Gen Z Killed the Gap Year. Here’s What They’re Doing Instead

Walk into any hostel in Southeast Asia, Europe, or South America, and you’re guaranteed to find hordes of 18- to 25-year-olds hanging out in raggedy clothes, playing beer pong or the guitar, and who probably haven’t had a proper hot shower in a few days. Many of them are taking a gap year, in other words, spending several months intentionally not working or studying, and instead backpacking around different parts of the world.

They live in shared hostel dorms, take the most economical form of transport between locations, and some might even volunteer in exchange for a bed or a meal, all in the name of gaining life experience and making lifelong memories while they are young. Though recently, that traditional model of the gap year has begun to evolve. Plenty of young folks are still traveling, exploring, and “finding themselves,” but no longer is this an automatic year-long stint that follows high school or college graduation, with a set end date.

Gen Z’s arrival into adulthood has shaken up many societal norms, and the way in which they travel is no different. But as the traditional gap year trend begins to fade, what are all of these kids doing instead? Here are a few explanations.

The Traditional Career Is Dead

Thanks to a perfect storm of student debt, economic instability, and rapid technological shifts, many Gen Z’ers don’t believe in the traditional long-term career path. Working 30+ years for the same company, staying in a single stable job, and retiring with a pension feels like a completely foreign concept to your average 25-year-old.

So the idea of taking a single year off before diving into the workforce no longer carries the same weight, that kind of professional permanence no longer feels expected or even realistic, even compared to just a half-generation ago. Instead, many Gen Z’ers are planning more frequent, temporary mini-retirements: They save up to take a few months off every couple to travel, focus on a personal project, learn something new, or simply exist without a to-do list for a change. These breaks are essentially intentional sabbaticals that may or may not necessarily involve travel. 

Working From Paradise

That said, plenty of recent Gen Z grads still want to travel, and many have cracked the code on monetizing a digital skill to fund it, things like graphic design, writing, video editing, social media management, or coding. Instead of backpacking and eating $2 ramen noodles five times a week, many are opting for a lifestyle that more closely resembles that of a digital nomad.

They aren’t quite freelancing full-time, and many aren’t working traditional remote jobs, either. It’s something closer to a side hustle, pulling in a couple of hundred or a few thousand dollars a month, which can be enough to cover their living expenses while abroad. And when you can sustain a cheap lifestyle while working just a few hours a day from a beach in Thailand, there’s really no need for a traditional gap year that eventually drains your bank account and forces you to spend your last few bucks on a flight back home.

Backpacking Is Losing Its Appeal

Spending a few months hopping between hostels and eating cheap street food in faraway cities used to feel adventurous. For many young adults, it was a rite of passage tinged with rebellion against society, and many life lessons were learned on the road.

These days, people are jaded, everyone’s seen the same Bali sunrise and Machu Picchu lookout photos on Instagram a thousand times. Social media has, unfortunately, turned most international destinations into mainstream destinations, and what was once considered off-the-beaten-path is now extremely well-documented on the TikTok algorithm. Now, for many younger folks, the bigger flex is designing a lifestyle that offers permanent freedom, not just a single year-long escape. 

Too Online To Unplug

Gen Z gets a lot of criticism for always being on their phones, but it’s how they grew up, they are the first generation to have their entire adolescent and adult lives totally tech-native. It’s the biggest difference between them and millennials, and this gap shows up big time in their offline habits, or in the case of Gen Z, lack thereof. 

This is part of the reason why fewer Gen Z’ers are taking traditional gap years. They’re used to staying connected — to friends, to work, and even to entirely online communities. So the idea of completely checking out for a few months or the need for a digital detox just doesn’t speak to them as much as it did to prior generations. Gen Z’s version of time off instead involves vacationing in a way that still keeps them connected to their online identities, for better or worse.

Bottom Line: 

For an increasing number of Gen Z, what used to be a single year spent abroad has turned into more minor, more frequent breaks, and for some, the ability to sustain a more flexible, remote lifestyle entirely. Overall economic pressure and a tight job market have affected this generation’s long-term career outlook, so it’s no surprise that the traditional gap year before starting a career has changed, too.

On the bright side, for those who have figured out how to leverage their skills into profitable gigs, the clear-cut line between working and traveling has essentially disappeared, turning the single gap year into the opportunity to make it a permanent lifestyle.