Forget the gap year, it's the generation gap that's redefining travel. While twenty-somethings seek pre-packaged comfort, their grandparents are out in the dirt. The old tourism cliches haven't just aged, they've completely reversed.
A few weeks ago, I got back from a month in Central Asia that took me from the mountains of Kazakhstan to the Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan and the strange isolationist nation of Turkmenistan. They're destinations for the intrepid, they're not always comfortable, and they're pretty cheap. In other words, they are the destinations that, on paper, should be the domain of young and daring travellers.
Yet the majority of other visitors I saw along my journey were Boomers. There they were, jumping on and off trains, hiking up mountains, even sleeping on the floor of a homestay (in the case of one fascinating night in a Turkmenistan village). Sure, there were more reading glasses than shot glasses, but the older people I saw travelling in Central Asia would have left most modern backpackers in their dust.
It made me think about a media release I got recently from Contiki, the youth-focused tour company that many people would associate with boozy bus tours through Europe. Well, Contiki doesn't want you to make that association anymore - the subject line of the email was pretty clear about that. "We'll take you beyond the bus," it read. Instead, the company is trying to offer more meaningful tours like safaris through Africa and hiking in the Alps. One itinerary from France to Italy caught my eye. It includes panoramic river cruises in Paris, serene gondola rides in Venice and fondue dinners in Switzerland. Sounds to me like the kind of trip that would be enjoyed by... well, Boomers, not backpackers.
So, why is this happening? Why are the grandparents stealing the dirtbag gap year and leaving the organised sightseeing tour of European cities to the twenty-somethings?
Part of it can probably be blamed on the cost of living. Travel is expensive these days and an organised trip with a youth tour company gives you a guaranteed price where many of the costs are shared. When I was younger, you could just wing your way through Europe and know you'd normally find a 15-euro bed when you arrived (not that the euro was in use when I first started backpacking). But now, not only can disposable income often be tight, but inflation means a day of independent travel can seem unaffordable by the time you've paid for accommodation, a train, a museum, and a few glasses of wine.
On the other hand, older travellers may have the financial flexibility to throw themselves into more adventurous destinations and experiences where unpredictability won't ruin the overall budget. They may also have more experience travelling independently from a time when that was more common for young people to do.
Yet we can't blame financial pressures for all of this. There are still cheap hostels out there, even if they're dark and dirty, with bedbugs you might bring back on a plane from Rome. It's just that many young people don't want to stay in them. Their expectations have been elevated, with social media often painting a glamorous and filtered version of backpacking. Roughing it isn't venturous, it's torturous. A fun holiday for a twenty-something seems to be all about soft-life travel, curated TikTok itineraries, and the perfect Instagram photo dump.
Even if the older crowd is more likely to be taking tablets than swiping on them, there's something to be said for being unshackled from the chains of the internet and not worrying about whether your followers think your trip is aesthetic. (And, yes, I know that's not how you use the word aesthetic, but young people don't seem to.) Perhaps the true adventure, the backpacker ethos I remember, is more of a state of mind. Maybe the key is about being disconnected from your online community.
Because this is my issue with the tours now being offered by companies like Contiki and Topdeck (which announced last year it was ditching its large buses for a maximum group size of 18). Although the trips are offering more comfortable itineraries that are more likely to have local cultural activities than all night benders, they have lost some of the spark, some of the magic of being a messy backpacker who has to make new friends each time they check into a hostel, and realise for themselves that they've gone to the
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wrong station and will likely miss their train (speaking from experience, of course).
Making mistakes, meeting new people, needing to ask for advice, finding your own way around a destination - these are among the most formative experiences young travellers have. But curated tours and omnipresent data connections are robbing the new generations of these moments. They're more interested in scrolling than strolling. And if they don't learn these skills and their joys now, what does that mean for their travels in later life?
Their parents and their grandparents get it. That's why they don't have a problem with long drives in Turkmenistan with only roadside bushes for toilets, or why they stayed longer at the bars of Tbilisi than I did on a tour last year. Older Australians aren't necessarily roughing it in hostels like they did when they were younger, but they're not letting some inconveniences and some discomforts get in the way of an interesting trip.
I'm sure the younger crowd is still having a great time, collecting beautifully curated memories from all around the world. But perhaps the true spirit of a youthful holiday was never about how many years you've been on the planet, but about how open you are to the unknown. Real youth in travel is found in the willingness to get a bit lost, to hold the map upside down, and to embrace the glorious, messy unpredictability of it all. And right now, out there on the dusty bumpy roads, it's the older generations who are having the time of their lives.