THE GOLDEN GAP YEAR
The Woman’s Own columnist has her say on midlife travels and a French sexpert
‘SUDDENLY WE’VE WOKEN UP’
AGrab your rucksack, boomers, you’re off on your travels. pair of knickers and a toothbrush are all you need. Everything else can just go and hang. Literally, if you decide to leave the bra behind too.
Forget about the kids, grandkids and being sensible, go dance like no one is looking, get drunk and have the time of your life.
No, I haven’t lost my mind. This is what more and more ‘boomers’ – as anyone seemingly past the age of 45 is called these days – are actually doing.
The gap year so beloved of youngsters trying to find themselves in between leaving school and starting university is now the ultimate thing for those in mid-life to do.
A new poll of 1,500 Brits has revealed a phenomenon called the ‘golden gap year’. Basically saying hell to the grown-up stuff we’ve been doing for decades, packing a rucksack and disappearing around the world for as long as we damn well like.
In fact, a fifth of over-60s are considering going travelling for an extended time. And, no, they don’t want a nice game of bingo in Benidorm. Top of the list of ultimate experiences for those who have retired includes a trip to the Northern Lights (55%) hiking New Zealand’s countryside (33%) and eating pasta on the Amalfi Coast (George Clooney for company optional) 31%. Wow, how blooming brilliant is this? Age truly is no barrier to living life is it? The only boundaries we have are the ones we stupidly put on ourselves.
Who cares what your family think? It’s YOUR life and you’ve probably been sacrificing your time and energy for decades to take care of them. Most of the folk in the age bracket of those polled (over 55s) are the generation who always put others before themselves, especially if you’re a woman. You were a mum, wife, carer, worker in a job rather than a career and tried to content yourself with your lot. Being selfish didn’t come into it, did it? Well, suddenly, we’ve woken up.
And four in 10 older Brits now describe themselves as young at heart.
If that damn COVID pandemic taught us one thing it’s that life really could be too short and you never know what’s around the corner.
So why would any of us put off until tomorrow what we can do today?
Of course, it goes against the grain and
takes a huge amount of courage to say ‘blow it all’ and disappear but incredibly (and this is the best bit!) the cost of living crisis means that it can often actually be cheaper to travel or go on a long cruise than stay at home and pay heating bills. And how mad is that?
Some 41% of those who are retired or approaching retirement now believe it’s definitely worthwhile spending their hard-earned cash by travelling during their golden years.
And more than a third of us are throwing caution to the wind and booking the trip of a lifetime. Whether that’s sailing to Antarctica or island (and rum) hopping in the Caribbean.
Probably like you, I never travelled as a kid and a fortnight was the longest holiday I ever took, and incredibly rarely at that.
Now? The world is waiting to be explored and you know what, ladies? Who cares if you even forget those knickers after all.