Welcome to the Gap Year For Grown-Ups podcast, hosted by Debbie Weil

A podcast for those in midlife and beyond who want to explore, to reinvent, to find purpose and to figure out what comes next – and why. Relevant to this unprecedented time.

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What Listeners are Saying

I’ve just binged on the first dozen episodes of Debbie’s Gap Year for Adults podcast. It’s a fantastic introduction to the range of Gap approaches one can take at any age. I’m looking forward to getting caught up and making it part of my regular listening. Reviewer on iTunes

So approachable and inspiring. I’m not yet 50 but I just love the approachable, inspiring advice this podcast offers. It makes me look forward to becoming increasingly inventive as I age. Reviewer on iTunes

What about a gap five years? Good interviewer keeps it moving. Makes me think. Reviewer on iTunes

Very interesting and well-produced podcast on a great topic. Reviewer on iTunes

I’ve listened to all of the podcasts and want more. What a fascinating concept for any of us at midlife and beyond. Reviewer on iTunes

Debbie facilitates the telling of fascinating, empowering stories.

Reviewer on iTunes

Debbie has a fun and insightful way of inviting her interviewees to share gems of wisdom! Reviewer on iTunes

I love this show. As a 39 year-old dude, I am not the target audience, I’m sure. But I learn in every episode from the interviews. Debbie’s style as the host does such a great job at bringing out great specifics and details from her guests.

Reviewer on iTunes

About Season 1

Can grown-ups in mid-life and beyond take a timeout from real life: for a reset, for renewal, to find meaning and purpose – and yes, happiness? The answer is yes, but it’s a bit more complicated than it is for students who only have to sling a backpack over their shoulders. Debbie talks with her guests, including her husband Sam Harrington, about the money question, decision-making, the process of change, bucket list adventures and the pursuit of happiness.

About Season 2

The term gap year symbolizes so much more than taking a time out. It is a frame for examining such topics as reinvention, a new purpose, aging with wisdom, trying new things, bucket list travel, a new approach to health and well-being, and more. All the topics that relate to living well in this stage of life.

My guests in Season 2 are a mix of inspiring individuals who are taking or have taken grown-up gap years along with well-known authors and experts on the topics above. All episodes below.

Featured episodes

All episodes

S2-EP19: Anne Fadiman on Writing: Taking Risks, Improving and Witnessing History

S2-EP18: Debbie & Sam on the New Normal, Quarantines, Immunity Passports, and Masks & Gloves

S2-EP17: Kim Klaft on a Global Gap Year and Living Without Regret

S2-EP16: Peter Corbett on Mortality, Dying, and a New Life of Service

S2-EP15: Emiliana Simon-Thomas on the Science of Happiness in Times of Crisis

S2-EP14: J-R & Alasdair on Living the Dream (or Winging It) in Guatemala

S2-EP13: Derek Sivers on Slow Thinking, Connecting, and Intentional Living

S2-EP12: Debbie & Sam on the Coronavirus, Magical Thinking, and Aging

S2-EP11: Sean Bailey on Financial Planning For a Gap Year

S2-EP10: Dr. Sam Harrington on End-of-Life, Reinvention, and Legacy

S2-EP9: Kathy Davies on Life Design As a Tool for Women’s Midlife Reinvention

S2-EP8: Sonja O’Donnell on the Challenge of a Self-Directed Life

S2-EP7: Guy Kawasaki’s Life Lessons at 65: Skip the Email, Find Joy and Speak the Truth

S2-EP6: Debbie’s Story: What Happens When You Connect the Dots Backward

S2-EP5: An Executive’s Story: Taking a Sabbatical With Susan De Cuba

S2-EP4: Aging Myths & Misconceptions and How They Translate Into a Missed Market Opportunity

S2-EP3: Nomadic Matt on his new memoir and travel as a way to reinvent yourself

S2-EP2: Exploring Middlescence (adolescence with wisdom) with Barbara Waxman

S2-EP1: Katie Tremper’s Year of Wellness: taking care of yourself after a lifetime of working full-time

Season 2 Trailer: This podcast is about more than taking a gap year

S1-EP12: Marc Freedman on How to Live Forever (It’s Not What You Think)

S1 – Ep. 11: Dr. Joy Dryer on Asking the Existential Questions

S1 – Ep. 10: On Our Bucket List: Living in France (Debbie and Sam)

S1 – Ep. 9: Island Women Speak: Connection, Truth and Storytelling in Maine

S1 – Ep. 8: Jeff Tidwell on Mid-Life Entrepreneurship and Work With Purpose

S1 – Ep. 7: Four Different Decades on Transition and Reinvention (Modern Elders, Part 2)

S1 – Ep. 6: Chip Conley on Growing Wise at Modern Elder Academy (Modern Elders, Part 1)

S1 – Ep. 5: Dr. Sam Harrington on Writing His First Book After Taking a Gap Year

S1 – Ep. 4: Karen Wickre on What You Need to Know About Networking to Reinvent Your Life

S1 – Ep. 3: Why Money Is Not the Biggest Obstacle to a Gap Year (Alasdair Plambeck and Julie-Roxane Krikorian)

S1 – Ep. 2: Deciding to Take a Gap Year at Age 62 (Sam Harrington and Debbie Weil)

S1 – Ep. 1: Why Gap Years Are NOT Wasted on the Young (Debbie’s Three Children)

Season 1 Trailer: Why can’t grown-ups take a timeout from real life?!

Thanks to our media partners

Encore.org, our newest media partner, is an ideas and innovation hub tapping the talent of those 50+ as a force for good. Founder and CEO Marc Freedman is an award-winning social entrepreneur and author, most recently, of How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations. Looking for a great gap-year transition program? Check out Encore Fellowships, which match skilled, seasoned professionals with social-sector organizations in high-impact, paid assignments.

Modern Elder Academy is a program dedicated to navigating mid-life transitions. MEA, based in Baja California, Mexico, provides the place and the tools to start reframing your lifetime of experience. Grow whole, not old. Founder Chip Conley is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning hospitality entrepreneur and a rock star of the mid-life transition movement. His newest book is Wisdom @ Work: the Making of a Modern Elder.

Next For Me is an important new resource for the 50+ crowd focused on rewriting life. Taking a gap year or timeout may be the best way to figure out "what's next" when you're in this stage of life. Founder Jeff Tidwell explains, Next For Me "connects and inspires our generation to evolve our post-50 lives through new work, a new purpose, or a new social contribution."