The trade-off is always portrayed as between ending up an unemployable 22-year-old with $10,000 in credit card debt, or a 70 year old widower who tried to put it off until after kids but missed the window.
But there's a middle road.
I, for instance, saved like crazy until I was 27 before taking off on the first big trip. By then I'd established enough of a professional reputation that I could quickly find a job when I got back, and enough savings to not worry about going broke on the road. Over the next 13 years I averaged about six months off every year, getting more employable at every step and usually ending each year with more savings than the last.
I don't think there would have been any chance of pulling that off had I started off by maxing the credit card on a gap year trip straight out of school.