When I had my gap year back in 1999... I worked in safeway 7 days a week for 3 months to save up, then I went and lived in Western Australia (near Perth) for 6 months... it was awesome, me and my mate had a house literally on the beach in scarborough, went surfing almost everyday, went snorkelling and fishing a little further up the coast, bought a red estate and drove down to south western australia, surfed yallingup, margaret river, climbed some massive trees to the lookouts... went to rotnest Island and saw Quokkas, saw Kangaroos on our travels, ate Kangaroo, ate Emu, did a reverse bungee, went kayaking, cliff jumping, waterskiing, wakeboarding, drinking, clubbing... wish i was still there to be honest!!!! I worked in a petrol station in Scarborough for 3 months (as that is all the working visa will allow) mostly night shifts, but i didnt care, coz i had a good day everyday and my 3-4 shifts a week didnt matter... i even worked the 11pm - 7am shift on the millenium new years eve and I didnt care!
Personally I would suggest something like that... but do what interests you, go and see somewhere that you want to see... thats the way to make the most of a gap year!!!
OIDanTheManIO... a gap year is when you finish high school and take a year off before going to uni... some people also have them between finishing uni and starting a proper job! I dunno if it is just a British term, but surely people must do it in the states!