英国银发背包客开始流行体验“空档年”

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 2017.

Students starting their degrees in 2017 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.’

“空档年”过去曾是闲不住、负担轻的青少年独有的时光。

不过现在反而是他们五十多岁的父母们更可能休个“空档年”。

拾起背包、踏上异国探险旅程的“银发空档年”旅客人数大大增加了。

报告显示，年过55的人有四分之一在过去的五年内曾经休过“空档年”，或正计划要去。

不过，研究还揭示，空档年“已不再是许多高中毕业生的选择”，有类似远行计划的人不到五分之一，许多人将此归咎于高涨的大学学费。

在该研究发布之前，有官方数据显示成年上万的英国学生在高中毕业后放弃了这一传统的长达一年的探险之旅。

根据招生服务机构大学和学院招生服务中心的数据，今年只有6000名18岁高中毕业生延后接受大学的邀请。而去年，有2万名学生这么做。

休“空档年”的学生人数减少原因在于让人无法承受的大学学费，将从每年3290英镑升至2017年的9000英镑。

从2017年开始就读大学的学生预计将在毕业时欠下人均5.6万英镑的债务，相比之下，在今年九月入学的大学生毕业时将欠下约2.7万英镑的债务。

所以，许多人都不愿将钱花在“空档年”上，而银发出行者似乎填补了他们的孩子留下的这一空缺。报告发现，年纪较大的旅行者去得最多的度假地是澳大利亚、新西兰、美国、新加坡和西班牙。

对于那些更具冒险精神的人而言，印度、越南和香港也很受欢迎。

罗斯•阿尔特曼博士解释说，休“空档年”的银发旅行者通常想和伴侣一起单独享受这一探险旅程。阿尔特曼是一位理财大师，为50岁以上人群的旅游提供指导。

她说：“这是许多人退休后通常想做的第一件事。他们会去度一个很长的假。”