Program Reviews

Traveling with this program was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and every experience I had on this trip was so valuable. I made friends for life and has once and a life time adventures. There was such a variety of things we did it was great. You got out door adventure one day then a nice restaurant for dinner then to a classy bar for drinks. I loved that we got to experience all aspects of where we were staying instead of one or the other. The program was so immersive I’m the countries culture it was refreshing

I loved going on the Costa Rican Adventure. Not only did we get to visit some incredible places and meet loads of cool people, I also made some really good friends from all over the world in my group. My favourite place was Puerto Viejo which was is a gorgeous Caribbean beachside town. Surfing and hiking up the mountains to the natural waterfalls were both amazing activities and I’m so glad I got the chance to do the both. The food and accommodation were great and I had loads of fun. I definitely want to come back to visit Costa Rica in the future!!!

I did this trip just before everything locked down and I can safely say this was the best trip of my life. The treks have amazing views and are hard enough to make seeing machu picchu rewarding but not too tough for those who want an easier walk! The itinerary for this trip is completely action packed with ziplining, white water rafting, paragliding, horse riding and so much more and it's all made so much easier by the gapforce organizers who make signing on to these trips safer and much quicker. The way the trip is run is also quite loose in the sense that we generally had one thing to do in a day and could spend the rest of the day exploring. The kinds of people this trip attracts are amazing and I'm sure there will be no issue with making great friends on it!

I would definitely recommend going in for the full 7 weeks you would not regret it!

I couldn't recommend this trip more highly. I was so nervous to go previously as I didn't know what to expect with the people and dynamic of the trip but I can definitely say I have made some friends for life. The trip is well organised with a high standard of accommodation (all the hostels/ hotels were fun and good quality). The trip was a lot less regimented than I expected which was good, there was the perfect amount of free time for you to go and do your own thing and the group leader was reasonable but not strict. All the activities we did were so worth it and were all very well organised. The leader was friendly, fun and organised and kept everyone in the loop about what we were doing or where we were going. South America is a beautiful continent and the experience was made better by the opportunities that SA explorer gave us.

This program is a great introduction to long-term traveling, as you are in a group of people with planned activities most days. You see the best of what Australia has to offer on the east coast, my favorite city being Byron Bay. The Whitsunday Islands and the Atherton Tablelands in Cairns were also highlights. There are many scenic and gorgeous overlooks for pictures and you get to see the diversity of wildlife and climate that Australia has to offer. After 4 weeks there is a volunteering segment, which can be challenging, but is rewarding in the end. Around this portion of the trip there are less activities and a lot of free time, as you are in Cairns for a little over three weeks. There is an excellent extra activity called Green Island tour, which is a beautiful area with snorkeling. There is also skydiving, bungee jumping, and white water rafting (these all cost extra $). Be sure to bring enough if you want to do these, and for food in general because Australia is expensive in certain areas. You get a good mix of free time and planned activities throughout the time you're there. It's an amazing trip and you get to know the people you're traveling with very well and become like a big family. You will get a lot of it and learn so much about an amazing country with many experiences to offer.

This was my first time travelling alone without my family, which was a daunting experience in itself. That's why I chose to do a guided trip with other people, this was definitely the right decision and it is a great way to start off your travelling in a safe way, it eases you in and makes you so much more confident to go and travel by yourself.

The trip itself was jam-packed with activities and you definitely got your money's worth for 7 weeks of travelling with accommodation and activities included. However, I did find that there were quite a few 'free days' which sometimes was a little frustrating as you just ended spending money for the sake of it. On the topic of money, I should have taken double what I did. The Gapforce website advised that you take approximately £750 for food for the whole trip, this was definitely not enough as Australia is really expensive!! A lot of others on the trip also recognised this, and some of us had to go into extra money or contact our parents because we hadn't brought enough with us. I think it might have been helpful to have known how expensive Australia was and how much money per day you would need (I'd advise £25-35).

The highlights of this trip are definitely the Whitsunday Islands and the trip to the Atherton tablelands in Cairns. Everywhere here is beautiful and therefore your camera roll will be filled with scenic views and many waterfalls! The best times that I had were actually the extra activities that you could pay for like Green Island and Skydiving! (I would recommend taking at least an extra £500 to be able to have the freedom to enjoy these activities if you'd like to) a lot of people also got the opportunity to get their PADI diving certificates over 4 days which I would highly recommend as it is much cheaper than England!

The volunteering section in the last couple of weeks was definitely harder than expected, a lot of us were a little disappointed as on the Gapforce website it states that the volunteering would involve animal conservation such as Koalas and Wallabies. However, we only got told a couple of weeks into the trip that we were actually going to be spending 4 hours in 35ºc heat weeding and planting trees, not what we had expected. Despite this, we all learnt a lot and very much appreciated the week after volunteering where we could relax and catch up on some sleep!

This trip was honestly some of the best weeks of my life and I met some wonderful people. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who hasn't travelled before and finds it hard to meet new people. You get a wonderful tour of Australia and I don't think anywhere was missed out on the trip at all, the itinerary was great and the Gapforce leaders were even better, they were so supportive and got to know all 23 of us individually, you really felt like a big family only after 1 week of knowing each other. I would highly recommend a Gapforce trip but brace yourself for 7 weeks of beautiful views, unforgettable experiences and lots of partying!

I vlogged my 7 week experience - if you want to know exactly what we did check out the video below!

I chose this program because I wanted to travel through South America, see a lot but also do some volunteering work. This program combines these two aspects very well, with the first three weeks consisting of a lot of travelling, the next three weeks a lot of working and the last week travelling again. You see a lot of both Peru and Ecuador and get a great feeling for each country. The volunteering work was very interesting and you definitely learn a lot. In general the atmosphere on the trip was great, the travel group was pretty small and very nice. I think that this trip definitely helped me growing as a person and learn a lot of new things

Travelling halfway around the world for 2 months is never going to be easy, but the Gapforce trip makes it an incredible experience. The trip is packed with different experiences, from the fast paced city of Sydney up to the serene Fraser Island, this was a truly unique and fun way to experience the east cost of Australia. It’s daunting travelling thousands of miles to spend 7 weeks with people you’ve never met, but after a while you forget that you only met recently, as you’ve made friendships that will last. I even decided to remain in Australia for another few months, to live and work with some of the people I’ve met on this trip.
The volunteering portion of the trip was difficult, 4 hours of hard work daily in the heat planting trees and weeding areas of land. This was a different experience to what was described on the website, and it was a little disappointing that we weren’t working with the amazing wildlife and animals found in Australia. It was overall a rewarding experience to have done, but not my first choice when it comes to voluntary work and something to consider when planning this trip!
The leaders provided fantastic support, and their advice on what to do, where to visit and the extra activities available was very helpful. Their interaction with the group made it a better experience, and it was clear they loved what they were doing.
The optional activities are definitely worth it, from bungee and skydiving, to spending a day relaxing on Green island there is definitely something you’ll want to do, and no doubt they’ll be one of the most memorable parts of your trip.
If you’re looking for a tour of the east coast that captures a bit of everything, whilst giving you some freedom to choose what you’d like, this trip is a fantastic opportunity in an incredible country.

My Australian adventure was amazing! The trip was jam packed with activities but also well balanced with free/down time. The leaders were always making sure everyone was having the best time and we had all the information we needed. The days were well structured with a lot of free days to explore for yourself which was really good. My favourite part of the trip was the 3 days on Fraser Island, a surreal experience! You definitely get your money’s worth with all the included activities which were fun to do as a group.

I came on the TEL course looking for a challenge different to one I’d ever had before. I’d just finished school, in which the vast majority of your work is very individual. So I wanted to put myself in a team environment instead and learn as much as I could, both about being in and leading a team. The travelling the world and jungle bit was a big selling point for me too.

The course absolutely delivered. I found myself very much out of my comfort zone and I absolutely loved it. The course is very intense. You receive a huge amount of feedback, which can be hard to keep taking on board. But it is super helpful and alarmingly insightful, and I was very grateful for it when I saw how much quicker I was growing.

The jungle was quite something. To be so immersed in nature is not an opportunity most of us get often, and even the photos don’t do it justice. It was also just so refreshing to not be surrounded by technology and marketing, and to just be happy in the moment with some quality and down to earth people.

Speaking of the people, I had such a lovely group to share this with. The outdoors tends to attract a certain down to earth type of person and that they were. Spending every day with them for 4 months means you all go through many different dynamics together, but learning how to be amongst and even influence that was another challenge I loved.

Lots of us wanted to go on to be expedition leaders (though you don’t have to want to to go on this course), and by the end I felt really well trained and that I had a solid and detailed understanding of what it meant to run an expedition.

Ultimately, I had an amazing time and would 100% recommend it.