Europe Gap Year

Living in Northern Ireland for three months gave me a completely new perspective on the world. I met so many kind and welcoming locals who made everyday life feel slower, warmer, and more connected. From the way people socialize over coffee or at the pub to the balance between work, nature, and community, I learned so much about appreciating simple moments. This experience helped me grow personally and opened my eyes to different ways of living and connecting with people.

Very special program! If you’re looking for the sign, this is it. Honestly I was bit skeptical going into a “gap year” program as someone who just graduated from university but Ricky really does everything he can to help personalize the program to fit your needs. Between working around my job schedule and setting me up with amazing trad musicians, this was a perfect break to reset my system after an intense semester. Ricky and Katie got to know each of us by checking in regularly one on one and taking any opportunity to chat and see how they could improve, so even in a small group of varied ages and life stages, we all grew in our ways and had the best experience possible Truly can not recommend the program enough and can’t wait to go back to Portrush to see all of the great friends I made, and could not be more grateful for the community who welcomed us in as their own.

This was truly an experience I will never forget. When in Northern Ireland we were staying in a beautiful seaside town, Portrush. With such an incredible community that welcomed us with open arms. This program is an incredible balance between working and free time. We have a good working space where we work as a team promoting not only this program on social media but we worked with Tourism N.I and local businesses. With time off we were able to explore, chill and hangout with each other, all on our own schedule. We stay in flats together, separated by gender. It is in a very convenient location right across from the train station and right in town, perfect for going out. Ricky and Katie our programs leaders and throughout this whole experience. They are always there to talk, help you out especially when navigating a new country. They also bring us on incredible adventures, my favourite was our time in Donegal. The Scotland portion is a great experience, we got to visit a lot of places and got to do some once in a lifetime experiences like staying in a castle. Overall this was a great experience and I am grateful that I got to spend a portion of my gap with them.