The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
‘We were met with nothing but warmth and kindness. Other cultures seem to respect older people, not ignore them’
Clare Brown, 57, from Wiltshire, works in brand licensing. She and her husband Mike, 58, a self-employed property developer, spent 2023 backpacking around the world.
Mike and I had been working without a break for more than 30 years. Both of our children had enjoyed gap years and our youngest would soon be going off to uni. We thought, “Why not us? Why not now?” We still feel young, we’re fit – we felt there was an “adventure before dementia” window before our health potentially waned and we started needing hip replacements.
Mike works for himself so could take a break between big projects – and take his laptop just in case – but I have a corporate role. I felt nervous about talking to my boss, but he immediately agreed to 12 months’ unpaid leave, saying I was coming at the right time, that the firm – like many others – was really considering ways to improve the wellbeing of staff.
We let our house – the rental income would cover our mortgage and give us a bit extra each month. We used a small amount of savings and money from selling our cars to book our flights and the first accommodation. We didn’t have a huge budget so would be backpacking and staying in double rooms in hostels most of the time
(£10 a night), with the odd cheap Airbnb thrown in.
We flew out to Mexico City on January 10 2023. Friends worried we’d run into trouble, be held up at gunpoint, but there – and to be honest everywhere we went – we were met with nothing but warmth and kindness. Other cultures seem to respect rather than ignore older people. We did hang out with lots of younger backpackers we met in the hostels, but as we have kids that age that felt invigorating and familiar rather than strange.
The highlights of our trip were endless: trekking up a volcano in Guatemala, diving with sea lions in the Galapagos – our kids flew out to join us for their Christmas present. The experiences were intense: we visited salt flats in Bolivia which are so vast they’re visible from space, and attended Spanish school for two weeks. We had some beautiful experiences learning about people and it brought us closer together. I really relaxed and rediscovered the real me without the weight of work, mortgage payments and the minutiae of daily life.
There were certainly occasions where things didn’t go to plan: we had a colossal row in Tokyo at one point... We fell off a motorbike in Ometepi – I hurt my ankle but it was nothing serious. We missed a connecting flight out of Florida. However, just because it works out differently, it doesn’t mean it’s bad – it all adds to the richness of the experience. It’s important when taking a trip like this to be flexible.
We came home briefly in the middle of the trip as we had a family bereavement; but we spent 297 days away and visited 20 countries. I feel privileged to have had this gap year which has left me a lot more accepting of people with new perspectives. I have even enjoyed going back to work.