Are You Ready for a Mature Life Gap Year?

There comes a time when, as parents, most of us become empty nesters. This is a huge shift in our lives and some parents, especially mothers, can enter a form of grief. My friend Fiona felt it acutely.

Fiona was divorced and the youngest of her three children was just setting off to university. Her job didn’t fulfil her and, although she had plenty of friends, the prospect of being alone in an empty house was a gloomy one. So Fiona took a definitive step that left us all bemused. Fiona decided to take a gap year.

“Why not?” she said. “All the young are doing it, and I never did have a gap year. So now’s the time.”

In lightning speed Fiona got her house redecorated and put it on the market to rent for one year. Then, through some contacts, she arranged accommodation in a small spa town in Germany where she decided she was going to perfect her German.

Within three months she was gone. During the year she took odd jobs to pay her way but, as there was some money coming in from the house rental, there wasn’t much pressure to earn. Her life was simple and relatively carefree. Her children had a base with their father, she made new friends and became very knowledgeable about the wine grown in her area. And she’s now fluent in German!

Advantages of taking a gap year over 50

When we wave goodbye to our offspring as they head off for their gap year most of us do so with a mixture of worry and envy. What would we give to be carefree and young again? So much to experience – their whole lives ahead of them.

Many of us oldies will remember our own travels many years ago. And with it may come melancholy. That’s when we need to give ourselves a shake and bring ourselves to our senses.

The blunt truth is that youth won’t come back. But do we really want it? The insecurities, the broken hearts. We don’t have a time machine, so we may as well go forward and grab the time we have.

The world doesn’t belong to the young and there are huge advantages to taking a gap year over the age of 50, over 60 or even in your 70s and beyond. 

  • You’re more financially stable. Even if you’re not exactly flush, you are more astute.
  • You’re less vulnerable and less likely to be taken for a ride by dodgy taxi drivers and tour guides.
  • For women there’s a benefit to being a traveller of a ‘certain age’, The older you are, the less of a target you’ll be to pick up moves.
  • You’ll look at the places you visit from a totally different perspective to a youth just out of school. Alcohol and flirtations will feature less, and you’ll be more mature and relaxed in social settings.
  • If you’ve been working and/or bringing up a family or caring for others, the freedom of time and movement will be a panacea after so many years.
  • You know what you want and won’t want to waste this precious time.
  • life story journals

Different types of mature life gap year

First, you’ll need to decide what kind of midlife gap year you would like to have. Here are a few scenarios:

Total Recharge Gap Year

If you’ve been in a hectic job or feel emotionally exhausted, you may just be looking for a recharge. Perhaps you’re craving sunshine and can’t think of anything more wonderful than lying on a beach reading the stack of books on your reading list. Or maybe you and your partner need to just chill together so you have time to reconnect.

One thing to bear in mind is that beach holidays are great for a few weeks, but boredom can soon set in. Do you ever start to feel restless towards the end of a holiday? Magnify that and remove the prospect of it all terminating when you return to work, and you could start to feel at a loose end.

How about mixing it up a bit? First, a period of pure relaxation followed by a bit more adventure.

Live the Life of a Local Gap Year

Do you dream of living in an old city, such as Paris? Steeping yourself in the experience as you walk  down to the boulangerie to fetch fresh bread in the morning, sit outside corner cafés, watching the world go by. Time to reflect. Relaxed, with no pressure.

This could be anywhere in the world but will be dependent on long stay rules so you may need a permit, or perhaps mix it up a bit.

Spending an extended period of time in one area can be a wonderful way of immersing yourself in a culture although, depending how you plan things, it may be easier to do this with a partner, unless you know people in the area.

If you’re solo how about taking a language or cultural course, or even volunteering? Speaking English is a great asset. You could put up a notice in a café offering an English conversation morning once a week. It’s a good way to meet people. Taking up part time work would give a good balance between earning some money and the opportunity to practice the language, although this will depend on the employment regulations of the country.

On the Move Gap Year

This is often what people see as the true gap year. A whole 365 days of wonder! Where you travel from country to country without a care in the world. The choice to make is which part of the world. You probably want to take it slightly slower than Phileas Fogg which means attempting to encompass all seven continents would be a bit ambitious.

You may have some deep-rooted desire to see a particular country or continent, but you will also need to consider safety and cost. Even though an older woman can travel relatively invisibly, there are certain areas where it wouldn’t be wise to be a lone traveller. If you don’t have a partner or friend you would like to hook up with, how about signing up with www.yourtravelmates.com They have thousands of mates from all countries and walks of life as well as an active forum for advice and shared experiences.

Budget Gap Year

Do you feel like putting a rucksack on your back and heading off despite a limited daily budget? Why not? This can be done at any age of course although when you’ve just retired you will have just started to receive a pension which will be a nice fillip. This is the point you’re as young as you’re ever going to be during your retirement and there’s no reason limited money needs to hold you back.

In our youth we wouldn’t have seen many older people travelling in this way but it’s much more prevalent these days. Altogether we’re less ageist which means that hostels and travel concessions are just as open to us as they are to the young travelling prior to university.  

Discount travel offered to under 27 year olds is often available to over 60 or 65, as are other reduced entries to museums and galleries, so even more benefit.

A Learning Gap Year

The older we get the more we envy the young for their access to education. How many of us think ‘if only…’ But now we have the opportunity, and the hunger, to gain knowledge, often more so than the young to whom learning may have been a necessary chore for most of their lives.

Have you yearned to learn a language or become conversant in Italian Renaissance art? Cooking or winemaking, painting or pottery? Not just in a classroom but in the actual country. A 360 degree, full living experience.

Try and weave in some learning into the experience, and if you’re learning a language there’s nothing like being in the actual country to practice.

Working Gap Year

Would you like to earn some money during your gap year, even if only by part time work? Here you would need to factor in the employment regulations of the country you’re visiting. Do you need a visa? Would the work take up too much time and affect your enjoyment?

Or perhaps you would like to keep active but don’t actually need the money. In which case you might consider volunteering.

Why not check out www.workaway.info

Considerations for the Over 60 Gap Year

We may not feel any different to our youthful selves but unfortunately there are certain technicalities that we need to bear in mind. The main one is travel insurance. This gets increasingly expensive as we get older, even more so if we have health issues.

Also, if you are planning to be away for a whole year it can be tricky finding an extended policy. The company www.insureandgo.com can supply insurance for over 60s and over 65s with pre-existing medical conditions. It also offers a single trip policy for up to 365 days. It’s also worth checking out www.goodtogoinsurance.com

And it’s always worth double-checking that every activity you envisage doing during the year is accounted for. Plan for the most adventurous and factor in the worst scenario to make sure you’re completely covered, and you shouldn’t come up with any deflating surprises.

Conclusion

To some people the prospect of a lengthy journey in later life could be intimidating and may not ever have been a dream. They are happy with their homes, routines and their friends around them. But there are others among us who still hold the flame of a dream. A wanderlust.

This is the time to embrace it. Have courage. Investigate your moves, one step at a time. After a map will start to form and the plan will take shape.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao Tzu