Planning My Gap Year

Before starting university I will hope to take a gap year ( 4 months ) to travel. I will use this opportunity to build up my photojournalism portfolio. It was also be a good way to explore parts of the world I have yet to see and broaden my horizon with regards to where I would like to settle down/ return to. I Will also be on the look out for interesting stories to write/ document at the places I visit.

I have been looking at a website called Round The World Experts ( Here is the link ) and it has a service which allows you to type in the destinations you wish to visit and it will formulate a rough cost. From there an employee will call you and discuss your options. For now I am awaiting the call but I have planned to visit these following places with my friend:

Japan (Tokyo & Taiji) : to experience such an alien and advanced place. Plus in Taiji there is a cove where they continue to slaughter dolphins with the support of big companies as Seaworld. I would love to document this and make an effort to change this.

Australia: I have heard lots of amazing things about Australia and how laid back it is, which sounds fantastic as I have a particularly laid back nature. They have also an abundancy of natural wonders I would love to explore. For example, The Great Barrier Reef. I would love to scuba dive here and record how much it has changed/ been destroyed because of the intense tourism.

Thailand: I have been to Thailand before but have yet to see all of the Islands. Whilst there I noticed a great deal of corruption with regards to the sex trade. Thailand is one of the hotspots for the child sex trade. This is somthing I am really passionate into looking into and being a strong activist for. Thailand also has numerous problems with regards to animal cruelty, especially towards endagered animals such as Elephants, Leopards and TIgers

America: I would be planning on going to California, Miami and San Francisco. I have chosen California to look at the infamous life of the OC county college students and document their summer break, to see if it lives up to the stereo type. I also want to go to Miami to look at the rise in gang crimes within the area as crime has spiked significantly within the past 10 years.