Backpacker Revisited. If it's been a while since someone stole your milk from the hostel kitchen, don't start believing the impoverished students on the backpacker trail are more honest these days. Lonely Planet says growing numbers of older travellers - with milk money aplenty - are taking a year off from established careers. Employers, particularly in the US and Australia, are realising that to keep good staff they have to allow such sabbaticals. For those who want to shake out all the mental and physical office toxins, some suggestions: walk to the South Pole, break a world record, take a balloon safari, learn to fly a plane, ride a horse across Mongolia, drive in an endurance rally, write a book, rent an island (US$3,000 a day), or eat fugu (sushi from the toxic blowfish). This guide offers contacts for volunteer placements, house swaps and teaching courses. But if you want a return to the glory days of stumbling over backpacks in the hostel dorm at night and waking to the sounds of their zippers straining to contain mass-produced village handicraft, Lonely Planet has advice on tying up loose ends at home, such as finances and pet care, along with packing and cheap flights.