PRESS RELEASE
18 November 2009
The Irrepressible Rise of the “Dad-Packer”
Once upon a time, gap years were just for fresh-faced and fancy-free school leavers and students. Now, however, it seems an older generation of travellers is on the rise. So called “dad-packers” are often over fifties accompanying their children on adventures or younger professionals in their thirties and forties striking out on their own to escape recession-related gloom.According to gap year travel specialists i-to-i, a massive 41 per cent of people who went on their trips this summer were 26 or over, a steady increase of three per cent since January 2009. This growth has been partly fuelled by an increase in parents accompanying their children on gap year adventures. According to research by online reality TV show The Gap Year: Challenge New Zealand, a quarter of 19-25 year olds would like one of their parents to join them on their gap year trips. And it seems a large number of parents, such as crime novelist Ian Rankin, are keen to go along for the ride!
As well as an increase in “dad-packers”, there has also been a rise in people in their thirties heading abroad on gap years. Journalist Jerome Taylor, writing in The Independent, said: “After two weeks traipsing around peninsular Malaysia, I was astonished at just how many fellow travellers were people in their thirties who had hit the dusty trail to escape the recession. The school-leaver and university gap-year student has suddenly become a critically endangered species.”
Idealistic under-25s are now being outnumbered by “unemployed professionals on year-long travel adventures, waiting for the economic monsoon to die down,” according to Mr Taylor.
It seems the recession is the top motive for people to want to go travelling: Mr Taylor estimates that 60 per cent of people he met while in Malaysia cited the economy as their prime reason for going travelling. VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas), meanwhile, reported recently that 14 per cent of the UK’s 28million workers are considering leaving secure jobs to volunteer abroad, with professional stagnation among workers being blamed for this increase.
The rise in redundancies has also fuelled the growth in the number of over-25s wanting to go travelling. According to a recent poll carried out by Ebookers, one in five of those who have lost their jobs as a result of the global downturn are planning to head overseas, with 26 per cent of those planning to use their redundancy pay to fund their adventures.
There are a wealth of opportunities out there for those who are keen to get out there and see the world. Volunteer travel specialists i-to-i (http://www.i-to-i.com) offer more than 500 trips across five continents, meaning people of all ages wanting to take a gap year or career break are sure to find something that suits, from community development in Kenya to sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica.
Those wanting more information about gap years should take a look at the travel guides on i-to-i’s travel community, Campfire (http://www.i-to-i.com/campfire/travel-guides/categories/1-Gap-Year), visit their website (http://www.i-to-i.com/) or call their travel experts on 1-800-352-1793. For media enquiries contact Honor Baldry at honor.baldry@i-to-i.com.
