Great Gap year experience - YI Asia Fall 2012

I personally wanted to experience life outside of North America and Europe--see things I'd never seen and do things I'd never done. Most importantly, I wanted to challenge myself and the way I thought about the world. I had the most incredible experience of my life with YI. I'm not going to lie here: there are some really hard times--struggles adjusting. struggles with culture shock, struggles with the physical aspects (the treks, the hiking)--, but it is, without a doubt, all worth it. I learned so much about myself through the hardest times. Also, some of the best food in the world, easily.
YI also is so fairly priced! When I went in fall 2012, the cost of the program included the cost of flights, which was just unheard of, but we realized that there wasn't enough money set aside for all meals all the time--and we had a big screw up with a delayed flight that ended up costing YI a lot of money--, so they stopped covering flights and lowered the price a bit, adjusting for an increased food budget (which they handed out to us on the days when we didn't have group activities). Even considering that, the program is still very well priced. Many programs cost upwards of 12 or 13 thousand without flights and certainly without all of the incredible activities and experiences of YI.