I have been working as an occupational therapist for 10 years and am thinking of taking some time out to volunteer and travel in either Africa or South America. Having searched online for companies who specialise in this I have noticed a huge variance in prices and packages. I have found a company called originalvolunteers.co.uk who are considerably cheaper than the usual options e.g. realgap, i-to-i, etc. Whilst I appreciate the concept "you get what you pay for", I am writing to enquire whether you have heard, or have any experience, of this company and also if you have any other advice for the "older" gap/career break traveller? Julie Watterson

Times Online gap travel expert, Richard Oliver, responds: The key to making the most of your time out is to research and plan your trip in as much detail as possible. Whatever your age I suggest you start by clarifying in your mind why you wish to take this time out and then draw up a list of what you wish to achieve and what you wish to experience in the time available. Set yourself some goals.

This framework will help focus your research and enable you to start comparing the packages offered by the various organisations and draw up a list of those that meet your requirements. You may well find that your list is quite long so the next step is to determine which one best fits your needs.

To help you Year Out Group has devised a series of questions that cover all aspects of an organisation’s operations. (See the Adviser Guidelines section at www.yearoutgroup.org). With the answers to these questions to hand you should be able to draw up a short list of two or three organisations.

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Next, work out the cost of each package. Your list should cover the package; return flight, insurance, visas, food and accommodation if not covered by the package; medical costs, clothing and equipment, spending money, other travel costs and anything else that comes to mind. Divide the total by the number of weeks involved to give you the average cost per week.

With details of each package to hand and their respective costs, you should be well placed to make your decision. But before you do, and before you part with any money, ask the organisation to put you in touch with someone in a similar position who has recently returned from your preferred placement. By speaking to them or, better still meeting up, you will give yourself the best chance of selecting the package that is best for you.

Most gap year organisations now welcome “older” gap/career break travellers. But while they may market these separately, the placements are often the same as those offered to the younger gap year travellers. This can be beneficial to all parties but if it is not what you want then check with the organisations as part of your research.

Originalvolunteer.co.uk is a new organisation in its first few months of operations. If you follow the procedure outlined above and contact the company directly to obtain the answers to the questions from the Adviser Guidelines that are not covered by their website, brochure or Terms and Conditions then you should be able to decide whether or not this is the right organisation for you or, as you imply in your question, a case of “you get what you pay for”.

Richard Oliver is chief executive of Year Out Group

Have you got a question for one of our Times Online travel experts? Ask us anything about travel by emailing yoursay@timesonline.co.uk

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