March 21, 2024 • 27 mins
In this informative episode of the Student Pages Podcast, we have the pleasure of hosting Faye from Kilroy Travel. Faye returns to our show for a fascinating talk on the benefits of taking a gap year. She outlines its importance, especially for students, and how it provides them an exciting chance to step out of their comfort zones, experience varied cultures, and illuminate their career paths.
Traveling, according to Faye, is an enriching way to personal growth and career opportunities. She emphasizes how gap years can present a plethora of opportunities, including networking and even launching careers abroad. Faye shares her personal travel experiences and how traveling served as a strategy for stress management, offering a fresh perspective on life.
Kilroy Travel, a dedicated team of travel agents, takes the daunting aspects out of gap year planning. They perfect the art of tailoring travel experiences to suit individual needs and preferences. Faye also stresses the significance of interactive local experiences during travels, which provide insider knowledge on the best places to visit and help create a global network for future travels.
Listeners are treated to a delightful recounting of Faye’s memorable trips, especially her transformative journey in Indonesia, highlighting the importance of going with the flow and breaking comfort zones to fully immersive in different cultures. Get an exclusive look at Kilroy Travel's expertise, ranging from surf enthusiasts to South American experts, who boast of more than just theoretical knowledge, but actual adventurous experiences.
The key focus of the episode is Kilroy Travel’s commitment to safety and security measures for student travelers. It includes protection schemes and convenient deposits, all designed to assure peace of mind during adventures. Get valuable tips and advice for effective travel planning and learn about Kilroy’s dedication and support extended to each traveler.
Inspire yourself to embark on your own unique journey by exploring the rich experiences shared in this episode. Discover a whole new perspective on travel and chart your journey to the unknown!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back once again to the Student Pages podcast and here we have
another travel special on the podcast today and we are joined once again by
Faye from Kilroy Travel.
Faye, how are you doing? I'm doing good, how are you?
I'm doing very well, thank you. I've got used to you as being part of the family around now.
(00:20):
I've got a new background this time so a little
bit bit different but still the same old something new
something exciting yeah how have you been since
we last seen you on the podcast yeah not too bad I've
been traveling still been working booking people's trips
but yeah same old really I don't
(00:40):
know why I was so surprised at traveling I think just because I do nothing as a
person no I've just been away yeah honestly
I surprise myself sometimes like I talk to people and I'm like oh yeah well
I'm going away again oh my god off we must have a conversation about how many
air miles you have and like yeah I know or I'd hate to add it all up it's a
bit crazy I was like working out the other day I think I'm only in Bristol for
(01:02):
like two weeks up until May I was like how does this happen to somebody.
That's the ideal point being the UK as little as
possible no I know honestly especially with I
thought we were having some sunny days and now the clouds out again
I'm like oh this is not what I thought the vibe was anymore
exactly and that's it I think like heating gas
(01:22):
electric things that we're seeing that
students generally don't have to worry about but you're creeping into the
adult age where it's just so irrelevant now and
I finally know what my parents were talking about when they just put
eight layers on definitely just got
the dressing gown on still I'm waiting for the sun to shine a
little bit more but you always forget that March
(01:42):
is still a bit of winter winter exactly and speaking
of sunnier places I'm ready to talk with
you a little bit more about gap years oh yeah so we
are specialized in student youth travel so we kind.
Of help people organizing their gap years working holidays which
includes ski resorts so a Canada working holiday we
do a lot of volunteer projects across the world and then
(02:04):
more like adventure things like surf camps and trekking holidays
kind of things like that a bit of everything and just a
bit more tailored tailored towards young people that want to
get out there and do a trip that is like
more less organized like with a lot of
our competitors they might be more structured in their like trips whereas we're
just here to help you and make sure that you have the best trip that you can
(02:26):
so we're quite focused on the customer our stuff is all tailored to the person
so yeah it's all about making sure that people make the most out of taking a
year off and taking time to travel A bit more spontaneity.
So I wanted to ask you a little bit more why you think, not just Dick Kilroy.
But in general, in your personal experience, why you think gap year is actually
like so important and why so many students like love to go on more overseas?
(02:51):
Yeah. So I feel like for me, right from school, like I always knew like,
after school, I'm on a gap year because I've been working hard.
I've been grinding on these A levels and I thought, I need a break.
I've not got time to go into work or uni straight after. So I think it is like,
it's points where you're at a bit of a crossroads.
So if you're doing it before uni, or you're doing it after uni.
You're just in that space where you're maybe not sure what's next,
(03:13):
or you haven't got an idea, or you want to do it before you start your career and get stuck.
And there isn't ever a good time to go. And you know, once you're in 28 days of annual leave.
That's hard to go anywhere exciting so it's.
Kind of utilizing that time where it doesn't matter if you.
Go now it's not affecting any jobs or or things
like that so I think it's important to use that time where you
(03:35):
have got less responsibilities but also like
traveling can give you so many skills towards working
environments like networking and if you're
volunteering that looks amazing on cvs or even if you
go on working holidays things like it can give give you the opportunity
to have a career in a whole nother country so
so many people I know that go on like Aussie working holidays they've never
(03:57):
come back they just live in Australia now so it just
opens you up to so much more and I think
it rounds you as a as a person you kind of
find your own footing away from the constraint of
school because it can really you're very samey all the
time so going out and meeting so many new
people from so many different walks of life really just
(04:17):
opens and broadens your mind and kind of
helps you finalize your decision I guess in steps after
uni I think we've got like two ends of the extremes on
this podcast here because I myself I did not take a gap year
there was four weeks between my last exam from university
and then just going straight into nine to five works which
when I think about it is horrible yeah I
(04:39):
love routine I love a schedule getting into work was so exciting for me but
just that little little bit of time even then I could have traveled within that
four weeks but can you tell me a little bit more about your gap year and your
personal experience so I can live live vicariously definitely so I.
Very sadly actually my own sub story I left
(05:00):
school and I was in the COVID year so my gap year got completely
cancelled so I then was like
I need to get out the UK I said this last
time I went to Thailand volunteering and I then
went to Bali and that's when I decided like right I want to work and
travel so for me traveling helped me find
this job and I guess it might not
(05:21):
do the same for everyone because obviously I wanted to go into travel because
I traveled but it really just will I think
it just helps you kind of think when I'm when I go home
what do I want like what do I want my life to look like because traveling really
is so enjoyable and it is so different from your structure here like you say
you quite like a routine you have to kind of adapt to different lifestyles and
(05:43):
I think in the UK it's a very fast-paced life like it is nine to five routine.
And stuff and when you're away you kind of think like hang on I
really want to slow down actually and just like really enjoy
this time so I think it helps you coming back to re-evaluate
like your priorities and stuff like that so
it can be really helpful for that but it's not always the
(06:05):
way for everyone like not everybody can go straight into
gap year and stuff so it's kind of finding the best thing for your
times like with you having four weeks we would
have been able to try and find something that can suit
you in those four weeks what's a
viable option to get you to to experience something different before
you have to do work and things like that and we have like medical
(06:26):
electives for people that are medical students so just trying
to help people travel in any way they can I guess and for us we're so passionate
about it we're like but what do you mean you you want to go do that you don't
want to go traveling oh no I think from even when I've gone abroad for like
extended periods of time whether
that has been I think you know what it It has just been through work,
(06:47):
ironically. So I can't complain.
But it brings such a sense of perspective because you're so right that.
Like england is just so fast and to the letter yeah and
i will get so like upset and
angry with myself if i miss a bus or if
i think oh no it's three minutes until
the next tube and then once you actually go like abroad
(07:10):
and you kind of put yourself in this different culture
and experience like actually that just doesn't matter why
am i getting so angry with myself yeah it literally
is and I think like I'm so calm since I
came back from traveling and like for me traveling is like
a therapy like the second I'm getting a bit stressed I'm like right okay well let's book
a holiday then like let's go away just re-ground ourselves
(07:31):
and then we'll come back to the UK all good but it
is does really open up that other countries
aren't living in this fast pace so like when you come back you
do really find a different ground to
work off of so yeah I think really really beneficial before careers
and things like that absolutely and it's interesting.
That you mentioned there that like traveling is like
(07:53):
sort of like a little bit of a release for you because I have
to admit like again we've got two ends of the spectrum here looking
forward I'm nervous looking at holiday I'm like
oh no how will I get there where am I going what's the time between
these things have I got a layover and there's so many different questions so
I'd like to know a little bit more about how the travel reps
at Kilroy help students who maybe don't have that that
(08:14):
much experience either um yeah of course it's
totally normal when you come to doing a
gap year you are new to it and like normally you've gone on
holidays with your parents or someone else has organized it or you've
just done the like classic a level zanty holiday
where it's like you book a little package so it is
so overwhelming and especially now like you can go on tiktok search a
(08:34):
location and see like a thousand videos of recommendations so i
think for us at kiori we just kind of cut the noise out
find out from you like what is it you're looking to get
out of this trip are you a nervous flyer do you want
really direct flights like things that you might not think of
and just make sure that the trip suits you we're
not going to send somebody that's like oh I really hate like trekking
(08:56):
we're not going to send you on a trek just because the video looked good
like it's more about you and what travels suit
you and I think also having us there to rely on when you're traveling things
can get stressful things can get confusing you might want want to change your
flight you might want to change where you're going next and you can always fall
back on us like we're still here to do all those changes for you and it's like you may not.
(09:19):
Think that you're ever going to change the schedule that you've planned for
when you're traveling but you'd be shocked so many people like
daily someone's like can I change my flight and I'm like oh okay
yeah sure but it is little things that
you don't really know what's going to happen when you're out there because it is a
new experience you might go to a location and think I actually
hate it here I really want to leave and go somewhere different but also we have
(09:41):
so many group tours that are really really good for if you're solo traveling
just to kick off your a trip it's like a little like 12 to 15 days you can meet
other people that are there and I think that really benefits you moving on you've
got the confidence from making friends in that situation.
You've met other people that you can carry on traveling with but
also they are so amazing they have such unique experiences
(10:01):
built and they're a great way to kind of ease yourself into
solo traveling or ease yourself into a big adventure so yeah
it's just little things like that where you may not think
of all these things because there is so much like information out
there it's hard to know which way to go so yeah it's
more about like finding the perfect trick for that person so
yeah that's what's like so important especially about like the personalization
(10:24):
of a travel agent like kilroy because
you have so many options for agape like you
were just meant you can go trekking if you want to go trekking you
can go skiing so much so so much and like
some people come up with some really rogue ideas and you're like yeah cool
let's see what we can do with it but it is and I think there's the
classic the Southeast Asia you know everyone does it Vietnam Cambodia
(10:46):
Thailand and it's amazing and it's
the perfect first time traveler because it is so safe and
it is so well traveled that it's easy to get
through but things like going to Central and South America are.
For somebody that's a little bit more of an experienced traveler and
it can be so different to the reality like
so different to what you see online some of these places it seems like
(11:08):
such an easy place to travel but those people don't like
to share sometimes all of the other stuff so even like coach
journeys are so much longer than you expect things that you
don't think to counter in from like just seeing like
videos online or just hearing like your friends talk about it
so it kind of is that we're the experts and we can
just give you those extra little key tips that you might miss have you seen.
(11:29):
The tv series race across cross I love it it's such a good series is that the
water cooler talk at Kilroy yeah if that's on or every day we're updating each other about that.
See I think that's my um that's me living vicariously through like what I imagine
(11:49):
almost a gap year to be like I appreciate that that's so much higher stress
and there's so much but it is a crazy like adventure like they everybody must
watch it and be like I could do that better like I could do that way better.
I always do. I'm like, I could have done that.
But it's probably so much harder than you realize oh yeah and what tips would
(12:10):
you have for someone who is either going on race to the end of the world or
a gap year who knows maybe maybe both.
But both I think it is and you see it so.
Often in race across the world is talking to people
like just chat to anybody don't be afraid of
people like I think for me when I first landed in Bali
I was so nervous and I was like by myself for a
(12:30):
couple days and then my friends were meeting me and I went to a
hostel and I was hanging out with this one person and we went out
for the day and he literally was asking like every single market
store owner every restaurant every like taxi driver
for their recommendations and we went to
like some of the nicest places that probably no one else was experiencing if
they weren't asking the locals and you can
(12:52):
get so many favors like people were then giving us lifts to the
airport because they just got on with us and kind of chatty so people are
always going to be the best part of the experience is even
the people you chat to in the hostel but as I say
like it's a networking thing like now I have people across the
world that I can go and stay with because I've met them traveling so
it is like I think that's my biggest thing and it was
(13:13):
something that I saw them do that I never would have really done I
probably would have stuck to my own like chatting to people that speak English
like people that was easy to communicate with but then
once I saw how much he gained from just asking the
locals I was like oh yeah I'm gonna do that everywhere I
go now and I think it just helps your trip be really amazing
and just stress-free and yeah and also just always taking things a bit slower
(13:35):
like don't rush thing a lot of other countries don't run as quick as the UK
as I said like in Thailand they always say like sabai sabai which is like relax
relax like there's no rush and they're just like.
Oh it doesn't matter if we're 10 minutes late like ah it's
okay so I think yeah you just have to know that just
(13:55):
take it as it comes don't have so much planned already you kind of have to let
it flow as it flows and then you're not getting stressed and you're just enjoying
yourself that's it I wish like especially when I've gone to different places
because I've been with like it's like a larger group or whatever you don't usually
get to go out and speak and go to like like the path that's less travel.
(14:15):
I have to admit, when I went to Gilly, I think I went into one,
the Gilly Islands, I went into one bar and then just, you know,
you just slowly start talking to people because I'm absolutely not adverse to it.
Love just picking up random people, starting talking to them,
have a great conversation.
And I was thinking, everybody here is from Clapham. I might as well have gone to Clapham. There it is.
(14:37):
Yeah, I can remember me and my friends were on Gilly Tea as well,
probably the same place.
And we were staying in the hostel and we were like walking back to
our room and we just saw that heard the thickest Bristolian accent
and we were like oh my god oh no and
they came out and they were like oh we're from Kingswood and we
were like oh my gosh no we know them and we were like oh how can
you be on the other side of the world and you still find like
(15:00):
the Brits and we were like oh gosh but yeah
it is it is uncomfortable sometimes to push yourself away
from the people that you you can talk to easily
and stuff and I definitely it's a comfort when you first arrive
for sure but just have it like once you've
done it you're like oh that was actually really nice like I really benefited from
that and even if it's just like to say hello like locals appreciate
(15:21):
that so much and like because of those experiences has that kind of shaped your
like favorite travel destination or favorite memory of where when you went traveling
yeah I think it's so hard when you you travel and you love it so much I find
it so hard to say like this is my favorite destination.
So I feel like it changes any day but I think the
(15:42):
one place that I could bang on and on and on about and probably all
my friends know that I went to Indonesia I think I
was there for the longest and it kind of was at
a point in my life where I wasn't sure what to do so it's the same as
like when you've left you knew that kind of feeling and the same as
what a gap year would give you and I was so unsure and just going
I was like oh nothing really matters I'm fine
I can just go with the flow people are so
(16:05):
lovely like no one's worried about what I'm up to out here like everyone's just
asking you oh where'd you come from oh that's cool like no one's like what you're
doing with the rest of your life it's very like stress-free and then I came
home and I was like right okay no I'm ready now I'm ready to work and I'm ready
to do something more so I think that place it.
For me definitely was like a turning.
(16:26):
Point in in life and like led me to the next steps which.
Took me to all the other destinations I've gone so yeah definitely
would say Indonesia tops it most of the time
and now just just like speaking to you I look back
and I think once again we've got two extremes you well-traveled
been all over the place barely been in the UK bit of
like a home body needs the structure obviously craves
(16:49):
a little bit of the yeah last time speaking to your colleague
as well I was so overcome with the feeling that you guys
just know things and that you are like reliable
because you have been through it too so can
you tell us a bit more about like this day your colleagues Kilroy
as well as like what you guys kind of talk about and how
this sort of influences what you suggest students yeah of
(17:10):
course at Kilroy we are all travelers like
that's such an important part of of being here at work I
don't I didn't have any experience in travel before I started working here all
that mattered to our manager when they were hiring was
like you've traveled like that's amazing and you're passionate about it
so you can count that every single person in the office like
when a request comes through or somebody comes into
(17:31):
store for a meeting we're so excited by their trip
like you start living through the trips that you're planning even
though you've got your own trips going on like like I'll
make an itinerary for somebody and I'll be like oh my god this is
amazing I'm like wow they're gonna have such a good time and like
when like customers send us photos of
their traveling it's like you're so excited to see
(17:51):
it like you just know that they're having this amazing time they're
experiencing all those feelings that you feel when you're.
Traveling and I know so Riley that we've got in the office he's like our surf
expert he's amazing at kind of knowing the best spots to go for that more like
adventure adrenaline kind of thing and then we have Holly she's joined since
we last spoke she She is literally our South America, Central America expert.
(18:15):
I always like, Holly, what was this place like? Because she did a year there.
There's nowhere she hasn't been.
I feel like every time I mention somewhere, she's like, oh, yeah,
I went there. And she's so calm and just like.
She'll just talk about something that has happened to her and she'll just make
you think anything's funny about traveling like she'll be like oh yeah like
maybe this wasn't the best day but I think it was really good actually and yeah
(18:36):
she's so attention to detail for every customer she's she's great and then our
team leader Jess she's she loves an island holiday so she's really good for like Jamaica.
Fiji those kind of more chilled out trips
and yeah and then Meg has done a lot of southeast
asia or australia and i've done a lot of central
no i've done a lot of southeast asia
(18:59):
as well and then i went to peru and i'm going to sri lanka this weekend
so then i can talk to anyone about sri lanka yeah this
weekend you've literally got
to travel by your job description i mean well i
know time off for you guys i was talking
to someone about it the other day and they were like how much annual leave
are you using up like surely you've run out already and i was was like no guys
(19:21):
like I need to travel like I've got
to do it for the job it hasn't happened so yeah
it is an amazing place because it's like other places you
might have to request the sabbatical if you want like three weeks
instead of two at a time whereas here like it's kind
of encouraged which is really great obviously and it gets that like
just that ground knowledge as well that's not oh I'm reading
(19:43):
from a list it's the person that oh
I can lean over and just talk to someone because they've been
there for a year or they went there for an extended
amount of time yeah definitely 100% and like Meg just.
Got back from Vietnam yesterday so she's going to give us all the lowdown
on that so it's kind of stealing each other's knowledge as well like even if
somebody's talking to me about surf it's like cool I know I'm going to go chat
(20:06):
to Riley after this and make sure that I'm saying all the right stuff as well
because we're not going to have traveled everywhere we're not like crazy people
that just have spent no time in the UK but.
We still have a base knowledge about everything and we have such reliable like
products team that we can go and talk to about everything that we do have so it's it does mean.
(20:27):
There's a lot more knowledge behind us all
because even if I haven't been somewhere there's someone in
our company somewhere that has that I can talk to and make sure that
it really does suit the customer and I'm not telling you any lies or
any false things but yeah do you
have to do like a little show and tell after you come back from holidays yeah
we do yeah if we do
(20:48):
a little presentation for the whole team talk to them about
everything we did which is obviously great for everybody but yeah
it's like the stress of planning on when you get
back you're like oh got to do the presentation now I love
that me and my housemates every time we come back from like a new
place we always bring a fridge magnet which like
I know externally is like the tackiest thing
(21:08):
that you can get but we objectively like we go for
those I love the tacky ones no I
love them they're so good I just have
a tiny little place to put them in my room and then there's too many now but
I just can't resist them sometimes I buy things I think why did I buy a sticker
from this country like i don't need this sticker but i just get wrapped up in
(21:29):
it all do you have like a collectible that you always get one of my friends
had the uh she used to get like tiny ornate spoons.
That you could like stare tea with and it was
like a specific brand that had every country and
she always get a spoon from this place yeah i
don't really have anything i do like fridge magnets
(21:51):
and stuff but Meg she collects shot
glasses and she literally has had to tell people to
like stop getting her them because people started bringing them back for her as presents
she would always get them I went to her house and she literally has like a shelf
with all these shot glasses on she has them in her wardrobe everywhere she must
have like hundreds and I'm like when are you ever going to do this many shots
(22:11):
what are you going to do with these but yeah it is I need to find something
now that I can collect everywhere I go.
I love that you can get the um the maps
where you it's like a scratch one yeah I feel like it would make me feel sad
because in my head I've done so many places and then I'd scratch them out and
(22:33):
be like oh not that many at all then yeah no I feel exactly the same I've literally
been on like two extended holidays and I'm like I've probably not done all of the time.
And like it's always the small countries as well and I'm
like if I'd been to Russia I could scratch half the map
out i haven't so it would
just look like i'd be nowhere i think just
(22:53):
coming on to like one of the last questions now we spoke
briefly last time about like the sort of
like security net that kilroy provides for students and we've spoken a little
bit about how you provide that extra like level of just a little bit more support
for students on their gap year things like having all details for flight tickets
in case fun or money gets lost can you just um bring a little little bit more about that.
(23:18):
Yeah so we yeah so at Kilroy we are we
have been in the game for over 30 years even though we're new to
the UK we have all of our family in Scandinavia and all of our relationships
with our products and suppliers so they've been around for ages so we really
trust who we work with so you know that you're going somewhere that's legit
you're not being scammed things like that that are so easily missed when you
(23:40):
are booking things yourself we also obviously have atoll protection protection,
which protects your trip from any cancellations or anything could happen to
any companies that you're booked with.
I mean, you think it's not going to happen. It sounds like just a bit of a nothing.
And like I, when I got sent my asshole protection certificate for my gap year,
I was like, I don't know what that is.
But then I needed that certificate when I had to claim everything back from COVID.
(24:02):
So things like that, that are important that when you are planning things yourself,
like I know a couple of my friends booked all of their trips themselves, which is
fine and we're not saying you can't do that but they
now have like flight vouchers for companies in Australia that
they're never going to go to and they can't get that money back so having everything
on one ticket with us just gives you that little bit of security like
this is all booked in one trip it's fine it's secured
(24:25):
and we do also offer like deposit schemes
as well now so you wouldn't be able to book a
flight on a deposit but we're able to do that for you because as a student you
you're not earning loads you're not necessarily getting loads in every month
if you're just working off the student loan so it gives you the opportunity
to make it a reality and have it booked and have it secured and and make it more.
(24:49):
And broken down and easier to pay off and everything so I
think that's a really great part of what we do and yeah just
having us there even if it's something that's a silly
worry you can just email us drop us the question there's
no silly question really like you can ask us anything and we'll
be able to help you out I remember last time when we
spoke I got so jealous after hearing like
(25:10):
everything like all the care that goes into it and
how excited you all get when you're planning something because I
every time I try and book a holiday I am so nervous
and I'm like I need one for adults who haven't traveled
yeah no it is and like in the
office I'm like oh my gosh this person's gonna have so
much fun like recently I booked somebody to go 12 weeks
(25:32):
on a dive master course and like you're just looking
at where they're going what they're gonna do while you're there and you're like
oh my god this is amazing and you just wish you had the time to go with them
sometimes like I could book on this flight with you guys and I'm gonna come
because I'm so excited by this project that you're going on so everyone is really
passionate about what they're doing and who they're booking so I think that
really matters to us is that we.
(25:54):
Are really like dedicated to that customer and what
they want and people are nervous we get so
many mums reach out to us that are nervous for their 18 year
old to go traveling which is totally normal but it just
helps your parents be at ease because oh you know
when you're booking something thinking like someone's asking you loads of questions you're like
I don't know I don't know I don't know just send them
(26:14):
our way we can answer all the questions but yeah
even now like if I'm booking a flight I'm for
myself I'm like oh why do I feel like I'm doing this wrong
I'm like I do this every day I feel like I'm not doing this right
but it's because I'm so used to doing it like in our systems it
feels wrong doing it away from it but yeah it's so
lovely to speak to you again Finn it's been so lovely to hear about
(26:35):
your travel experiences as well as what Kilroy is
doing in for students who want to go on holiday students who want
to take a gap year or students who just want to hear more about traveling and
what their options are available to them out there been lovely
to speak to you once again and hopefully hey we may even do a third one with
you keep going on holiday you keep coming and talking about it i can just wish
(26:56):
that i was there perfect yeah you can live vicariously through me like i do
the people i book thank you very much for no worries thank you.
Hello and welcome back once again to the Student Pages podcast and here we have
another travel special on the podcast today and we are joined once again by
Faye from Kilroy Travel.
Faye, how are you doing? I'm doing good, how are you?
I'm doing very well, thank you. I've got used to you as being part of the family around now.
(00:20):
I've got a new background this time so a little
bit bit different but still the same old something new
something exciting yeah how have you been since
we last seen you on the podcast yeah not too bad I've
been traveling still been working booking people's trips
but yeah same old really I don't
(00:40):
know why I was so surprised at traveling I think just because I do nothing as a
person no I've just been away yeah honestly
I surprise myself sometimes like I talk to people and I'm like oh yeah well
I'm going away again oh my god off we must have a conversation about how many
air miles you have and like yeah I know or I'd hate to add it all up it's a
bit crazy I was like working out the other day I think I'm only in Bristol for
(01:02):
like two weeks up until May I was like how does this happen to somebody.
That's the ideal point being the UK as little as
possible no I know honestly especially with I
thought we were having some sunny days and now the clouds out again
I'm like oh this is not what I thought the vibe was anymore
exactly and that's it I think like heating gas
(01:22):
electric things that we're seeing that
students generally don't have to worry about but you're creeping into the
adult age where it's just so irrelevant now and
I finally know what my parents were talking about when they just put
eight layers on definitely just got
the dressing gown on still I'm waiting for the sun to shine a
little bit more but you always forget that March
(01:42):
is still a bit of winter winter exactly and speaking
of sunnier places I'm ready to talk with
you a little bit more about gap years oh yeah so we
are specialized in student youth travel so we kind.
Of help people organizing their gap years working holidays which
includes ski resorts so a Canada working holiday we
do a lot of volunteer projects across the world and then
(02:04):
more like adventure things like surf camps and trekking holidays
kind of things like that a bit of everything and just a
bit more tailored tailored towards young people that want to
get out there and do a trip that is like
more less organized like with a lot of
our competitors they might be more structured in their like trips whereas we're
just here to help you and make sure that you have the best trip that you can
(02:26):
so we're quite focused on the customer our stuff is all tailored to the person
so yeah it's all about making sure that people make the most out of taking a
year off and taking time to travel A bit more spontaneity.
So I wanted to ask you a little bit more why you think, not just Dick Kilroy.
But in general, in your personal experience, why you think gap year is actually
like so important and why so many students like love to go on more overseas?
(02:51):
Yeah. So I feel like for me, right from school, like I always knew like,
after school, I'm on a gap year because I've been working hard.
I've been grinding on these A levels and I thought, I need a break.
I've not got time to go into work or uni straight after. So I think it is like,
it's points where you're at a bit of a crossroads.
So if you're doing it before uni, or you're doing it after uni.
You're just in that space where you're maybe not sure what's next,
(03:13):
or you haven't got an idea, or you want to do it before you start your career and get stuck.
And there isn't ever a good time to go. And you know, once you're in 28 days of annual leave.
That's hard to go anywhere exciting so it's.
Kind of utilizing that time where it doesn't matter if you.
Go now it's not affecting any jobs or or things
like that so I think it's important to use that time where you
(03:35):
have got less responsibilities but also like
traveling can give you so many skills towards working
environments like networking and if you're
volunteering that looks amazing on cvs or even if you
go on working holidays things like it can give give you the opportunity
to have a career in a whole nother country so
so many people I know that go on like Aussie working holidays they've never
(03:57):
come back they just live in Australia now so it just
opens you up to so much more and I think
it rounds you as a as a person you kind of
find your own footing away from the constraint of
school because it can really you're very samey all the
time so going out and meeting so many new
people from so many different walks of life really just
(04:17):
opens and broadens your mind and kind of
helps you finalize your decision I guess in steps after
uni I think we've got like two ends of the extremes on
this podcast here because I myself I did not take a gap year
there was four weeks between my last exam from university
and then just going straight into nine to five works which
when I think about it is horrible yeah I
(04:39):
love routine I love a schedule getting into work was so exciting for me but
just that little little bit of time even then I could have traveled within that
four weeks but can you tell me a little bit more about your gap year and your
personal experience so I can live live vicariously definitely so I.
Very sadly actually my own sub story I left
(05:00):
school and I was in the COVID year so my gap year got completely
cancelled so I then was like
I need to get out the UK I said this last
time I went to Thailand volunteering and I then
went to Bali and that's when I decided like right I want to work and
travel so for me traveling helped me find
this job and I guess it might not
(05:21):
do the same for everyone because obviously I wanted to go into travel because
I traveled but it really just will I think
it just helps you kind of think when I'm when I go home
what do I want like what do I want my life to look like because traveling really
is so enjoyable and it is so different from your structure here like you say
you quite like a routine you have to kind of adapt to different lifestyles and
(05:43):
I think in the UK it's a very fast-paced life like it is nine to five routine.
And stuff and when you're away you kind of think like hang on I
really want to slow down actually and just like really enjoy
this time so I think it helps you coming back to re-evaluate
like your priorities and stuff like that so
it can be really helpful for that but it's not always the
(06:05):
way for everyone like not everybody can go straight into
gap year and stuff so it's kind of finding the best thing for your
times like with you having four weeks we would
have been able to try and find something that can suit
you in those four weeks what's a
viable option to get you to to experience something different before
you have to do work and things like that and we have like medical
(06:26):
electives for people that are medical students so just trying
to help people travel in any way they can I guess and for us we're so passionate
about it we're like but what do you mean you you want to go do that you don't
want to go traveling oh no I think from even when I've gone abroad for like
extended periods of time whether
that has been I think you know what it It has just been through work,
(06:47):
ironically. So I can't complain.
But it brings such a sense of perspective because you're so right that.
Like england is just so fast and to the letter yeah and
i will get so like upset and
angry with myself if i miss a bus or if
i think oh no it's three minutes until
the next tube and then once you actually go like abroad
(07:10):
and you kind of put yourself in this different culture
and experience like actually that just doesn't matter why
am i getting so angry with myself yeah it literally
is and I think like I'm so calm since I
came back from traveling and like for me traveling is like
a therapy like the second I'm getting a bit stressed I'm like right okay well let's book
a holiday then like let's go away just re-ground ourselves
(07:31):
and then we'll come back to the UK all good but it
is does really open up that other countries
aren't living in this fast pace so like when you come back you
do really find a different ground to
work off of so yeah I think really really beneficial before careers
and things like that absolutely and it's interesting.
That you mentioned there that like traveling is like
(07:53):
sort of like a little bit of a release for you because I have
to admit like again we've got two ends of the spectrum here looking
forward I'm nervous looking at holiday I'm like
oh no how will I get there where am I going what's the time between
these things have I got a layover and there's so many different questions so
I'd like to know a little bit more about how the travel reps
at Kilroy help students who maybe don't have that that
(08:14):
much experience either um yeah of course it's
totally normal when you come to doing a
gap year you are new to it and like normally you've gone on
holidays with your parents or someone else has organized it or you've
just done the like classic a level zanty holiday
where it's like you book a little package so it is
so overwhelming and especially now like you can go on tiktok search a
(08:34):
location and see like a thousand videos of recommendations so i
think for us at kiori we just kind of cut the noise out
find out from you like what is it you're looking to get
out of this trip are you a nervous flyer do you want
really direct flights like things that you might not think of
and just make sure that the trip suits you we're
not going to send somebody that's like oh I really hate like trekking
(08:56):
we're not going to send you on a trek just because the video looked good
like it's more about you and what travels suit
you and I think also having us there to rely on when you're traveling things
can get stressful things can get confusing you might want want to change your
flight you might want to change where you're going next and you can always fall
back on us like we're still here to do all those changes for you and it's like you may not.
(09:19):
Think that you're ever going to change the schedule that you've planned for
when you're traveling but you'd be shocked so many people like
daily someone's like can I change my flight and I'm like oh okay
yeah sure but it is little things that
you don't really know what's going to happen when you're out there because it is a
new experience you might go to a location and think I actually
hate it here I really want to leave and go somewhere different but also we have
(09:41):
so many group tours that are really really good for if you're solo traveling
just to kick off your a trip it's like a little like 12 to 15 days you can meet
other people that are there and I think that really benefits you moving on you've
got the confidence from making friends in that situation.
You've met other people that you can carry on traveling with but
also they are so amazing they have such unique experiences
(10:01):
built and they're a great way to kind of ease yourself into
solo traveling or ease yourself into a big adventure so yeah
it's just little things like that where you may not think
of all these things because there is so much like information out
there it's hard to know which way to go so yeah it's
more about like finding the perfect trick for that person so
yeah that's what's like so important especially about like the personalization
(10:24):
of a travel agent like kilroy because
you have so many options for agape like you
were just meant you can go trekking if you want to go trekking you
can go skiing so much so so much and like
some people come up with some really rogue ideas and you're like yeah cool
let's see what we can do with it but it is and I think there's the
classic the Southeast Asia you know everyone does it Vietnam Cambodia
(10:46):
Thailand and it's amazing and it's
the perfect first time traveler because it is so safe and
it is so well traveled that it's easy to get
through but things like going to Central and South America are.
For somebody that's a little bit more of an experienced traveler and
it can be so different to the reality like
so different to what you see online some of these places it seems like
(11:08):
such an easy place to travel but those people don't like
to share sometimes all of the other stuff so even like coach
journeys are so much longer than you expect things that you
don't think to counter in from like just seeing like
videos online or just hearing like your friends talk about it
so it kind of is that we're the experts and we can
just give you those extra little key tips that you might miss have you seen.
(11:29):
The tv series race across cross I love it it's such a good series is that the
water cooler talk at Kilroy yeah if that's on or every day we're updating each other about that.
See I think that's my um that's me living vicariously through like what I imagine
(11:49):
almost a gap year to be like I appreciate that that's so much higher stress
and there's so much but it is a crazy like adventure like they everybody must
watch it and be like I could do that better like I could do that way better.
I always do. I'm like, I could have done that.
But it's probably so much harder than you realize oh yeah and what tips would
(12:10):
you have for someone who is either going on race to the end of the world or
a gap year who knows maybe maybe both.
But both I think it is and you see it so.
Often in race across the world is talking to people
like just chat to anybody don't be afraid of
people like I think for me when I first landed in Bali
I was so nervous and I was like by myself for a
(12:30):
couple days and then my friends were meeting me and I went to a
hostel and I was hanging out with this one person and we went out
for the day and he literally was asking like every single market
store owner every restaurant every like taxi driver
for their recommendations and we went to
like some of the nicest places that probably no one else was experiencing if
they weren't asking the locals and you can
(12:52):
get so many favors like people were then giving us lifts to the
airport because they just got on with us and kind of chatty so people are
always going to be the best part of the experience is even
the people you chat to in the hostel but as I say
like it's a networking thing like now I have people across the
world that I can go and stay with because I've met them traveling so
it is like I think that's my biggest thing and it was
(13:13):
something that I saw them do that I never would have really done I
probably would have stuck to my own like chatting to people that speak English
like people that was easy to communicate with but then
once I saw how much he gained from just asking the
locals I was like oh yeah I'm gonna do that everywhere I
go now and I think it just helps your trip be really amazing
and just stress-free and yeah and also just always taking things a bit slower
(13:35):
like don't rush thing a lot of other countries don't run as quick as the UK
as I said like in Thailand they always say like sabai sabai which is like relax
relax like there's no rush and they're just like.
Oh it doesn't matter if we're 10 minutes late like ah it's
okay so I think yeah you just have to know that just
(13:55):
take it as it comes don't have so much planned already you kind of have to let
it flow as it flows and then you're not getting stressed and you're just enjoying
yourself that's it I wish like especially when I've gone to different places
because I've been with like it's like a larger group or whatever you don't usually
get to go out and speak and go to like like the path that's less travel.
(14:15):
I have to admit, when I went to Gilly, I think I went into one,
the Gilly Islands, I went into one bar and then just, you know,
you just slowly start talking to people because I'm absolutely not adverse to it.
Love just picking up random people, starting talking to them,
have a great conversation.
And I was thinking, everybody here is from Clapham. I might as well have gone to Clapham. There it is.
(14:37):
Yeah, I can remember me and my friends were on Gilly Tea as well,
probably the same place.
And we were staying in the hostel and we were like walking back to
our room and we just saw that heard the thickest Bristolian accent
and we were like oh my god oh no and
they came out and they were like oh we're from Kingswood and we
were like oh my gosh no we know them and we were like oh how can
you be on the other side of the world and you still find like
(15:00):
the Brits and we were like oh gosh but yeah
it is it is uncomfortable sometimes to push yourself away
from the people that you you can talk to easily
and stuff and I definitely it's a comfort when you first arrive
for sure but just have it like once you've
done it you're like oh that was actually really nice like I really benefited from
that and even if it's just like to say hello like locals appreciate
(15:21):
that so much and like because of those experiences has that kind of shaped your
like favorite travel destination or favorite memory of where when you went traveling
yeah I think it's so hard when you you travel and you love it so much I find
it so hard to say like this is my favorite destination.
So I feel like it changes any day but I think the
(15:42):
one place that I could bang on and on and on about and probably all
my friends know that I went to Indonesia I think I
was there for the longest and it kind of was at
a point in my life where I wasn't sure what to do so it's the same as
like when you've left you knew that kind of feeling and the same as
what a gap year would give you and I was so unsure and just going
I was like oh nothing really matters I'm fine
I can just go with the flow people are so
(16:05):
lovely like no one's worried about what I'm up to out here like everyone's just
asking you oh where'd you come from oh that's cool like no one's like what you're
doing with the rest of your life it's very like stress-free and then I came
home and I was like right okay no I'm ready now I'm ready to work and I'm ready
to do something more so I think that place it.
For me definitely was like a turning.
(16:26):
Point in in life and like led me to the next steps which.
Took me to all the other destinations I've gone so yeah definitely
would say Indonesia tops it most of the time
and now just just like speaking to you I look back
and I think once again we've got two extremes you well-traveled
been all over the place barely been in the UK bit of
like a home body needs the structure obviously craves
(16:49):
a little bit of the yeah last time speaking to your colleague
as well I was so overcome with the feeling that you guys
just know things and that you are like reliable
because you have been through it too so can
you tell us a bit more about like this day your colleagues Kilroy
as well as like what you guys kind of talk about and how
this sort of influences what you suggest students yeah of
(17:10):
course at Kilroy we are all travelers like
that's such an important part of of being here at work I
don't I didn't have any experience in travel before I started working here all
that mattered to our manager when they were hiring was
like you've traveled like that's amazing and you're passionate about it
so you can count that every single person in the office like
when a request comes through or somebody comes into
(17:31):
store for a meeting we're so excited by their trip
like you start living through the trips that you're planning even
though you've got your own trips going on like like I'll
make an itinerary for somebody and I'll be like oh my god this is
amazing I'm like wow they're gonna have such a good time and like
when like customers send us photos of
their traveling it's like you're so excited to see
(17:51):
it like you just know that they're having this amazing time they're
experiencing all those feelings that you feel when you're.
Traveling and I know so Riley that we've got in the office he's like our surf
expert he's amazing at kind of knowing the best spots to go for that more like
adventure adrenaline kind of thing and then we have Holly she's joined since
we last spoke she She is literally our South America, Central America expert.
(18:15):
I always like, Holly, what was this place like? Because she did a year there.
There's nowhere she hasn't been.
I feel like every time I mention somewhere, she's like, oh, yeah,
I went there. And she's so calm and just like.
She'll just talk about something that has happened to her and she'll just make
you think anything's funny about traveling like she'll be like oh yeah like
maybe this wasn't the best day but I think it was really good actually and yeah
(18:36):
she's so attention to detail for every customer she's she's great and then our
team leader Jess she's she loves an island holiday so she's really good for like Jamaica.
Fiji those kind of more chilled out trips
and yeah and then Meg has done a lot of southeast
asia or australia and i've done a lot of central
no i've done a lot of southeast asia
(18:59):
as well and then i went to peru and i'm going to sri lanka this weekend
so then i can talk to anyone about sri lanka yeah this
weekend you've literally got
to travel by your job description i mean well i
know time off for you guys i was talking
to someone about it the other day and they were like how much annual leave
are you using up like surely you've run out already and i was was like no guys
(19:21):
like I need to travel like I've got
to do it for the job it hasn't happened so yeah
it is an amazing place because it's like other places you
might have to request the sabbatical if you want like three weeks
instead of two at a time whereas here like it's kind
of encouraged which is really great obviously and it gets that like
just that ground knowledge as well that's not oh I'm reading
(19:43):
from a list it's the person that oh
I can lean over and just talk to someone because they've been
there for a year or they went there for an extended
amount of time yeah definitely 100% and like Meg just.
Got back from Vietnam yesterday so she's going to give us all the lowdown
on that so it's kind of stealing each other's knowledge as well like even if
somebody's talking to me about surf it's like cool I know I'm going to go chat
(20:06):
to Riley after this and make sure that I'm saying all the right stuff as well
because we're not going to have traveled everywhere we're not like crazy people
that just have spent no time in the UK but.
We still have a base knowledge about everything and we have such reliable like
products team that we can go and talk to about everything that we do have so it's it does mean.
(20:27):
There's a lot more knowledge behind us all
because even if I haven't been somewhere there's someone in
our company somewhere that has that I can talk to and make sure that
it really does suit the customer and I'm not telling you any lies or
any false things but yeah do you
have to do like a little show and tell after you come back from holidays yeah
we do yeah if we do
(20:48):
a little presentation for the whole team talk to them about
everything we did which is obviously great for everybody but yeah
it's like the stress of planning on when you get
back you're like oh got to do the presentation now I love
that me and my housemates every time we come back from like a new
place we always bring a fridge magnet which like
I know externally is like the tackiest thing
(21:08):
that you can get but we objectively like we go for
those I love the tacky ones no I
love them they're so good I just have
a tiny little place to put them in my room and then there's too many now but
I just can't resist them sometimes I buy things I think why did I buy a sticker
from this country like i don't need this sticker but i just get wrapped up in
(21:29):
it all do you have like a collectible that you always get one of my friends
had the uh she used to get like tiny ornate spoons.
That you could like stare tea with and it was
like a specific brand that had every country and
she always get a spoon from this place yeah i
don't really have anything i do like fridge magnets
(21:51):
and stuff but Meg she collects shot
glasses and she literally has had to tell people to
like stop getting her them because people started bringing them back for her as presents
she would always get them I went to her house and she literally has like a shelf
with all these shot glasses on she has them in her wardrobe everywhere she must
have like hundreds and I'm like when are you ever going to do this many shots
(22:11):
what are you going to do with these but yeah it is I need to find something
now that I can collect everywhere I go.
I love that you can get the um the maps
where you it's like a scratch one yeah I feel like it would make me feel sad
because in my head I've done so many places and then I'd scratch them out and
(22:33):
be like oh not that many at all then yeah no I feel exactly the same I've literally
been on like two extended holidays and I'm like I've probably not done all of the time.
And like it's always the small countries as well and I'm
like if I'd been to Russia I could scratch half the map
out i haven't so it would
just look like i'd be nowhere i think just
(22:53):
coming on to like one of the last questions now we spoke
briefly last time about like the sort of
like security net that kilroy provides for students and we've spoken a little
bit about how you provide that extra like level of just a little bit more support
for students on their gap year things like having all details for flight tickets
in case fun or money gets lost can you just um bring a little little bit more about that.
(23:18):
Yeah so we yeah so at Kilroy we are we
have been in the game for over 30 years even though we're new to
the UK we have all of our family in Scandinavia and all of our relationships
with our products and suppliers so they've been around for ages so we really
trust who we work with so you know that you're going somewhere that's legit
you're not being scammed things like that that are so easily missed when you
(23:40):
are booking things yourself we also obviously have atoll protection protection,
which protects your trip from any cancellations or anything could happen to
any companies that you're booked with.
I mean, you think it's not going to happen. It sounds like just a bit of a nothing.
And like I, when I got sent my asshole protection certificate for my gap year,
I was like, I don't know what that is.
But then I needed that certificate when I had to claim everything back from COVID.
(24:02):
So things like that, that are important that when you are planning things yourself,
like I know a couple of my friends booked all of their trips themselves, which is
fine and we're not saying you can't do that but they
now have like flight vouchers for companies in Australia that
they're never going to go to and they can't get that money back so having everything
on one ticket with us just gives you that little bit of security like
this is all booked in one trip it's fine it's secured
(24:25):
and we do also offer like deposit schemes
as well now so you wouldn't be able to book a
flight on a deposit but we're able to do that for you because as a student you
you're not earning loads you're not necessarily getting loads in every month
if you're just working off the student loan so it gives you the opportunity
to make it a reality and have it booked and have it secured and and make it more.
(24:49):
And broken down and easier to pay off and everything so I
think that's a really great part of what we do and yeah just
having us there even if it's something that's a silly
worry you can just email us drop us the question there's
no silly question really like you can ask us anything and we'll
be able to help you out I remember last time when we
spoke I got so jealous after hearing like
(25:10):
everything like all the care that goes into it and
how excited you all get when you're planning something because I
every time I try and book a holiday I am so nervous
and I'm like I need one for adults who haven't traveled
yeah no it is and like in the
office I'm like oh my gosh this person's gonna have so
much fun like recently I booked somebody to go 12 weeks
(25:32):
on a dive master course and like you're just looking
at where they're going what they're gonna do while you're there and you're like
oh my god this is amazing and you just wish you had the time to go with them
sometimes like I could book on this flight with you guys and I'm gonna come
because I'm so excited by this project that you're going on so everyone is really
passionate about what they're doing and who they're booking so I think that
really matters to us is that we.
(25:54):
Are really like dedicated to that customer and what
they want and people are nervous we get so
many mums reach out to us that are nervous for their 18 year
old to go traveling which is totally normal but it just
helps your parents be at ease because oh you know
when you're booking something thinking like someone's asking you loads of questions you're like
I don't know I don't know I don't know just send them
(26:14):
our way we can answer all the questions but yeah
even now like if I'm booking a flight I'm for
myself I'm like oh why do I feel like I'm doing this wrong
I'm like I do this every day I feel like I'm not doing this right
but it's because I'm so used to doing it like in our systems it
feels wrong doing it away from it but yeah it's so
lovely to speak to you again Finn it's been so lovely to hear about
(26:35):
your travel experiences as well as what Kilroy is
doing in for students who want to go on holiday students who want
to take a gap year or students who just want to hear more about traveling and
what their options are available to them out there been lovely
to speak to you once again and hopefully hey we may even do a third one with
you keep going on holiday you keep coming and talking about it i can just wish
(26:56):
that i was there perfect yeah you can live vicariously through me like i do
the people i book thank you very much for no worries thank you.
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