At the time of writing this I am 20 years old. Does this give me the right to talk about why you should travel in your 20s? I don’t want to write this blog post in my 40s from the perspective of why I wish I had travelled more in my 20’s. So in this blog post I am going to talk from experience about five reasons I am using this opportunity to travel as much as possible.
We Have Less Responsibilities
It’s becoming more common for us young adults to live at home longer during our 20s. If you are fortunate enough to have this option, it makes it a lot easier to save money for travel. Priorities spending money on experiences rather than materialistic items you only buy to impress people who don’t care anyway.
Chances are you don’t have any children at this age. And you probably aren’t married and still single. With none of these . . . let’s say “distractions” holding you back, you can be selfish without offending anyone.
At this stage of our lives we likely don’t have a career where we don’t have the flexibility to leave whenever we please. And if we do wish to leave our job to travel longer term, there will always be plenty of jobs available when we get back home.
The People You Meet
Wherever you travel you always meet some really cool and interesting people. Whether it’s a local, greeting you to their country. A drunk backpacker who thinks the moon landing was staged. A group of travellers at the hostel who offer you to join them for a night out. Or maybe you meet the love of your life?
Travelling pushes you to meet more people, especially when you travel solo. Combine solo travel with staying at hostels and not only will your social skills level up, but you will also make friends you keep in contact with from all over the word.
You Will Regret Not Travelling
Regret is one of the things I fear the most in life. Getting to the end of your life and wishing you had travelled more is a scary thought. I don’t know if you’ve heard this quote before, but . . . “you only live once”.
So make the most of this perfect opportunity while you’re in your 20s to travel as much as you can. Travel is something people desire greatly in their lives but put it off time after time.
As we get older we gain more responsibilities such as being a parent, work commitments and paying off mortgages making travel less practical. If there is ever a time to travel it’s now! So I urge you to just do it!
The Memories and Stories
When we are young we tend to take more risks. We do things our parents wouldn’t approve of. The memories we look back on and the stories we relive with our friends is priceless. Buying materialistic things doesn’t give you that same fulfilling feeling that last a lifetime.
It’s always great to catch up with an old friend and reminisce about how you blew $180 dollars on some shots that you thought were free while clubbing in Singapore. Or that time you snuck into a paid ticketed area of an attraction. I won’t mention what popular tourist attraction this was, but some of the things we do when we are young.
You’re in Your Prime . . . Physically
During your 20s you are most likely in peak physical condition. I don’t know about you, but after a big night of partying and consuming near toxic levels of alcohol. I am still able to go on adventures the following day. All I need is a solid feed and some rehydration and I’m good to go. Ok . . . I’m exaggerating a bit, but basically we can stay out late, drink lots and still be ready to go the next day.
Our 20s is the time where we have the energy and enthusiasm allowing us to endure the long flights, loud hostels, tough hikes, cliff jumps and walking 27km in Bangkok’s humidity . . . ok maybe that’s just me.
As you can see there is no better time to travel and experience the world than now. You’re young and have the freedom, energy, enthusiasm and opportunity. Time flies, stop waiting for the perfect time because this is the closet you’re going to get to one. “This opportunity only comes once in a life time” . . . as Eminem says.