Monastery makes pitch for the 'gap year' market

It might not quite offer the hedonism of Goa or Phuket but a traditional Roman Catholic monastery is making an unexpected move into the gap year market.

Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight is advertising its first “monastic internships”, offering young people a taste of life in a Benedictine community.

There will be no all-night beach parties or Himalayan treks to help them “find” themselves – just plenty of prayer and reflection.



The four successful candidates will receive board, lodgings and spiritual guidance in return for at least four hours work a day every day - except Sunday – cooking, growing food in the Abbey gardens, looking after cattle, pigs and bees or binding books.

They will live by the Benedictine traditions, rising before 5am each day to wash from a bowl in their cell before making their way for Vigils at 5.30am – the first of seven services throughout the day.
The Abbey has a long tradition of hospitality to visitors but the two month placement, which is open to young men aged 18 to 25, is the first extended stay of its kind.

“It’s like a gap year experience and laying a spiritual foundation,” Father Luke Bell, who is organising the scheme, told The Catholic Herald.

“It is very much a monastic tradition for guests to stay in a monastery but it’s normally a week or two in the spiritual programme.

“People are actually working in the rule of St Benedict.”

The Abbey traces its origins to the early 12th Century when the Cistercian house of Our Lady and St John was founded.

Left in ruins after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries it was refounded at the turn of the 20th Century to house a French Benedictine community who were living in exile on the Isle of Wight.

When not at prayer its current inhabitants are known for their range of crafts including one monk who devotes his time to painting treescapes and another who writes devotional books.

The monks also run a tea shop and open their gardens to visitors – of the human variety as well as red squirrels and buzzards.

Find your next FABHoliday idea with FABTHINGS2do.

Tunisian tourism shows signs of recovery

Figures suggest that holidaymakers are returning to Tunisia as political tensions ease following last year’s “Jasmine Revolution".

Figures released by the Tunisian National Tourist Office indicate that more than 31,000 Britons travelled to the country in May, a 34 per cent increase on the number of British visitors in the same period last year.



The numbers currently stand at about 14 per cent less than they were in May 2010, a record-breaking month in terms for visitors from the UK, with slightly more than 35,000 Britons entering the country.

The news was welcomed by Tunisian tourism officials.

“The UK has proved to be one of our most resilient markets and I’m delighted to see visitors returning to Tunisia in such numbers,” said Wahida Jaiet, director of the country’s tourism office for the UK and Ireland.

“I’m confident that the UK and Irish markets will continue to grow,” she said.

“Now is a great time to visit Tunisia as the country enjoys a new-found freedom and optimism. There is plenty to bring visitors back to Tunisia again and again.”

Mehdi Houas, the former tourism and commerce minister, said that Tunisia’s revenues from tourism had dropped by around 50 per cent in 2011 to about £800m.

There has since been a highly visible marketing campaign launched in Britain to encourage tourists back to the country.

Find your next FABHoliday idea with FABTHINGS2do.

FAB Family Days Out

Stuck for something to do with with the family during the school half term?

After a visit to the the Alnwick Castle & Garden we would highly recommend you add this to your list of places to visit.

The Alnwick Garden's charitable activities are managed by The Alnwick Garden Trust - enabling The Garden to become not just a lovely place to visit, but also the inspiration for authentic change.

How many secrets can one garden hold? A visit to The Alnwick Garden is full of surprises - whether it's a specialised tour with one of their gardeners, or a den-building workshop for schools.

And the best bit about this was the FAB offer to all visitors "Pay for a Day, Visit Free For a year" great value when you look at all the exciting events they have coming up over the next few months.

Find your next FABHoliday idea with FABTHINGS2do.

Brits increasingly going off the beaten track on holiday

An increasing number of travellers are choosing to go off the beaten track into little known or niche territory when taking a package holiday abroad, it has been revealed.

This is according to Tom Hall, UK travel editor of lonelyplanet.com, who said that going to little known festivals and sports events are all the rage when it comes to those forgotten corners of the globe.

He said: "When people are going, they might be aiming for some of the more iconic experiences, maybe it is a one man train or boat ride, maybe it is visiting some off the beaten track but very famous ancient ruins, those kinds of things."

He added that Central Asian destinations were also increasing in popularity amongst British tourists.

His comments follow those made by travel writer and broadcaster Sarah Woods said that European destinations such as Burgundy were also something of a trendy hotspot among Brits.

Find your next FABHoliday idea with FABTHINGS2do.

Virgin Galactic takes another step closer to space tourism.

Virgin Galactic has revealed that it expects to make rocket-powered test flights of its passenger spaceship later this year, bringing space tourism one step closer.

The company - the brainchild of pioneering Sir Richard Branson - said its spaceship builder partner, Scaled Composites, has been granted an experimental permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
That means it will be allowed to proceed with rocket-powered test flights.

A post on the company's website said: 'Scaled expects to begin rocket-powered, supersonic flights under the just-issued experimental permit toward the end of the year.'

No timetable has been set for the first launches carrying paying customers, but that is expected to be confirmed after the test program is complete.

More than 500 people, including actor Ashton Kutcher, have signed up with Virgin Galactic for a chance to experience weightlessness during suborbital flights.

Sir Richard and his children Sam and Holly are also set to be among the first commercial passengers on SpaceShipTwo.

Virgin Galactic and the California-based Scaled Composites have been glide-testing their six-passenger vehicle SpaceShipTwo, which is  air-launched from a twin-fuselage carrier airplane called WhiteKnightTwo.

Work is under way to integrate the rocket motor into SpaceShipTwo in preparation to test the 'aerodynamic performance of the spacecraft'.

Virgin Galactic said SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo have made 'significant progress' in their flight test program, with a total of almost 100 completed.

'This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer to bringing our customers to space,' said George Whitesides, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic.

Doug Shane, president of Scaled, added: 'The spaceship program is making steady progress, and we are all looking forward to lighting the vehicle’s rocket engine in flight for the first time.'

According to Virgin Galactic, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation issues permits 'after it has determined that the vehicle operator has taken the appropriate steps to protect the public during testing.'

The starting price for space flights is £130,000 with refundable deposits starting from £13,000.

Virgin Galactic will be based at Spaceport America, a purpose-built spaceline terminal designed by architect Sir Norman Foster, based in New Mexico.

Find your next FABHoliday idea with FABTHINGS2do.