Traveller notes increase in over-30 gap year takers

A blogger for the Independent has noticed a rise in the number of older people taking career breaks and heading abroad. Jerome Taylor said that he has been"astonished"; on a recent trip to Asia at how many travellers in their 30s there were. "The school leaver and the university gap year student has suddenly become a critically endangered species"; he wrote. "On the bustling streets of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatwon, the wide-eyed undergraduates ; seemed outnumbered by unemployed professionals on year-long travel adventures."; Mr Taylor made an estimate that 50 per cent of people he met while on travels in Malaysia were taking up gap year opportunities while the economy was poor in the UK. Speaking to other travellers, he found that some claimed to be taking career breaks after realising that they had been putting off plans to visit the world while others simply discovered getting work at home was proving difficult. Although destinations such as Malaysia are famously popular with travellers, other spots such as Nepal and India can offer excellent year-out opportunities.