You gotta consider the following things:
- When your formal is on (usually November)-
- When results come out (you don't really have to be in the country, unless you, er, top the state, which would mean you'd miss out on your 15min... )
Also, if you get onto all-rounders, that's around February too.
- Enrolment: Depends on the uni, but this is usually towards the end of January. You can however always get a proxy to enrol for you, and it doesn't matter what units they choose because you can always change them with a few clicks when you come back.
- Orientation (O-Week): This is usually the week before semester starts. I stupidly cut my holiday a week short just to come back for this, which was actually really useless and lame since I already had a fair idea of whereabouts everything was. The festivities are nice, but they're not worth cutting a holiday short.
You also have to consider finances. Unless you have really generous parents (mine shouldered half my fare) or you have 3 grand up and ready for the kill, then you really will have to work 35hr weeks, every week right through November, December and even January. It's actually a lot harder than you think - Year 12 is an incredibly taxing year, and that's just the HSC - you'll spend hundreds on the formal alone, plus parting gifts for teachers, yearbooks, luncheons, and Christmas is also around the corner too, so it's really hard to save.
Also, are you going to pass on Schoolies? I did, but whilst overseas, everytime I suddenly felt homesick or lonely I
almost (keyword: almost) had regrets about not going to schoolies since I'd exchanged a week long piss-up with my mates for a solo trip overseas. But of course, the rewards far outweighed these few and far occasions (which were mainly on lonely flights between cities).
On that note, will you be going solo? Solo travel is an incredibly enriching but nerve-wracking experience (I flew to Singapore a few months after the Van Nguyen case, and my mother was petrified - it was perfectly safe of course, but parents will exaggerate things when you fly solo for the first time). Admittedly, I went to countries where I had family (and my main purpose was to attend a cousin's wedding).
Where to go? South East Asia would probably be the relatively cheapest, most rewarding experience for a 17/18/y.o post -HSC (unless you're up for bungy-jumping and sheep counting, maybe pass on New Zealand and look to the horizons up north for something completely different to your everyday life).
When to go? As azn_gangsta said, fares are at their peak in December/January. The 'shoulder' season is in the last two weeks of January, and off-peak is from the end of January onwards, so if you want to squeeze in a couple more weeks you'll have to pay about 200-300 extra.
And what did I do? I went solo to the Philippines and Singapore and was overseas for about 3.5 weeks. I really wanted to go to Malaysia and Thailand, but time just didn't permit (and I became lazy in Singapore). Beforehand, I worked throughout December and January at Luna Park (I spent November going to formals and looking for a job), and eventually saved up the money. I spent about 600 on the fare (I spent about $1000 on air travel, taxes included, this was the off-peak fare) and another 500-600 on spending money - though my accomodation was free and my cousins (generally) shouldered my expenses, plus I accumulated monetary gifts from aunts and uncles who hadn't seen me in a while. With regards to spending money, you can get away with about $20-25/day on food and transport (depending on how much you eat and how much you're willing to walk), and maybe $50/day on accomodation though don't take my word on this (depending on where you stay).
As for exchange problems and the sort, I'll have to get back to you on that - there are sometimes travel groups that go overseas for about 6 weeks during out summer holidays. Try this group, but there are plenty more companies that offer this. Maybe ask your careers adviser too, there are companies out there that run volunteer work programs around Asia and Latin America, but I'm not sure if they have short term programs. And of course, they're a lot more expensive too if you're worried about cost.
http://www.studentexchange.org.au/
