英國銀髮揹包客開始流行體驗“空檔年”

It used to be the preserve of teenagers with itchy feet and few responsibilities。

But these days, it is their 50-something parents who are more likely to take a gap year。

The number of ‘grey gappers’ picking up their backpacks and setting off on foreign adventures has soared。

One in four over-55s has either been on a gap year in the last five years or is planning to take one, according to a report。

But the research also revealed that the gap year is ‘no longer an option for many post A-level students’, with fewer than one in five plotting the same sort of escape – and many blaming the soaring costs of going to university。

The research comes after official figures showed thousands of students are ditching the traditional year-off adventure after leaving school。

Just 6,000 18-year-olds have deferred a firm offer of a place on a university course for this year, according to admissions service Ucas. Last year, 20,000 did。

The slump is due to the crippling cost of a university education, with fees due to rise from £3,290 a year to as much as £9,000 in 2012.

Students starting their degrees in 2012 are expected to face an average debt of £56,000 on graduation, compared with around £27,000 if they began their studies this September。

As a result, many do not want to spend money on a gap year – and the grey gapper appears to be filling the void left by their children. The report found that the most common destinations for older travellers are Australia, New Zealand, America, Singapore and Spain。

And for the more adventurous, India, Vietnam and Hong Kong are also popular。

Dr Ros Altmann, director of over-50s travel and finance specialists Saga, explained that grey gappers typically want to leave their children behind and enjoy the adventure with their spouse。

She said: ‘It is often the first thing that a lot of people do when they have retired. They go on a very long holiday.’“空檔年”過去曾是閒不住、負擔輕的青少年獨有的時光。

不過現在反而是他們五十多歲的父母們更可能休個“空檔年”。

拾起揹包、踏上異國探險旅程的“銀髮空檔年”旅客人數大大增加了。

報告顯示，年過55的人有四分之一在過去的五年內曾經休過“空檔年”，或正計劃要去。

不過，研究還揭示，空檔年“已不再是許多高中畢業生的選擇”，有類似遠行計劃的人不到五分之一，許多人將此歸咎於高漲的大學學費。

在該研究發佈之前，有官方數據顯示成年上萬的英國學生在高中畢業後放棄了這一傳統的長達一年的探險之旅。

根據招生服務機構大學和學院招生服務中心的數據，今年只有6000名18歲高中畢業生延後接受大學的邀請。而去年，有2萬名學生這麼做。

休“空檔年”的學生人數減少原因在於讓人無法承受的大學學費，將從每年3290英鎊升至2012年的9000英鎊。

從2012年開始就讀大學的學生預計將在畢業時欠下人均5.6萬英鎊的債務，相比之下，在今年九月入學的大學生畢業時將欠下約2.7萬英鎊的債務。

所以，許多人都不願將錢花在“空檔年”上，而銀髮出行者似乎填補了他們的孩子留下的這一空缺。報告發現，年紀較大的旅行者去得最多的度假地是澳大利亞、新西蘭、美國、新加坡和西班牙。

對於那些更具冒險精神的人而言，印度、越南和香港也很受歡迎。

羅斯•阿爾特曼博士解釋說，休“空檔年”的銀髮旅行者通常想和伴侶一起單獨享受這一探險旅程。阿爾特曼是一位理財大師，爲50歲以上人羣的旅遊提供指導。

她說：“這是許多人退休後通常想做的第一件事。他們會去度一個很長的假。”