GET READY TO TAKE A GAP YEAR 2.0 - THE EMERGING TRAVEL TREND IN AUSTRALIA

• A new travel trend emerges in Australia dubbed the Gap Year 2.0
• To enable Aussies to take a Gap Year 2.0 Toyota Australia identifies top unseen destinations in Australia in time for the launch of All-new Toyota LandCruiser 300

Dubbed “Gap Year 2.0”, the new travel trend stems from a global travel movement that is being embraced by many, with people now more so than ever able to change up the conventional way of life and live on the road.

With lockdowns across the globe and the majority of businesses having to operate remotely since 2020, people have been contemplating living life less traditional. The idea of the traditional “nomad” is no longer a trend just for the privileged few prior to the pandemic.

Evidently, Aussies share the similar desire to see the country on the road at a time when conventional vacation travel is still difficult:

• In August this year, some popular outback routes saw record-high visitor numbers, according to Main Roads West Australia records show Broome Road recording around 3,000 vehicles per day, an increase around 25% consistently over the year.
• The recent ABS "Household Impacts of COVID-19" survey[i] echoes the trend with the ability to travel (24%) as one of the top motivators for receiving the COVID-19 vaccination and over the next 12 months, more than one in three (32%) Australians plan to use their current or expected savings on travel.

Dr Nick Hookway Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Tasmania said “While a gap year is traditionally taken by people in their teen or early twenties, we will see more adults experimenting with new ways of working and living on the move.”

“We call this Gap Year 2.0. Gap Year 2.0 refers to how diverse age groups are redesigning their lives by leaving traditional jobs and settled housing to become full-time travellers in Australia. While travelling Australia used to be mostly grey nomads and retirees, during COVID-19 it has become more common among young families and middle-aged demographics.”

“It is powered by international travel restrictions and new digital freedoms to create and work-on-the-move". “It can also be located as part of wider ongoing social changes, including the decline of work as a key source of identity, the centrality of leisure and lifestyle to contemporary lives and a growing cultural emphasis on personal reinvention.”

“COVID-19 has also intensified questions about what it means to live a meaningful and purposeful life, so we can see Gap Year 2.0 as a direct response to that existential anxiety answered through leisure and lifestyle reinvention.”

Travel expert, Quentin Long understands the increasing appeal of the great Australian road trip since the pandemic.

"The great Australian road trip is so much a part of our psyche that Aussies feel best when we 'hit the road' on a road trip. The travel restrictions since pandemic made us appreciate our own backyard more. And It’s hard to appreciate the size, scale and sheer magnificent diversity of this great country without driving it.”

“Whatever Aussies seek from travel, they will find it on an epic trip around our country. There’s so much to discover from secret beaches - under stated world class foodie discoveries - wondrous cultural journeys - beach town coastal safari's - to remote off the grid escapes to nowhere.”

To enable Aussies to embark on their own version of "Gap Year 2.0" or to just simply take a break from their conventional way of life, Toyota Australia has identified top unseen destinations in Australia in time for the launch of All-New Toyota LandCruiser 300, with the help of its loyal Toyota drivers and travel expert, Quentin Long.

1. Five Beaches Track, Somerset, Cape York Peninsula
2. Lake Pedder, Tasmania
3. Billy Goat Bluff Track, The High Country, Victoria
4. Pender Bay Escape, Western Australia
5. Secret Springs, Kunnunura, West Australia
6. Sturt Steps touring route, NSW
7. Explorers’ Way, South Australia to Northern Territory
8. Canning Stock Route, West Australia
9. Lost City, Blue Mountains, NSW
10. Chace Ranges Flinders Ranges, South Australia

For more information on the All-New Toyota LandCruiser visit: https://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-300

The Holiday and Travel Magazine
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