Maybe you can put it down as another post-Covid trend, such as working from home, but it’s clear something is going on. People working for a range of employers are increasingly hoping to take sabbaticals or extended time off, with many keen to improve their work-life balance by exploring the world for several weeks, several months or a year or more.
Surveys and articles have talked about the rise of the “middle-aged gap year”: AKA the “midlife gap year“; the “grey gap year”; and the “golden gap year”. The trend is fuelled by workers aged 50-plus who are often “empty nesters”, have paid off the mortgage and are keen to get off the hamster wheel for a bit, in spite of the cost.
