Last year, Jean and Bradley Wahl each donned Blundstones and a 20-kilogram backpack and joined the one in seven Australian high school graduates who take a gap year before commencing university. The Wahls, however, aren’t students; they’re architects in their mid-50s, and instead of taking a break from study, they took seven months off work.

Jean first yearned to take a year off in 2009, but the family knocked her back. Now, with the kids grown up – and their own parents still able to look after themselves – it was actually a better time. “We’re between dependents,” says Bradley.