Pack up your troubles

With A-level results in the bag, everyone's talking about taking a gap year, especially with Prince Harry set to follow in his brother's footsteps and join other intrepid trekkers setting off around the world.

But, according to an industry expert, the fastest growing market for those taking a year out is a much older age group.

Founder of gapyear.com Tom Griffiths says: 'The size of the UK market for pre-university gap years is some 50,000, yet for 18 to 24-year-olds - those in or just finishing university - it's about 150,000.

'But the fastest growing gap year market is without doubt 25 to 35-year-olds. Over the past year, sectors such as the finance industry have been hit, and some good redundancies are available.

'We've done research and found that many of the people who are gapping in that age group are people who entered the working environment at 18 and ended up in jobs they didn't want to do.

'We're also part of the portfolio career generation, so every five years or so we are changing our jobs,' says Tom. 'Add to this the factor that friendsreunited is reminding people that they have been out of school for ten years, and you can see why more and more people are doing it.'

Surprisingly, Tom also links the growth in the 25 to 35-year-old market to another growing sector - the pre-retirement gapper, or Saga louts, as they're known.

'They were the baby-boom generation who are now our parents,' he says. 'Forty years ago, they were the original gappers going through the hippy trail and are now looking for that buzz again.

'You get these bungee-jumping grannies saying to their kids: "If you don't like your job, just go and do something else. Travel and see the world. If I can do it, so can you."'

Tom believes that whatever your age, the things you need to know to take a gap year are universal. But he does issue a word of warning for career gappers: 'They should plan their entry back into life as carefully as they plan the exit. 'It's easy to take the redundancy money or hand your notice in and stick two fingers up at your boss. But if you don't leave enough cash to cover you for about three months when you return, you'll soon be going straight back to that boss, cap in hand.'

Ticketing

There are all sorts of websites offering round-the-world tickets. If you go through a company like www.roundtheworldticket.com you get to build your own itinerary, but putting the package together can be quite laborious.

STA Travel (www.statravel.co.uk) offers a pre-prepared package: London - Bangkok - Sydney - overland to Melbourne - Auckland - LA - overland to San Francisco - London from around £1,000 including taxes. Prices are slightly lower for full-time students and those under 26.

Finding work placements

Most people these days aim for project-driven placements, such as that taken by Prince William when he went to Chile with Operation Raleigh two years ago.

Louise Clark of STA Travel said: 'Australia and New Zealand are still one of the gappers' biggest markets for regular work. But we're increasingly issuing tickets for organisations taking on charity-style projects, whether that be building a school in Ecuador, a medical centre in Mexico or a sanitation project in Zambia.'

If you're interested in this kind of project, check out www.volunteeringabroad.com and www.support4learning.org.uk

For more regular work to finance further travel, www.workpermit.com is an essential reference for the paper work you'll need in various countries. Also take a look at www.worktravelcompany.co.uk and www.workingabroad.com

Keeping in touch

Safety is paramount when embarking on a year out. How many times do we hear of someone being assumed missing when they've actually been face-down in a bar in Bangkok and 'forgot' to tell worried friends and family back home?

Thanks to a host of traveller-friendly websites, it's never been easier - and with Internet cafes in the furthest flung reaches of the world, there's no excuse.

One of the best is www. travelpackers.com - which allows you to post itineraries and share experiences with other travellers through a travelogue service. Subscription is free.