Race Across the World's Mark and Margo take the pretirement sabbatical story nationwide

From national papers to BBC radio waves, Mark and Margo's pretirement sabbatical story struck a chord with the whole country. 

When we launched our pretirement sabbatical campaign with Race Across the World stars Mark and Margo fronting it, we knew their story would resonate. What we didn't expect was quite how far it would travel. In the weeks since, the campaign has been picked up by national papers, travel trade press and BBC radio stations across the country. 

The research behind the story 

The campaign was built on a survey of 2,000 over-50s, which found that a quarter (25%) feel stuck in what we're calling 'travel limbo', held back from their dream trips by work, health or mobility concerns. Encouragingly, 34% said they feel more inspired to travel now than when they were younger, and 47% are keen to make up for lost time. On average, the last time someone over 50 took a holiday lasting more than two weeks was over six years ago. 

CEO Niel Alobaidi summed up the thinking behind the campaign:  

"The retirement age may have slipped a little farther away, but their urge to explore the world certainly hasn't. Many find themselves trapped between the fear of age-based discrimination if they step away from their careers, and the burning desire to travel." 

In the nationals 

The story landed with papers including the Daily Express, The Sun, The Scottish Sun, The Irish Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Star, alongside coverage on MSN Travel, MSN Health and Brit Brief, which also ran a second piece in its business section. Every piece led with the survey findings, Niel's quote, and Mark and Margo's tips for travelling later in life.

In the trade press 

The story landed with the travel trade press too. Travel Gossip covered the duo fronting the campaign, Travel Weekly reported on our plans to trial a pretirement sabbatical for employees in 2027.

On the airwaves 

The broadcast response was just as strong. In a single day, Mark and Margo gave numerous BBC regional radio interviews, sharing their story and explaining why they'd urge anyone to stop waiting for retirement to chase their travel dreams.

Their interview aired across the BBC East Midlands network, reaching listeners on BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio Leicester, BBC Radio Derby and BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Mark and Margo also spoke to BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Sheffield, among others, with several stations keen to hear more about their time on Race Across the World.

BBC Radio Norfolk liked the story so much that it made the morning news bulletin, a nice sign of how far the pretirement sabbatical message has travelled.

Make time for your own pretirement sabbatical 

Mark and Margo's story is proof that your wish-list destinations don't have to wait for retirement. To start planning your own pretirement sabbatical, give one of our friendly holiday planners a call, or browse our full range of escorted tours on our destinations page.