If you are planning to stay at home and avoid a gap year abroad through fear of travelling alone – don’t worry! Oyster Worldwide aim to send our volunteers to their chosen destination with a group of like-minded individuals. This is the best remedy for homesickness as participants become lifelong friends having shared every experience: the immersion into an unfamiliar culture; the nervous first-time experience of volunteering and the excitement of taking part in many once-in-a-lifetime activities.

- Join Oyster Worldwide's January Nepal group for the best chance to trek the Himalayas...
- Go rafting in Chile surrounded by the magnificent Patagonian scenery

It is around now that we start to get applications to Nepal and Tanzania for departure in January 2012 and for Chile departing in March 2012. On average, we send groups of around 5-6 on these departure months. In January 2011 we sent 15 volunteers to Tanzania, one of our longest-running projects and clearly still very popular.

All 3 of these placements are 3-4 months in length and volunteering opportunities include:

- Tanzania Group Travel: teaching; childcare; journalism; healthcare or rugby coaching

- Nepal Group Travel: teaching and childcare (including extra curricular activities with the kids)

- Chile Group Travel: teaching (including extra curricular activities with the kids)

All of these projects carry with them some fantastic adventurous opportunities – a Tibet tour, amazing trek, safari and rafting experience in Nepal; a 10 day intensive Spanish course and 3 day camping expedition in Chile and an optional luxury safari in Tanzania. Of course you are also perfectly located for further travel, with many of our returned volunteers doing extra travel with other members of their Oyster group.

Apply now for January or March departures to get an almost certain guarantee that you won’t be travelling alone! For more information view the profiles below or contact the destination manager for Nepal and Tanzania at jon@oysterworldwide.com or roger@oysterworldwide.com if Chile sounds more your thing!