Gap Year?
The time has finally come. You got your diploma. You speak your languages and you also had good grades in your other subjects. But what do you actually know about yourself? What are your talents and which study does that involve? In our opinion, a gap year is the ideal period to find out. We cordially invite you to take a look at this site and see if there might be a happy gapyear break trip for you.
Take a break!
You will discover the world together with a group and try to find out your choice of study. It is now time for a Break. Even if you have already made your choice of study, you are welcome to come along. During the journey you will learn to stand on your own two feet, you will make your own choices and you will discover how much more the world has to offer than the school desks you have spent the last few years in. We are most happy to help you on your way!
Treat yourself to the best trip of your life
We have carefully selected our destinations, where (Dutch) guidance, safety and housing have always been the decisive factors for us. We have trained our coaches ourselves and often visit them ourselves to see whether everything still meets our high standards.
Traveling together = more fun, more enjoyable and safer!
We have consciously chosen to offer our gap year trips as a group trip. It is often much more fun, enjoyable and safer to make such a trip together with a group. With us, your journey starts in the Netherlands. We are creating an app group so that you can contact your travel companions in advance. You can also agree to fly together and sit next to each other on the plane.
“Because memories are made together”
- Group trip with peers
- Lasts 6 weeks
- Personal study coaching
- Motivation compass certificate
- Free diving lesson (Bonaire)
- unlimited sporting
- Exciting excursions
- Shelter & guidance
- Volunteer work
- mediation
- fascinating workshops
- Learning to stand on your own two feet
- The most beautiful time of your life
- Group journey with peers
- Lasts 6 weeks
- Personal study coaching
- Motivational compass
- Volunteer certificate
- Including unlimited sports
- Including free discovery diving lesson
- Many excursions & workshops
- Accommodation & Dutch guidance
- volunteer work
- The most beautiful time of your life
€ 2795,-
- Group trip with peers
- Lasts 6 weeks
- Volunteer work
- Opportunity to work with sea turtles
- Living in Ubud and Canggu
- Online study coaching
- Motivation compass
- Volunteer certificate
- Waveboard surf lessons
- Accommodation
- Dutch guidance
- The most beautiful time of your life
€ 3185,-
- Group travel with peers
- Lasts 4 weeks
- Spanish language lessons
- Online study coaching
- Motivation compass certificate
- Many excursions & workshops
- Hockey & Padel clinics
- Shelter & guidance
- possibility to extend with surfing course
- The most beautiful time of your life
€ 2175,-
- Group trip with peers
- Lasts 6 weeks
- Personal study coaching
- Motivational compass certificate
- first aid course
- Many excursions & workshops
- Sports card for unlimited sports
- Accommodation & Dutch guidance
- including your own bicycle
- The most beautiful time of your life
€ 2695,-
- Group trip with peers
- Lasts 6 weeks
- Volunteer work
- Living in Cape Town
- Online study coaching
- Motivational compass certificate
- Football and hockey
- Waveboard surf lessons
- Accommodation & Dutch guidance
- The most beautiful time of your life
€ 2975,-
- Under Construction
- Group trip with peers
- Lasts 4 / 6 / 8 weeks
- Personal (online) study coaching
- Motivational compass certificate
- Many excursions & workshops
- Living together with the group in a surf hostel
- Shelter & guidance
- The most beautiful time of your life
Costs variable
Are you ready for an adventure?
More than 800 Breakers have gone before you!
Sophie
18 years
Sarah
18 years
Leon
18 years
It was very special to be part of life on Bonaire. Through the work I also met many other volunteers. It is certainly intensive because you are suddenly with so many people, but above all it is a lot of fun, I have made new friends. I really enjoyed cooking for myself and I think I will move to a room next year when I start with my study.
Roland
18 years
What I liked most were the excursions and living together in a student house. We were there during the Easter celebrations in Malaga, which was very special to experience. We didn't sleep a wink that week because the party went on all night
Bastiaan
17 years
Isabel
20 years
Roland
19 years
Esther
18 years
Saskia
17 years
Eva
17 years
Esther
20 years
The journey to your study choice
This is what makes us unique; you go on a journey looking for the answers to your questions, but you don’t go alone. You go with a group of like-minded people. Something for you? Then register for your Gap Year Break. More than 800 young people have gone before you. If your dream destination is already full, take a look at our other gap year trips. Do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact us and we can tell you everything about our gap year trips.
An unforgettable trip during your gap year to a tropical (is)land. You get to know a new culture and make new friends. This also teaches you to stand on your own two feet. Several studies show that a period abroad is very good for the personal development of young people. A trip during the gap year leads to fewer dropouts and better study results. Your gap year trip can also come in handy if you apply for a job later. An experience abroad and volunteer work also look good on your CV.
A student’s life has a number of important choices. It starts with making a good study choice. A gap year trip is ideal for this. You now have the time to discover what your talents are and what makes you happy. We have years of experience in Higher Education and know our way around. You will discover your study choice together with a coach.
“I already know what I want to study”
If you have already made your study choice, you are of course also very welcome to participate in one of our Gap Year trips. Everyone is welcome!
The weekly conversations with my coach have taught me a lot about myself and when I went to look at my studies on an open day, I was really amazed at how well that study suits me
Your choice of study is a serious matter for us
During our travels we go beyond freewheeling for a few months abroad. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But during a gap year break trip it is a serious matter: your choice of study. Something that many young people struggle with. Maybe you too. We offer help with your study choice. The experiences during the Bonaire Break encourage you to make choices. Your own choices that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
Our method is fully focused on discovering your talents, motivations and passions. During your Break you will speak with your coach every week and after 6 weeks you will return home with your choice of study in your pocket.
Break messages in the dutch media
source: AD
In recent years the press has paid a lot of attention to our Gap Year Break. Articles appeared in the Metro. the Telegraaf, the Gelderlander, the Parool, the studiekeuze krant and various college magazines.
This makes us unique!
More and more courses are allowed to select their students themselves. This means that in addition to good grades, you must also be able to demonstrate your motivation. Partly due to our years of experience in higher education, we can help you with your study choice and we also prepare you for the study choice check conversations. We bring you to the front door of your study, as it were. That makes us unique.
Having trouble with your choice of study?
During your gapyear break we will work specifically on your (study) future. We do this with the Motivation Compass method. You will be guided by expert coaches with extensive experience.
Travelling towards your choice of study?
During your journey you will step out of your comfort zone. You get to know new people, have adventures and new experiences. This provides new energy that will help you make your study choice.
Is this trip something for me?
Do you want to live and work in a tropical country for six weeks? Want to experience new adventures and return home with your choice of study in your pocket? Then register for your gap year break!
Volunteer work during your gap year
Working made me feel much less like a tourist and more like a participant in the island. That felt very good. I also met a lot of people outside my group. I brought a very special souvenir from Bonaire and her name is Balou
Working is useful and that is why we think it is important that you work as a volunteer during your gap year. It teaches you to take responsibility, it provides rhythm and regularity, and it also looks very good on your CV. A lot of reasons why we think it is important that every Breaker goes to work as a volunteer.
However, voluntary does not mean without obligation; You are counted on by the animals or children you work with and we therefore expect every Breaker to take this seriously.
Happy Gapyear works
We work together with various institutions, foundations and charities where they can use your help. For example, you can work at a daycare center or after-school care center. If you prefer to work with animals, you can work at animal rescue centers or other projects in nature. If you want to do something with culture, you can visit a number of museums. On Bonaire you can, among other things, contribute to the protection of the mangrove forests or the endemic parrots for which Bonaire is famous.
I had never done anything with construction before, but when I started working at the Bonaire Museum we poured an entire floor of concrete. We still left our handprint in the floor
You have now spent most of your life in school and it is now time to discover the world. At school you learned everything about mathematics and biology and you speak your languages. But what do you know about yourself? What are you good at? Where do your talents lie? The gap year offers you the opportunity to get answers to all these questions. Are you coming?
It is still your child who you put on the plane with pain in the stomach. Of course, we cannot take away your concerns in this area. That is not necessary, because these are very normal and healthy emotions. What we do do is welcome your child in a safe environment and together with a group of young people we will offer them a wonderful and educational time. Hold on or let go? “If you love someone set them free,” Sting sang. True words, but no less easy if you experience it yourself. We notice that letting go is often more difficult for parents than for our participants. In this respect, the gap year is also a crossroads in the lives of parents.
Tourist or traveler?
Do you like to have new experiences and discover new places? Or do you think everything is better at home and working on yourself means lying on the beach all day to get a tan? Are you a tourist or a traveler? Many people may find this question strange. But there are indeed differences between the “traveler” and the “tourist”. During our Break trips we mainly focus on the traveler who dares to step outside his/her comfort zone. We do this consciously because we have experienced for years that this makes traveling very valuable and is the best way to learn to stand on your own two feet. We are always nearby, but we will not walk next to you 24 hours a day.
The culture you will be part of is different than you are used to. As a tourist sitting at a distance, you take a photo and get back into your safe bus to continue. With us you live and work in one place for a longer period of time. You will get to know the people, you will work and be an active part of that society and as a result you will gain many truly new experiences. Experiences that are priceless and very important for the process of discovering yourself. We often hear that this way of traveling yields much more than a few beautiful photos and a beautifully tanned skin.
For me, my choice of study was a big puzzle, I really didn't know what I wanted. During the coaching process, something fell into the right place every week. I signed up for a study to become a teacher after the Break, and it's a lot of fun!! Niene, 18 years old
Gap year team
Harm Jan Van Dijk
Founder Happy Gapyear travel
Marit Kloosterziel
Supervisor Study counceling
Lianne Werkman
Supervisor Bonaire Break
Chrystabelle Beaton
Supervisor Suri Break
Jorge Luis Rivas Garcia
Supervisor Malaga Break
Selma Aouichaoui
Supervisor Bali Break
Suzanne Uijttewaal
Study Counceler
Saskia Vermeer
Study Counceler
Mirjam de Reus
Study counceler coach
Asya Boustanji
Supervisor Bali Break
Ingrid Burger
Supervisor Cape Town Break
We are affiliated with the Dutch Order of Professional Coaches. If our coaches are trained as a Motivation Compass coach. This methodology is being recognized by more and more colleges and universities as a useful instrument during intake procedures.
Contact form
Are you between 17 and 24 years old and does one of our Breaks appeal to you or would you like to know more about it? Please contact us and register for your gap year trip.
