Gap Year Planning for Students & Families Who Want More Than Just Travel

If you’re a student who wants to grow, gain clarity, and build real-world experience—and a family looking for a thoughtful, structured approach to a gap year—you’re in the right place. We work with students who are curious, capable, and ready for more than just travel, and with parents who value safety, intention, and meaningful outcomes.

Gap Year Planning with Erica Vaughn

The Intentional Gap is a gap year consulting service that helps students and families plan personalized gap years between high school and college. Founder Erica Vaughn works one-on-one with students to identify their goals, evaluate vetted gap year programs, and create intentional experiences that might include travel, service, internships, culture immersion, outdoor adventure and other opportunities.

Gain a greater sense of self and the world around you

Over 75% of gap year participants report improved maturity, self-confidence, and understanding of people from different cultures and backgrounds. (2020 Gap Year Association study)

  • Hannah (student)

    “Erica asked very good and specific questions. It really helped me figure out what kind of experiences I would like to participate in. This process would have been really overwhelming if we tried on our own. But with her help it was easy to look at a variety of programs. “

  • Monica (parent)

    “Erica’s questions were well-thought out and she did a great job of drilling down and asking follow-up questions to focus on the best options for us. She listened to our concerns and needs which I really appreciated. Erica was an excellent listener and really put together options with my daughter’s interests in mind. The types of opportunities and locations were exactly what we discussed in our initial interview. There were many options to choose from- we appreciated the wide variety of experiences. I would absolutely recommend Erica’s services!”

  • Kai (student)

    “Awesome process, I loved the options given. Super easy to do and would 100% consider the options.”

  • Stacey (parent)

    Erica is a delightful human with a passion for exploration and adventure, particularly as it relates to young people starting out in life. Her desire to share her knowledge and to inspire her clients to their own adventures is palpable in her communication.

    When her services were first recommended to me I thought “surely that’s not for us.” We are an avid traveling family that has visited many countries on several continents. We tend towards independent, budget travel and a gap year consultant seemed like something that was for people in a different economic bracket than ourselves. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

    Erica helped identify cool projects and opportunities around the globe that fit within a budget that my son thought he could earn himself and her support was a great asset and addition to our own travel experience. We would highly recommend Erica’s services to anyone considering a gap year!

  • Bodhi (student)

    You have truly blown my expectations out of the water. Your willingness and energy around helping us with our travels is amazing, and I really appreciate how you go above and beyond with helping us find cool things to do, scholarships to apply for, and student cards to get.

  • Elizabeth (parent)

    We appreciated Erica’s probing questions. We felt like she was really trying to get a deep understanding of my son’s hopes and dreams for this year! My husband and I both feel like this year will be powerful for our son.

  • Melissa (parent)

    Aden had such a great experience in Huaraz which will continue into next year. We really appreciate the time to get to know Aden and link him up with such a great fit!