Young backpackers 'often end up in debt'
Published On 21 October 2007
Young people planning to travel during a gap year between school and university are confident that they will be easily able to pay off debts they amass while away.Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, explained that it was natural for young people to struggle to stick to a budget while travelling.
"When you're out there, the natural thing is for you to say: 'I'm going to buy these things now, and pay later.' Unfortunately, when you're on a long trip, these things can add up," Mr Griffiths added.
"Every year we see people who do overspend. But what they tend to do, because it's a gap between … school and university [or] university and a job, they do come back with debt but with a view to paying it off."
Mr Griffiths said that it was common for people on gap years to use "the bank of Mum and Dad" if they got into debt while away.
However, he pointed out: "But the problem with the bank of Mum and Dad is that they're paying credit card rates."
Separately, Mr Griffith explained that travellers were finding it difficult to use credit cards while backpacking as providers often misinterpreted foreign use as fraudulent transactions and blocked the card.
