Physical

From GapYearWiki

No, this isn’t about exercise. It’s about skiing down virgin slopes, sailing across the Pacific, trekking into the Himalayas. You can do any of those things, and many more.

Australian Trust For Conservation Volunteers offers a wide range of conservation efforts ideal for short term volunteering. The cost is slightly under $1000 Australian for six weeks. http://www.atcv.com.au

Costa Rica Rainforest Outward Bound School Costa Rica Rainforest Outward Bound inspires and develops leadership, compassion, responsibility, respect for the environment and commitment to serve through adventure-based wilderness experiences led by the most skilled, safety-conscious staff.(CRROBS) http://www.crrobs.org

Dynamy Internship Year - Dynamy Internship Year is the oldest and only residential internship program in the United States. Their mission is to offer young people, ages 17-22, a transformational gap year (or semester) opportunity. Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Dynamy Internship Year integrates full-time mentored internships in over 240 organizations with urban and backcountry leadership experiences, personal and college/career advising, city apartment living, optional college seminars and the company of a remarkable group of peers. Phone 508-755-2571, http://www.dynamy.org

Flying Fish Training and jobs in water sports and winter sports Professional training for Yachtmasters and instructors. Join Flying Fish for a lifetime of adventure. This is a sailing license qualification program, plus Windsurfing, Scuba Diving and now winter sports as well. http://www.flyingfishonline.com

Hidden Villa is a nonprofit educational organization that uses its organic farm, wilderness, and community to teach and provide opportunities to learn about the environment and social justice. Hidden Villa stretches over 1600 acres of open space in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Hidden Villa's mission is to inspire a just and sustainable future through our programs, land and legacy. http://www.hiddenvilla.org

Institute For Tropical Marine Ecology The Institute for Tropical Marine Ecology (ITME) is a not-for-profit organization focusing on the biological investigation of tropical marine environments in regions where such work has not been carried out, only marginally, or not in recent times. The principal objectives are to generate and compile environmental baseline data relevant to local conservation initiatives and to make them accessible to a broad audience in order to facilitate monitoring and research ventures. Projects are designed to deliver technical and educational consultancies while incorporating academic/research training and community outreach where requested. http://www.itme.org

Internships at Spannocchia The Internship Program is dedicated to enriching the lives of young people by providing them with a unique educational experience on a community oriented organic farm in Tuscany, Italy. Tenuta di Spannocchia’s 1100-acre pastoral estate serves as an active model for responsible stewardship through collective effort. http://www.etruscanfoundation.org/programs.html

National Outdoor Leadership School is an outdoor experience focused not just on endurance but the development of leadership skills as well. Not just individual survival skills but group interaction: how to survive, lead and thrive. http://www.nols.edu/NOLSHome.html

Northwest Boatbuilding School After building wooden boats in the Puget Sound area for more than fifty years, master shipwright Bob Prothero had learned a lot about the business that wasn’t in any textbook. It was his dream to find a way to pass this lore along to new generations of wooden boatbuilders and help keep his craft alive. He came to the Olympic Peninsula from Seattle and founded the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in January, 1981. http://www.nwboatschool.org

Organic Farming and environmental work and worldwide volunteer work, mostly organic farms. http://www.organicvolunteers.org http://www.interexchange.org/

Outward Bound is the original wilderness survival course, emphasizing the development of individual survival and endurance skills. http://www.outwardbound.org

PROJECTS ABROAD In Ghana, we have a site for house building. Based in the Akuapem Hills just over an hour north of Accra you could join a team of Projects Abroad volunteers and local people constructing simple buildings in the hill-village of Kwamoso and five other nearby communities. The houses are all made from mud bricks that are produced using a press and just mud and water, then left to set hard in the sun. Volunteers also help with building the walls, plastering and painting the houses. Each house takes an average of one month to construct. In addition to the basic project, you may also help with landscaping the surrounding area, painting local schools and renovating classrooms in the village school. To learn more, please visit: http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/culture-and-community/ghana-community-building-project/

We also offer some really awesome conservation placements in Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Thailand. The projects range from diving and marine conservation to plains conservation to rainforest conservation. Take a look at this link for more info: http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/conservation-and-environment/

Sea Education is a marine program out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, headquarters of the National Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. SEA Education Association (SEA) offers college students a study abroad that challenges them intellectually and physically by combining a sailing adventure of a lifetime with the study of the deep ocean. http://www.sea.edu

Seamester provides a semester of sailing in the Caribbean, with marine biology and potential college credit. http://www.seamester.co

Where There Be Dragons Dragons programs are authentic, rugged and profound learning adventures that expose the beautiful and complex realities of the countries in which one travels. Featuring extended itineraries, Dragons programs encourage deep immersion into strikingly different physical and cultural landscapes, combining the best in experiential education, travel, service learning, and physically and intellectually challenging experiences. While programs vary in their focus - with some trekking and wilderness intensive, others strong on service and development studies, and still others language-oriented - all Dragons journeys are designed above all else to be fun, safe and honest educational experiences. http://www.wheretherebedragons.com