Dear Annie – I want to travel to Iceland

Dear Annie,
I want to travel to Iceland as it is my last summer before I go to university to do marketing and public relations and my parents want me to ‘build my CV’ by volunteering all summer for a local PR company. Why can’t they see how important this is to me? I promised myself a year out if I worked to get the grades to go to University
Genna

Hello Genna,
What a dazzling place to visit and I can understand your wish to have the freedom to explore as the road takes you. Iceland is a country of extremes - away from Reykjavik you can visit places that are still relatively untouched by man, with views to take your breath away and a culture like no other. The stuff of dreams!

When you promised yourself a treat to motivate yourself through your exams and put in the hours of work needed to get good grades, it may feel completely and utterly unfair for your parents to say no to you going travelling this summer, although I can see their point of view in taking on work that can evidence your passion for your course and to future employers.

This is a case where both of you are right, so act like an adult in your thinking and use your last free summer to your advantage by volunteering in Iceland. Once you have the dates of your summer holiday sorted you can really think wide as to volunteering at the same time as travelling – your choice of course lends itself to marketing yourself and the experiences of going to Iceland for a few weeks so….

Contact the Icelandic Embassy (http://www.mfa.is/tasks/arts-culture/) – Do they want a volunteer to set up a blog or a website for publicising Iceland as a hip place for young people to visit during their Gap Year…?

You still have a little time left at school – set up a tour for a group of your friends to visit Iceland. Run it as a marketing project by negotiating discounts, do the whole holiday company thing with brochures and planned outings. Demonstrate your marketing skills.

Contact manufacturers of small items and do a sales pitch to take publicity photos of their goods as part of a light-hearted, youth-based advertising campaign for their products in weird and wonderful places…think extreme advertising!

Explore volunteering via SEEDS http://www.seeds.is/ or at http://www.ust.is/the-environment-agency-of-iceland/volunteers/

Combine your trip with your course. Write a blog of your experience, include interviews – Iceland has a thriving music scene – think Bjork or Sigur Rós and visit Icelandic music festivals like Airwaves, take photographs, and comment on everything that makes Iceland so different from other cultures….

Think about your trip, plan it carefully and present it to your parents as a relevant marketing job or formal volunteering. Be consistent, polite and adult in your negotiations. Demonstrate your ability to problem solve, see a project through and succeed. Enjoy Iceland Genna!