About Us

Erica Vaughn founded The Intentional Gap because she believes that the deepest learning comes when we push our boundaries and challenge ourselves to get outside of our comfort zones.  A passionate and experienced world traveler, Erica discovered an overwhelming variety of gap year options while helping her own son plan his gap year. She and her son found the process of navigating the dizzying array of programs time consuming and complex. She was astounded by the number of fascinating and affordable programs available to students internationally and domestically. Given her extensive travel planning expertise, Erica was able to help her son design an amazing gap between high school and college, and The Intentional Gap was born.  

A resident of Portland, Oregon for more than 20 years, Erica's childhood included frequent international travel, and family moves given the nature of her father's work. She has lived in Ireland, France, Argentina and Canada. A graduate of the University of Puget Sound and University of Portland, Erica holds undergraduate degrees in English and French and a master's degree in teaching. She began her career as a middle school teacher, and has always loved working with young people,  mentoring countless students through their college application process.

Erica is an avid world traveler obtaining her first passport at just six months old. She takes every opportunity to travel and encourages others to do the same. As an undergraduate she studied in Southern France, backpacked through Asia after graduate school and moved to Argentina for a year on a family sabbatical with young children. Her personal journey and passion for travel and cross-cultural experiences has informed the philosophy at The Intentional Gap. She feels deep gratitude for the relationships that she maintains to this day across many miles and oceans.   

Erica believes that young people are perfectly positioned to create big adventures for themselves. This is the time in life to do it! Young people don’t have the obligations of home ownership, full-time work, or young children (although these are never things that should prevent you from traveling or having adventures!). Too often students are worried about ‘falling behind.’ Behind from what? Indecision? Obligation? Worry? Take the time NOW and set intentions. Now is the time to get some clarity on what they want to accomplish. People should challenge themselves to do something different. They won’t regret it.