Photo courtesy of Geckos Adventures

Nothing has done quite as much to promote the concept of the “gap year,” a year of downtime between high school and college, as the announcement that President Obama’s eldest daughter Malia would be taking said year before heading to Harvard University.

Not all the press was positive. The New York Post called it “a kid’s yearlong invitation to slack off, contemplate her navel and tell the world ‘I’m richer than you are.’”

No matter your stance, the gap year is a real thing, and it's not just an indulgence of the uber-rich.

Take the Ultimate Gap Year tour in Asia by Geckos Adventures. The 60-day trip rolls out in advance of the 2016/17 school year and starts from C$ 6,500.

“Not everyone is ready to continue their education in a classroom” says Leigh Barnes, Regional Director for Geckos Adventures and the Intrepid Group in North America. “We hope young travelers will recognize all the opportunities that exist abroad and take advantage of seeing the world while they’re young.”

The tour will depart from Delhi, India on January 1, 2017—which means spending New Year’s Eve in India, not a bad way to ring in 2017. In India, the tour includes a visit to the River Ganges and the Taj Mahal before heading on to the Himalayas. The trip also includes visits to Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand before making its way to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where the tour ends on March 2, 2017.

Geckos Adventures, which focuses specifically on travelers age 18-29, is an arm of international tour company the Intrepid Group. The company chose Asia because of its increased popularity among travelers. The operator has said that its Asia bookings have grown by 15 per cent this year among younger travellers, while Europe bookings have remained relatively flat.

Since an increasing number of travellers are taking their Gap Year after their undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral studies, the tour is open to all travellers ages 18-29. At the end of the trip, students might be eligible to receive a $500 contribution towards their tuition at an accredited post-secondary institution.

For more information, visit www.geckosadventures.com/gap-year.

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