The best time of my life!

Since the age of about 12 I have been looking forward to my gap year it kept me going through school and A levels; and what a year it has been! Without a doubt Fiji was the best time of my life! At points it was hard, especially the first couple of weeks getting used to the basic living accommodation. However, I would like to think seeing how the 'other half live' has changed my aspect on life and popped the middle class bubble that I used to live in back home. You can see pictures of other cultures in the news paper or watch documentaries on TV but you can only truely know another culture when you' ve spent time with them. One of the things I loved about Fiji was the fact we got to spend every sunday with the local people, which made it more than just a gap year program for me. I have a friend who did a wild life conservation project in Africa for her gap year with a different company and although she had amazing time, in the 3 months she was out there never once did she have a conversation with the local people. So in that sense gapforce stand out from other gap year programs for me.
I could go on for pages about the diving, put this way the under water world in Fiji is incredible. Even if your having bad day as soon as you stick your head under that water it just brings a smile to your face. The colours are so vibrant and diversity of life is like none I have ever come across anywhere else before. From the smallest Nudibranch to a huge Zebra shark, the under water world is amazing. Your fellow volunteers will come your best friends and you will know them better than your friends at home. If I have any regrets about Fiji though, is that I did nt travel around the island afterwards as it would of cost me £200 just to change my flights. So my advise to anyone going to Fiji is book your flights home at least 2 weeks after the phase finishes. To any future volunteers/ people looking to travel who are reading this, just do it and you won't regret it! If money was no option I would do every single program gapforce has to offer.