"I ditched my everyday job for a quarter-life gap year"

A 25-year-old woman ditched her job and "everyday routine" to go on a 'quarter life gap year' to avoid career burnout - a growing trend among Gen-Z.

Ashleigh Cornish had originally planned to go abroad just before Covid lockdown and after just four years in work she was itching to go.

She felt if she didn't go travelling now she never would so temporarily quit work despite progressing well in a successful marketing role.

Ashleigh saved up whilst living at home with her parents before she and her partner joined the growing trend of twenty-somethings taking a break from work to travel.

And while rather than moving out of her parents and in with her friends or boyfriend or buying a house she decided to used the money to tour southeast Asia and Australia for five months.

Since the pandemic, tour companies have reported a sharp increase in the number of Gen Z workers going on big trips.

Ashleigh believes the cost-of-living crisis is to blame - because it delayed young people's plans to travel in their early 20s.

She says the trip allowed her to gain a better understanding of her work-life balance and gave her a fresh start, helping to avoid burnout.

Ashleigh, now back at work as a social media manager for Tui, from Taunton, Somerset, said: "It was always something I wanted to do as I left college.

"I never went to university so I never had the whole gap year experience.

"I'd worked through and the plan was to go a bit earlier and then Covid hit so travel was out for a few years.

"I wanted to go before moving out of my parent's house with bills to pay etc.

"In your 20s you want to progress in your career and that was always in the back of my mind that if I left it too late I'd never get to go and do it.

"But there's also that element of feeling burned out - I really did notice after that five months off that I felt so refreshed and had a new perspective on things.

"A lot of people go at 18 and 19 but because of Covid I think many people were going later than they usually would.

"I found that there were a lot more people my age out there which was nice."

Ashleigh left in March 2023 and toured Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bali and the east coast of Australia, before returning home in August 2023.

While others are often looking for a new career path and use travelling as time to think, Ashleigh says she has always been happy in her job.

She said: "It wasn't that I wanted to leave my job at all.

"I decided to take a career break from Tui and actually it was a really important factor for me to have the security to come back to that afterwards.

"It was one of those to get away from the break of an everyday routine.

"There wasn't that pressure around finding another job when I got back."

Before she went travelling, Ashleigh says she would get "caught up" in her work and struggle to find a balance.

She said: "I think for me it was just around wanting to come back and be a bit more in control of my work-life balance.

"Not get so caught up on work and have my downtime on weekends and evenings.

"I could see how important it was to have those times away from work and the benefits it has.

"It's not all about work and you should have those times off."

As to why there were so many mid-20s also out travelling, Ashleigh believes it's down to the Covid delay.

She said: "Covid definitely had a part to play in that.

"Because of the cost of living as well, perhaps people are now going a little later when they are in their mid-20s.

"Money returns but time doesn't so doing it whilst you can and not worrying about the norms of society is great.

"I'm glad I waited to go as it meant I had more money to spend and could do the nicer experiences."

Ashleigh said her favourite part was not having a plan.

She said: "It was all very much week by week and day by day.

"A month in, my favourite part was relaxing and taking each day as it comes and trying new food and new cultures.

"The whole thing around not having anywhere to be was great."

Now firmly back into the swing of her job, Ashleigh is now planning to move out of her parents and into her own flat.