!
Read about her favourite parts of her Gap Year and why she took this opportunity with Letz live.
Why did you choose to do the Gap Year?
My choice to do a gap year was born from needing a break before I start studying for law school. Australia was always a dream destination being and place of for exploring but still having similarities to home. Combined going to Australia with helping out at a boarding school made the Letz Live gap year a perfect match!
What’s been the highlight of your trip?
No questions the best part of my gap year was absolutely all of the friends I made along the way! Being placed with other international gappies (in my case from England and South Africa) I was able to learn about their experiences. On top of that I was working with students across the globe, learning of their experiences and cultures was incredibly rewarding.
The kindness of everyone was great but a special thanks to my local soccer team. Though soccer I met some incredible Australians my age who toured me around the territories and became my great mates.
Tell us about the friends you’ve made
The friends I made in Australia were irreplaceable! The Australian’s were all welcoming and accommodating taking me and some other gappies to their family homes and vacation homes. we visited Noosa, Rocky, Byron Bay and even a few remote areas in Glenmorgan during our adventures. I always had plenty on, so after work I would be found on walks, hikes, city trips, and of course, down at the beaches!
Share some secret spots or travel adventures from your time so far
The best trip we took was renting a Jucy van and road tripping up north to the Whitsundays! We did a 3 day sailboat trip to and around Whitehaven beach, and even went snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef.
Over Christmas me and another gappie took a trip to Palm Cove and that was one of my favourite sports for sure! Palm Cove is definitely a place to consider when deciding how to travel Australia during your gap year!
How did you choose what places to visit when travelling?
We created a long bucket-list of day trips and weekend trips we wanted to get through in the year, either from googling or from suggestions of the staff at school or students. We saved certain spots for different seasons and temperatures and the bigger trips for over the holidays.
Because of border closures throughout COVID in Australia, my travel was pretty limited primarily within Queensland, which in my opinion, was one of the best places to be stuck in!
What are some of the biggest differences between home and your Gap Year country?
How kind and accommodating everyone was!
Tell us what a standard day of work is like as a Boarding Assistant
Depending on the schedule or term a day could look a lot of different ways. For one term I was on morning shift duty. I would get up at 6am, wake kids for sports or school then help them with meds and uniforms. Then I would get off around 9 and have most of the day free and start again at dinner time. During dinner we would help out in the dining hall while getting a meal in, then we help the kids with their study and homework in the library.
Another term I wasn’t on morning shifts so I would have the whole morning free and I would start at 3 when the kids all got back from school. From there I would either go to study with the younger girls and help them with work, or hang around the boarding house playing games with the other girls. We played lots of card games, board games, volleyball, soccer, fishbowl, karaoke, etc, never a dull moment! Moments like this are how you should travel Australia during your gap year!
At my school we would have shifts every other weekend for most of the day or night and the off weekends we would be completely free! Because I played on a soccer team I only worked shifts on the days I did not have practice or games. My boss was so helpful in working my schedule around soccer!
If Brie’s incredible stories about meeting new people and exploring Australia peaked your interests, then get in touch with the team at Letz Live and find out more.
