With a new year upon us and resolutions the buzzword of the month, it’s nearly impossible to escape the ambitious outlooks and grand plans of friends, family, and even complete strangers in the month of January.

Whether you’re a habitual “resolutioner” or a staunch member of the opposition, January does provide a natural pause to review the year just gone and begin looking at how to make the most of the 12 months we have until it’s time to sing Auld Lang Syne once more.

A recurring theme of 2012 seems to be pushing the boundaries, exploring the world, and general self-improvement through new experiences. And when it comes to making virtuous, adventurous, or bold plans for the year, it does appear that the early bird really does catch the worm. Real Gap is helping people to achieve their go-get-em goals by offering up to 20% off on a variety of trips to Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Australasia. Spanning a vast range of options including paid work abroad in Australia, volunteering with a community in India, climbing Kilimanjaro, and teaching English in the Amazon, Real Gap’s life-changing adventures are on sale for the organised thrill-seeker until the end of January.

Regardless of whether resolutions are on your list of January must-dos, checking out what Real Gap has on offer should be – you’d hate to decide in February that you want to conserve the giant panda in China only to find out you could have saved 20% if you’d seen it a day earlier!

See Real Gap’s discounted adventure, volunteer, work and internship programmes here