OPINION19 July 2010

Travelling for the sake of it

Five years ago, pre- and post-university youngsters had the world as their oyster. It was taken for granted that one day they would have a house, a job, a stable family, and that they’d be able to provide for that family. After the credit crunch, what is left is a generation with shattered dreams

I’ll begin by setting the scene dramatically – 5 years ago, pre and post university youngsters had the world as their oyster. It was taken for granted that one day they would have a house, a job, a stable family, and that they’d be able to provide for that family.  Because of this so-thought inevitability, settling down and working to a steady rhythm too soon after leaving university became frowned upon.  This was the generation of triple gap years; of becoming a Rough Guide employee and travelling the world; of switching between industries every six months; of upping sticks and moving to the big city as soon as possible.  Once the credit crunch hit, this foundation was heavily shaken, and what is left is a generation of youngsters with shattered dreams.

Their approach is not, as outlined in a previous post on this blog, to show resistance and anger at baby boomers, but to push at getting the opportunity and privilege which they promised themselves while they began to sketch their path with so-called ‘useless’ degrees in History and English.    

This push is exercised in a number of ways.  I resisted by being content with English as a degree when I graduated a year ago, and not falling into Law School to gain a profession like some of my peers.  Some resisted by moving abroad, by becoming entrepreneurs, by doing a Masters to continue their self enrichment.  A particular form of resistance solidifies itself in the gap year – a post uni trend which has increased dramatically over the last 3 years.

Ah, the gap year.  Or, as it is now more commonly known the gap yah.  Not so long ago, the gap year meant an opportunity for youngsters with few responsibilities to spread their wings, to find themselves, to solidify independence, and to mark a more permanent move away from their childhood home.

But what does travelling mean to young people now? Many of those who manage to travel aren’t really suffering the effects on the youth credit crunch.  Those who do commit themselves to the cause can end up mercilessly saving and then spending extended periods away, doubtless having the best experiences of their lives, but also returning to the heavy anticlimax of a resistant job market.  Though going through the post uni gap year is a great experience, and it is a way of pushing against one of the darkest sides of the credit crunch, there is a clear space for a rescue base within our own country, for those who fear their dreams of a certain adulthood have eroded away. 

Americans have this down – partly because they’ve had to deal with the whole money situation longer – and they continue to do what they’re going to do.  Though the cost of going to university is extortionate in America, and is one of the clear illustrators of the massive gap between the rich and the poor, there are still multitudes of youngsters in the States who are currently in and applying for university for subjects not considered useful, or professional, or secure.  It is also, and has been for some time, an accepted passage in the U.S. that most graduates will have to work for a year or more – unpaid – in work experience placements and internships, many beginning these during their university summer breaks.  Many graduates continue to rotate round large cities on the East and West coasts, and chase their dreams as they please.  Perhaps this comes from a general life outlook or ethos in the States – it has always been somewhat of a promised land – or perhaps it comes from what will always be the quintessence of youth – enduring hope – something illustrated in the UK by the gap year trend. 

So what’s the solution? Should we encourage youngsters to truly embrace a culture of interning, and support each other in this?  Or do we need to make this land of ours, and the brands contained within it, a true haven?  There’s a clear possibility of this – I suppose it’s not that bad after all, even though David Cameron has time to act both as PM and appear in Gap Yah 2.

1 Comment

14 years ago

'A generation of youngsters with shattered dreams'? Whose 'dreams' are we talking about - the Baby Boomers' dreams (job, house, family), or this generation's dreams (extended travel, global experience and overseas work)? And just what is wrong with travelling for the sake of it? Surely if there's one thing this generation have worked out it's that there are other dreams worth having, that it doesn't have to be the standard, cookie-cutter 'dreams' of the 1950s, and that there's more to life than work. On the point of internships (and it's not just Americans who do them, they're a global thing) - they're great if you can actually get one, but as any new graduate will tell you any entry-level opportunities are slim pickings at the moment, paid or otherwise. Maybe the example to learn from in the current climate are the people who worked through the Depression and into the 1930s - many of whom took jobs they weren't excited about or were over-qualified for, and found their own success. I'd venture this is a generation of 'shifting dreams', rather than 'shattered dreams'.

Like Report