r/travel • u/PeanutSea2003 • 10d ago
Question “Travel while you’re young” But Why? Wait?
We’re constantly told to “travel while you’re young” like it’s some magical window of opportunity.
But isn’t it just as important to travel when you’re older, with more freedom and experience?
Why does youth always have to be the golden age for exploring?
Maybe the best adventures come when you have the wisdom and resources to truly appreciate them. 🤔
Thoughts?
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u/Sudden_Ad4918 10d ago
Because tomorrow is not guaranteed. I almost died at 31 from a colon rupture. I’m not saying be irresponsible and spend money you don’t have, but everyone thinks they’ll live till they’re 80, not all of us will.
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u/Farronski 10d ago
Also, depending on the type of countries you're interested in, stable countries are not guaranteed. I wanted to visit Sana'a in Yemen, a beautiful city, before the current war. But I didn't, and now I can't. You can visit east Yemen, but Sana'a is in the Houthi area.
North Korea is also closed since 2020 (this one town next to the boarder to China does not count)
Sudan has a civil war (it was part of Egypt, so it has similar historic sites as Egypt close to the Nile)
The list goes on, so travel when you can, your health can get worse and the world constantly changes.
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u/10S_NE1 Canada 9d ago
That is so true and something I didn’t consider when I was younger (in my 60’s now). I cancelled a trip to Russia a few years ago, and then another trip got cancelled due to Covid. Now I’ll never go.
I missed a chance to go to Macchu Picchu when I was younger, and now my asthma is bad enough I don’t want to risk it. Last year, I cancelled a trip to India because I knew I’d be miserable in the heat and humidity. I’m going to Japan this summer (great opportunity at a bad time of year), although I know the heat will be rough. I’ve had to plan my agenda to ensure I won’t be subjected to too many hours of walking in a row. When I was younger, this would not have been a problem.
The sad thing is, by the time we can afford the long, exotic trips, we might not be healthy enough to enjoy them. I’m fortunate enough that I was able to hit most of the destinations on my bucket list while it was still possible. I’m going back to Africa next year, and then, for the most part, I’ll be sticking to easy stuff like Europe.
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u/wanderlustzepa 9d ago
I didn’t like traveling when I was younger, so I’m a late bloomer. I started in my 50s, now 61, and traveling indefinitely until I decide otherwise.
Staying healthy is important at any age but super important as I age. Couple of months ago, I did a tough volcano hike in Ometepe, Nicaragua, 3.8 miles up and over 5,000 ft of elevation gain, it was brutal but I did it. I plan to keep challenging myself, within reason.
Maybe you should give Machu Picchu a try, it isn’t easy and at high altitude, worst that can happen is that you can’t finish and have to come back. You can always talk to the tour agency ahead of time and let them know your condition so they can properly arrange for any needed support for you on the trek, eg, oxygen tank, etc.
It will cost you more but what’s that compared to a life goal being attempted/achieved. When you are lying on your death bed, will you be thinking, man, I wished I hiked to Machu Picchu? If you think you will, then do it!
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u/10S_NE1 Canada 9d ago
You’ve got a good point about Machu Picchu, but honestly, higher altitudes are hell on my lungs these days. I also feel like a trip like Machu Picchu is such a crap shoot. I have friends that went and the day they went to the iconic spots it was raining and clouded over and they really didn’t get much of a view. My friend was also terribly altitude sick, which he didn’t expect. I think they were very disappointed and spent a fortune on the experience.
I really do need to work on my fitness to give myself a fighting chance of enjoying my future trips. Lucky for me, I’ve been pretty much everywhere I ever wanted to go so if a doctor told me my travelling days were done, I’d be fairly okay with it and would use my time to sort through the seemingly billions of photos I’ve taken on my travels.
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u/wanderlustzepa 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yeah, most people, including me, didn’t know much about altitude sickness and I got a bad case of it even before hiking the Inca trail. It has more to do with your physiology than how fit/healthy you are.
There is always a weather risk visiting high altitude places, that’s just how nature is but if your life goal is to see Machu Picchu, you can go there without hiking Inca trail.
Ha, yeah I have way too many photos to sort through still. Best of luck, stay healthy!
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u/Yippykyyyay 10d ago
I'm so glad I was able to visit Russia and take the trans-Siberian into China. I'd probably avoid doing that now.
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u/HappyPenguin2023 9d ago
Yes, very grateful I got to Russia when I could. Wish I'd gone to Ukraine as well.
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u/IslandofStars 9d ago
My biggest regret is not doing that exact trip before everything went to hell!
Probably never gonna get to explore Russia/Chjna now :(
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u/Gauntlets28 9d ago
My understanding is that China is fine - if anything they've been rapidly expanding their visa waivers for people that want to visit for longer periods, so it's totally doable. Expensive, obviously, but doable.
Russia on the other hand - I'm not sure how easy that will be for a long time.
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u/Farronski 9d ago
There is no reason right now to not go to China from my perspective. Russia is understandable, depending on your passport, but China? I understand that we all have different comfort levels when it comes to personal safety, so I'm genuinely interested in hearing your perspective on China.
I traveled 6 weeks through China and it was a really nice trip.
As long as they do not invade Taiwan, it should stay like this.
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u/Wolf-Pack-2017 9d ago
Well said.
I had a chance to see the Great Barrier Reef in 2002. Will never forgive myself for not going.
I had a chance to go to Syria in 2008. Now the Syria I would have seen does not exist.
When you have the chance, go.
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u/Internal_Swan_5254 9d ago
One of my friends spent time living in Poland and Ukraine in 2019. I was supposed to fly out to visit her, but the trip was canceled by covid. Even if I someday have the chance to see Ukraine, it won't be the same Ukraine that I would have seen in 2019.
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u/Scary-Detail-3206 9d ago
100%. I grew up with a large amount of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants who were going back to the old country for summer vacation. It was always on my list to check both those out, but it looks like they have to wait at least another decade.
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u/Farronski 9d ago
I'm sooo grateful that I visited Lebanon and Syria in the first half of ’23.
I 100% recommend both countries and go as soon as you're comfortable with the security situation.
Technically, you can visit both right now, but I do not trust the new Syrian government right now to keep the peace, so it's more risky right now than under Assad.
Lebanon is better, but you have the danger of Israeli missiles and I would recommend doing them both in one trip anyway.
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u/mynameisnotshamus 9d ago
If you like travel shows / videos, you may enjoy
Yes, he does encounter Isis.
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u/SmhMyMind 10d ago
I agree, I feel like in general we think too far into the future. Also not just the prospect of we could suddenly die, we may simply not have the mobility to fully enjoy travel (especially the more “adventurous” exploring kind) if we wait too long.
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u/Hagridsbuttcrack66 9d ago
This is where I am at. Late 30's. I'm in really good shape. Literally every time I go to the doctor from now until I die, I will either be in worse physical condition or the same. I will not get better than today.
So yeah, I want to do those hikes and things now! Not saying you can't stay in great physical health, but it's more and more of a dice roll the older you get for sure.
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u/garden__gate 9d ago
And you will see comments saying things like “well, make sure you stay in good shape as you get older” but that’s not always under one’s control.
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u/SketchyFeen 9d ago
I’m currently in Guatemala, just finished the Acatanango volcano hike a few days ago. I remarked to my partner how few older people there were in our group and on the hike in general. I’m in my 30s and in good physical shape and found the trek to be quite difficult. No way I could see myself doing it later in life.
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u/NicInNS 10d ago
Was at a bday party for my husband’s older aunt years back (she was in her 70s at the time) and was talking to one of her friends. We’d either just had a trip or had one planned (prob when we were early-mid 40s) and the woman said that she and her husband had always talked about travelling after he retired and of course, he passed away not long after he retired and she never went on her own.
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u/CreedThoughts--Gov 9d ago
Man that's sad.
Don't postpone experiencing the things you want in life. Live as if you already died but were given the opportunity to do the things you wish you did.
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u/FlobyToberson85 9d ago
My dad retired and was diagnosed with cancer a few months later. Then after three years of excruciating treatments, he passed away. I'm so glad he traveled and did cool stuff throughout his life and didn't postpone it until retirement. He was only 69 when he died. His loss reminds me to live for today and enjoy life whenever possible. Of course it's good to save and be responsible, but postponing your life for a time you may be too sick or old to enjoy is not a good idea.
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u/nefariousmango 10d ago
This.
I became disabled in my late-30s. I'm grateful for all the travel I was able to do when I was younger and healthier!
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u/non_clever_username 9d ago
This is why I don’t get the “retire early” crowd. Most of their advice boils down to “work your ass off, spend barely any money on anything ever, save every penny.”
OK great if that works, you’re able to retire at 40 or 45 or 50. My whole thing is what if that doesn’t work? Say you get laid off at 35 and can’t find another job for years, or you have some major medical problem, either of which could drain your savings and push your expected early retirement out 5-10 years or longer.
Or something as simple as the person mentioned below where you end up with a bum knee and can’t walk that well if you were to go places.
Yes I know any of those misfortunes could happen when you’re young too like you point out, but I guess I could never reconcile the fact that I’d be devastated if I got to 40 or 45, having done nearly no travel, and then something messed up my plans to travel at that age.
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u/Joshual1177 9d ago
Exactly. I don’t want to wait until I’m 60 to travel more. Who knows what kind of physical condition I’ll be in or if I’ll even care about traveling anymore.
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u/imapilotaz 9d ago
Im mid 40s. Im in relatively good health. But i have no idea if tomorrow that changes. But ive decided to knock my bucket list out now not 20 years from now.
My other reasoning is, im not sure if many of my bucket list things will make it 20 years. Things like Mountain Gorillas, Tigers, Polar Bears, etc. We are destroying the natural world at an alarming rate.
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u/BM7-D7-GM7-Bb7-EbM7 9d ago
That and if you're like me I've started having knee problems in my 40s. I'm just glad I did a lot of physical activity travel (tough hiking) when I was younger, now I do more chill travel.
Even if you live to 80, that doesn't mean you'll be physically capable of travel for all of those 80 years.
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u/jujumber 9d ago
Yep. And the younger you have the life experience the more it will impact you and change your views on life.
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u/chartreuse_avocado 9d ago
My parents could not afford travel until they retired. And they got one trip to Europe before they both became too ill to travel again overseas. They were crushed having worked hard and saved for a retirement they couldn’t have due to health.
Go when young, and save and invest to be able to continue to go throughout your life.10
u/Seaside_choom 9d ago
Also you can afford to fuck up when you're young far more than when you're old. When you're in your 20s with no kids or serious assets it is MUCH easier to couch hop or sleep in hostels or even camp to travel on the cheap. You can eat poorly, miss a flight, twist your ankle on an ill-advised hike, and spend all your money and recover. If you are penniless in Vienna but young and able-bodied then it is much easier to find the resources to get home than if you're penniless and 60. There are few mistakes you can make that will follow you to the end of your life (stay off the bad drugs, kids)
Source: have been penniless in Vienna and traveled Europe and Asia with very little money. Absolutely do recommend.
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u/HungryTeap0t 9d ago
Definitely
I know quite a few people from my school who died in their 20s. Some due to health issues which made sense due to their lifestyle, but a lot of them were unexpected deaths.
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u/KaleidoscopeSad4884 9d ago
I traveled so much in my 30s. Then Covid and it hasn’t been the same. I’m so grateful I went when I could. I saw Notre Dame before the fire.
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u/Malady1607 9d ago
Many people will live till their age but will they be mobile enough to travel? Hard to say. My aunt has recently stopped traveling by air but she's 88. Mostly she just doesn't want to deal with it but is still mobile and lives alone and is able to take care of herself and her daily errands reasonably well.
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u/Sweetcornprincess 10d ago
Because getting older isn't guaranteed
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u/HappyPenguin2023 9d ago
Yes. I know too many people who put off travel until retirement . . . and either never made it to retirement or never made it with their health intact. I know too many people who have Parkinson's or MS or other issues that make it more difficult to travel.
Even those of us who are healthy are healthy "for our age." I can't trek for days anymore, especially not with my left knee.
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u/janky_koala 9d ago
It also fucking sucks. I get tired easier, everything aches more, and dumb shit like “sleeping wrong” or “eight beers” will ruin me for days.
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u/TheOnlyRealColonel 10d ago
Why does youth always have to be the golden age for exploring
Mostly for health reasons. The reason you're told to travel while you're young is because when you're young your body can handle more, you have more energy and you never know what's going to happen in the future.
That is completely separate from travelling when you're older, no one says you can't do that.
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u/Responsible_Ad_8891 10d ago
Along with health, it's also the naivety for me. I used to love everything about travel when I was young. Now there is a bit of experience, cynism, update of the world affairs which sometimes reduces the travel high.
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u/robybeck 9d ago
Very much agree with you on this.
I am 56 now, retired about 10 years ago with my husband together. We continue to travel around.
We used to camp, at Burning Man, hiking on Trails carrying REI tent and a stove, and had a blast, just enjoying being somewhere with new windows views.
Now our travels are more curated, less sleeping in places with no private bath, and no more super budgeted huts.
I like all our travels experiences, but wouldn't want to travel in college style again sleeping on a couch. Something about being naive and young, which carried different routes/style/experience. All worth doing.
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u/goatfishsandwich 15 countries so far 9d ago
How did you retire at 46?!?!!
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u/mercurialpolyglot 9d ago
Usually people do that via a high income, low expense lifestyle. Check out r/FIRE if you really want to be envious.
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u/Rafaeliki 9d ago
You also have fewer responsibilities. You might have more money when you're older but you'll likely have a career and maybe kids to worry about. I traveled for a month when I was younger and canceled my flight home to stay another five months and teach English in Spain. I couldn't even do the month of traveling now due to my career.
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u/JossWhedonsDick 9d ago
Also, apart from health, you have the most to benefit from experiencing the world when you're young. Getting that perspective from seeing how different people live is more useful and has a bigger impact on a young person who is still malleable and can benefit from that wisdom for the rest of their life.
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u/Federico216 Thailand 9d ago
Perfectly put!
I'm not sure I could physically handle some of the backpacking trips I did in my early twenties... But most importantly you're more open to expanding your world view when you're younger.
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u/zeldabelda2022 10d ago
100% - we chose to take a couple ‘bucket list’ trips in our early 30s as soon as we started making $ out of grad school. For the tour components everyone else was 60+ years old - sometimes significantly more than 60. Many had a hard time navigating the physical aspects of this trip they’d waited a lifetime to take and a few times had to miss out completely. Good physical health and longevity aren’t guaranteed - get out there when you can!
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u/Chart_Critical 10d ago
I was just in a large South American city and two older couples came near me on the hotel patio and had just gotten ready for dinner. One of the men was not going to go. He said it was because he had "35k steps in 3 days" and was just exhausted. So, his wife and the other couple went to dinner without him. I couldn't imagine traveling this far only to decide to stay in the hotel room and miss out on dinner on my first day there.
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u/Starshapedsand 9d ago
You’re coming from a lens where you can take your function for granted.
I’m a lot younger, but in poor health, so it normally takes as much as a week for me to recover enough from a long flight to function. I can’t just push through the first few days, because the exhaustion only compounds. If I don’t deliberately carve out time to recover, I’ve learned that it’s not going to happen.
I still travel because my choice is to stay at home, feel miserable, and have nothing to take my mind off of it, or to get out, and trade feeling worse for the chance to see things I’ve always wanted to see before my supposedly-impending death.
My decision also stems from a principle I discovered before my collapse, while working as a firefighter. Memories of other things in a day will drown out the memories of the pain. A life that needs to be lived in memory sure beats no life.
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u/Chart_Critical 9d ago
Yes but I think your message reinforces the point of the post, travel now, don't wait until later, because you never know what may happen in a future age.
In my case, they were 65-70 years old probably, recently retired.
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u/Starshapedsand 9d ago
Definitely. It was the, “I couldn’t imagine…” that persuaded me to respond: the picture that he had a body that would allow his plan to be a decision.
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u/dogeatsfisheatsbacon 9d ago
Exactly! The expression just means travel while you’re young because you might not be able to when you’re old or you may never grow old. It doesn’t mean travel while you’re young instead of when you’re old.
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u/DNZ_not_DMZ 10d ago
Two things here:
1) you know the old adage “when you’re young, you have time and energy, but no money - when you’re middle aged, you have money and energy, but no time - when you’re old, you have time and money, but no energy”, right? That applies. Travelling gets harder as you age.
2) Children make travelling so much harder and pricier. In my 20s, I sailed the Pacific on a square rigger and sat on the edge of an active volcano; in my 30s, I went to Everest Base Camp and ate at a bunch of Michelin-starred places around the World; now in my 40s, I cannot do any of the above because my son is 3 and all of the things I listed would be either unenjoyable with him (multi-course cuisine) or outright dangerous.
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u/br0wnt0wn1 9d ago
#2 is really big . it really changes if you can or cant. not only is the type of travel different (if you can at all) but the financial burden of having a child is so big you may not be able to afford it.
also to add to it you are more "Adventurous" when youre younger. i wouldve stayed at a cheap hostel or a friends couch in my 20s but in my late 30s i needa bed
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u/babaweird 9d ago
You will get to travel again but it’s great you did so much while you were young. I know it’s sound’s like a long time but at some point you may physically not be able to do somethings. In ten years you may take some incredible trips but teenagers will be teenagers. In twenty years, I would go on your most wanted but tasking trips. I’m 70 now, going off to Europe soon but my back gets cranky from walking all day, standing at art museums so I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep doing these trips. When I was young I just did cheap stuff in the US but backpacking, canoeing boundary waters but I always wanted to do a solo backpacking trip , that’s not going to happen.
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u/TacohTuesday 9d ago
Very well put. You took some amazing journeys in your 20s and now with a young child you're on a different journey that involves staying around home but will have its own wonders and challenges that are even more impactful than your travels. Then one day you'll do the big travels again from a different point of view as you'll be older, wiser, and just different in many ways.
Some people do choose to continue big travel experiences with their very young children, but it absolutely impacts the trip experience and cost in a huge way. Pushing a child to stay out all day at museums and such will backfire. They won't like a lot of the foods. They will get super exhausted and overwhelmed and need more rest time in the hotel. These are just realities.
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u/MustardMan1900 9d ago
When you have young kids your options are hugely limited. You can still have fun trips, but the BEST you can do is like a 7/10 trip. You cannot have a 10/10 trip while parenting.
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u/DNZ_not_DMZ 9d ago
Lotsa adult stuff just isn’t kids-compatible - adventurous activities are mostly off the menu, so are most cultural activities, so is most slow food.
Basically, virtually all city travel and a good portion of rural travel is not child friendly.
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u/IcemanGeneMalenko 10d ago
Plus, in your 20s you’re much more likely to get your end away than once you’re in your 40s and beyond. If your traveling involves the social side of it shall we say.
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u/AllTearGasNoBreaks 9d ago
I have no idea what any of this means. What is "end away"?
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u/hairyfairybells 9d ago
It's British slang for hooking up with people.
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u/AllTearGasNoBreaks 9d ago
Thanks, and now that I think about it, yes definitely makes sense. Both the saying and the premise.
I'm 41 and married so that doesn't quite matter when we are traveling. We get out pretty well still at our age - going to Porto Portugal and Sardinia (NOT part of Italy) this year from the US.
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u/AussieKoala-2795 10d ago
I'm 61. My knees and back are f$&*#d. I wish I had travelled more in my 30s rather than focusing on my career.
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u/loralailoralai 10d ago
I’m 61 and my knees and back are fine, luckily… but who knows how long for? We aren’t promised good health, travel when you can, young or old.
I think certain countries frown on younger people travelling, gap years, working holidays… they’re expected to go from high school to college to work. Fortunately Australians and Australian bosses don’t think the same, Europeans too
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u/Miercoles79 10d ago
No one is promised tomorrow. I have terminal cancer and so wish I’d travelled more when I was younger.
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u/Starshapedsand 9d ago
Same. I’m now mine’s longest-known survivor by years. I’m even more fortunate than that, though. As I’m out of remedies, I can be away from my hospital. I’ve also had it long enough to delude myself into hoping I’ll die of something else, and set forward as though I’ll keep surviving.
Hugs to you. You’re always welcome to DM.
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u/Kananaskis_Country 10d ago
No one says you shouldn't travel when you get older. Quite the opposite, actually.
Happy travels.
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u/bungopony 10d ago
Young people don’t always realize how much freedom and flexibility they have. Not saying their lives are easier, but more that they have more options and don’t realize how many doors close when they begin to settle, get kids, a mortgage, pets, a demanding job.
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u/Suwannee_Gator 9d ago
I find quite the opposite for me and most of my friends. If you don’t have wealthy/supportive parents, 20’s are for struggling hard to build a foundation that you can then coast on as you get older. I have more freedom going into my 30’s than I’ve ever had in my life because I have a good job that allows me to travel, and that was no accident.
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u/TimeTraveller2207 10d ago
Travel far when you are young, but keep traveling when you are older. A 28-hour flight is simply more bearable at 25 than at 60.
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u/yankeeblue42 9d ago
I started going to Asia in my early 20s from the US. Have probably done that journey 6x now. I have to imagine what you said will be true for me. It does get a little tougher each time on those true long hauls
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u/Cheat-Meal 10d ago
Traveling when you’re younger means less responsibilities. You’re not in a career job. You have no house. Likely you’re not in a long term relationship. It makes sense. I started traveling at 33. I did my first gape year and traveled the world for a year at 41. I’m 51 and traveling Africa for six months. I wished I’d done all this traveling when I was in my 20’s.
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u/applehilldal 9d ago
I think this is key for me. In my 20s I was bouncing jobs a lot (or in grad school) and I could take a couple weeks at a time to go travel. Friend is going to Mexico next week? I could go! I didn’t have the obligations I have now. It’s much harder for me to take time away from my career, and even if I didn’t have kids we’d have to work around my spouses job too. Plus, there’s some things about traveling young that you can’t replicate when older—it’s an extremely fun experience staying at a hostel and meeting other young people and heading out to the bars or the club together. I’m in my mid 30s now and wouldn’t want to be the weird old person at the hostel (plus I’m not sure I would want to sleep in one anyways, my standards have shifted and I prefer privacy and a nicer hotel).
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u/jbg0830 10d ago edited 10d ago
How old are you OP? I travelled when I was young and continue to travel with my family of 3 at the age of 39. I will tell you why. We went to Paris with my then 2 year old, I saw old, over weight people struggling to climb monte martre, I went to Ireland and saw old, over weight people struggling to walk the steep hills of the cliffs of Moher, at the age of 30 I was tired walking the strip of copa cabana beach which felt like it spanned for so long just to get back to ipanema, imagine if that was someone if their 70s with arthritis in their joints. I see “older” people napping on tour busses meant for sight seeing in Italy and London. That’s why. Oh and you never know what health issues creep up on you when you get older. My in laws are retired now and they got this advice when they were young, but decided to wait until they retired to travel. Guess what? They’re too tired to go anywhere that has a lot of grueling walks.
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u/MustardMan1900 9d ago
A lot of that has less to do with age and more with people living an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle. People who spend all day sitting on the couch or sitting in their SUV are not going to do well at walking 5 miles a day or hiking up a steep hill. The old locals who walk up that steep hill every day can do it no problem.
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u/BlissfulMonk 10d ago
But isn’t it just as important to travel when you’re older, with more freedom and experience?
The idea is that when you are young, you are on a limited budget. You are forced to experience the lives of common people (eg. Take cheapest transport) and to interact with other people (eg, hostels hitch hiking). You will eat locally (eg. Supermarkets, cheap takeaway) and you will plan better (eg. Prefer inconvenient but in-expensive hostels, look for cheapest alternatives).
All these will give you a slice of reality.
When you are older, you may be able to afford to hire a guide and go heli-skiing in the morning and spend the evening in a casino before sleeping in a fivestar hotel. This is good but very plastic.
Ideally you should travel young and old. Try visiting the places you have been before to enjoy your perspective about life and your lifestyle has changed.
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u/trouzy 9d ago
Long scroll to get here.
Many talking about responsibility, time and health. All of which are valid but to me they miss the most important part.
Is about expanding your world view early so you dont waste so many years with a narrow lens.
I wonder if there’s any studies on travel and brain elasticity.
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u/Queen_of_Chloe 9d ago
This exactly. Traveling is an education in other cultures and ways of life. It opens you up to experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Waiting to travel when you’re older and have more disposable money often insulates you from the real experiences of the people.
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u/Brutal_De1uxe 10d ago
Lol that's part of why I only traveled selectively when younger - even in my early 20s there was no way I was staying in a hostel or hitchhiking etc.
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u/Brackenfield 10d ago
I'm mid 30s and have shit joints and I'm tired. So sure I'll still travel but it won't be as easy or cheap
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u/nutmaster78 10d ago
I mean if you wanna wait, then wait.
I am 25 and I have been traveling since I was 21 because I’d rather do all of this while I’m young and can have fun to the fullest extent. I refuse to wait until I retire to travel or even in my 40’s. By the time I’m in my 40’s, I may not even want to travel the globe. I don’t know what the future holds so I do as much as I can in the present
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u/omegamuthirteen 10d ago
Never went anywhere, never did anything but work for 30 years. Traveling now and loving it. In fact, I’m currently in India!
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u/Fluid_Bicycle_2388 10d ago
As someone who travelled a lot young (backpacking and super low budget) and now, two things come to mind:
- I might not have lived to this age, or something could have happened to me preventing me from travelling as much, or requiring me to need special assistance to travel. You just never know. Grab today, tomorrow is not guaranteed.
- Travelling young is just a different experience. Meeting people and doing different things young shapes your values and you as a person, which is why it's important to experience other cultures, habits etc young. What is more, I used to backpack and sleep at train stations / parks etc, which is something I simply will never do now with a family. It's two different experiences, and both are beautiful and have their advantages. Travel destinations are not just boxes to tick (so young or not whatever), they are life-shaping experiences.
Edit: typos.
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u/blakeshockley 10d ago
I think the general idea is that you travel when you’re young because traveling becomes much harder and more expensive once you have kids lol
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u/TimeTraveller2207 10d ago
Don't have kids. My wife and I travel like crazy. Without kids.
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u/sharpShootr 9d ago
My wife’s parents talked a lot about once the last kid is in college they’ll travel travel travel.
Last kid got into college and my MIL got a rare cancer and it burned straight through her.
Travel young because you never know what’ll happen.
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u/TrumanZi 10d ago
It's a different kind of travel. I wasted many an evening drinking goon and smoking joints in hostels partying every night.
I don't think I'll enjoy that at 50, I also don't think I would have enjoyed getting up early and going to museums at 25
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u/lucapal1 Italy 10d ago
I'm over 50, still traveling a lot...I like a beer and a smoke too,why not?
Not so many crazy all-nighters these days,sure!
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u/TrumanZi 9d ago
Same, but it's harder to find other older people who are also having a bender 🤣
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u/charlotteraedrake 9d ago
I’d also say in your 20s you’re more likely to stay cheaper- maybe hostels and make friends where as in your upper 30s+ you want nicer hotels and a calmer experience it’s still amazing just a different kind of travel.
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u/IWantAnAffliction South Africa 10d ago
Travel places that are rougher and tougher while you're young. Travel to more relaxed type destinations when you're older. This is my aim.
Having said that, I think travel can have compounding effects on your life.
The general sentiment of the masses (at least within those who travel) is to travel young because they expect everyone to follow a cookie-cutter style of life whereby you do adventurous things when you're young, then get married, have kids and die. Traveling while young is great, but not for those reasons.
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u/MsWuMing 9d ago
When I was younger, I did hostels, and capsule hotels, walked everywhere because I was too stingy for a bus, and collected the funniest stories based on booking the cheapest accommodation possible.
Now I’m 30 and spoiled and prefer not to meet a roach on the way to my breakfast, so I spend more money and have a different sort of great holiday. But I am convinced that it was invaluable to do the other way too and have the comparison. (Now, I know lots of people don’t get boring as they get older and will still travel the way I used to, it’s just that I, personally, ended up this way)
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u/National-Cake-1245 9d ago
Instead of travel while young, it should be Travel. Period. Whenever and however often you can.
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u/TravellinJ 10d ago
I’m in my late fifties and started travelling in my early 20s. I’ve travelled a lot and continue to travel a fair bit BUT it isn’t the same.
I had more stamina when younger and was up for any adventure. I get more tired now and need more comfort/luxury when I travel now. I’m glad I did the more arduous trekking trips when I was younger for example. I’m also more cautious now as when I was younger I didn’t worry about anything. I’m old enough now to know all the things that can happen if you’re not careful and it has an impact on your choices.
The best part about travelling when you’re older is that you have more money and don’t have to skip things because you can’t afford it.
The biggest reason is that there are no guarantees of your health and if you skip travelling when you’re young, it may never happen.
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u/Alarmed_Check4959 9d ago
It means “Travel if you can afford it, and hopefully that’s before your knees give out.”
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u/CountChoculahh 10d ago
Because tomorrow isn't guaranteed, and with age comes life, and all the responsibilities that come with it.
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u/loralailoralai 10d ago
Travel while you’re young if you can. They’re not saying ONLY travel when you’re young
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u/AwakenThePriestess 9d ago
People say travel while young because aging is not guaranteed. Aging can also create physical limitations. It’s not that youth is the golden age it’s just that it typically have less restrictions. When I was younger I could bunk on couches & floors so traveling was easier in that respect. I didn’t mind staying at a place with 9-10 other people.
As you get older you may become less comfortable with where & with whom you bunk up, so it may cost more to go places.
At 62, I’m no where done traveling & exploring! But I do it differently now. And I’m fortunate that I still have health & a little bit of money to do it. Not everyone it’s so lucky as they age.
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u/ThinkTankMS 10d ago
Travelling While young offers freedom from mortgages, careers, or family obligations, making extended travel feasible , I think when you get older you still travel but travel with Luxury 😀
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u/Critical-Antelope171 9d ago
The earlier you make memories, the more time you have to reflect on them and enjoy them
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u/brownsugarlucy 9d ago
My grandparents waited their whole lives to travel when they retired and my grandma got dementia and was in a care home before my grandpa even retired.
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u/tunaman808 9d ago
For one thing, when you're young you don't have a wife, kids, mortgage, college fund, 2 car payments, etc.
Secondly, you can physically "do" a lot more things when you're young. If you wanna do one of those "12 European Cities in 10 days" trips, you can do that when you're 20, not so much when you're 55. If you want a jam-packed itinerary that starts at 8AM and finishes at a club at 4AM, you can do that as a 20 year-old, probably not as a 55 year-old. I always wanted to go to Glastonbury (the music festival), but never had the money; now that I have the money, watching live bands for 3 days straight in a muddy field and sleeping in a tent is a nightmare, not something fun. Or Mardi Gras in New Orleans - I went when I was 24 or so - going now, when I'm 54, sounds like a nightmare.
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u/TheyCallHimBabaYagaa 10d ago edited 10d ago
I think people say this because you have more energy to explore and just go for long walks when you're younger and your feet aren't killing you yet. I tend to agree, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy a good vacation while being older.
My "philosophy" is this: go for more adventurous travels while younger, so you can have the comfortable ones when you're older. But it's not necesarilly set in stone. A few years ago, after visiting Portugal, France and Italy, walking a ton, I felt the need for a more relaxing holiday, so I went to Crete, Greece, to just bask under the sun. Didn't exactly go as planned, as I still explored Crete a lot, but by car, so not as tiring as before.
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u/cosully111 10d ago
You can only really do the very fun hostel type heavy socialising type travel when you're young
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u/rirez 10d ago
The logic is usually "when you're young you have more spare time, less responsibilities, and your body is still able to do most things". More stuff close off as you get older and your body changes, than things that open up when older.
But hogwash, I say. Travel when you can. Travel sustainably. Take it easy. Plan ahead.
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u/cheese_fancier 10d ago
I'm in my 50s, didn't start travelling until my 40s. I really wish I'd been in a position to start younger, but I wasn't. Better late than never, certainly, but I'd have been to so many more places with a bigger window of time.
I'm becoming a little more cautious about where I will travel to solo, and I'm noticing too that some activities I want to do have upper age limits, which I'll be outside of in a few years. I think the answer is travel while you're young IF you can, travel while you're older while you still can.
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u/Salcha_00 9d ago
Because you don’t know how healthy or fit you will be when you are older. And even if you maintain health and fitness, your energy levels are lower as you age and your minor aches and pains increase. The thought of getting on a 14 hour flight to explore begins to lose its appeal.
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u/CopsNroberts 9d ago
Traveling when I was young was so much more meaningful. Everything was a first time experience. Money and time were so scarce that I truly cherished the opportunity in the moment because I never knew when I would travel again.. Now I travel at least once a year. I expect to. I know I will travel again.. The scarcity, unknown and first time feelings brought much more pleasure
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u/bubbalubdub 8d ago
I say it a lot too. When you’re finally retired at, say, 65, you’re not in the same physical shape as you were in your 20s or 30s. Want to get to the top of that duomo in Florence for the view? Nope - you can’t make it up the steps. Maybe your spouse needs a walker. Can you wait in line 1 hour to get into a museum? Can you stay up until late at night to see the night sky? It’s things like that that concern me. We try to do the more adventurous traveling now and save most of the relaxing ones for when we are older.
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u/EvilSpyder666 8d ago
I think it’s because you never know how old you’ll get to be and how well your health will be. And young as relative. I’m doing all my traveling in my 50s.
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u/aaihposs 8d ago
This is based on the understanding that tomorrow is not promised so the point is to live your life to the fullest now.
When you’re older, you dont have the same energy as you do when you’re young. Your body starts having limitations and the way you travel and what you like is different which leads to different experiences.
At 35, I have bad knees compared to at 30. Can you imagine when Im in my 50s/60s? I can barely hike now without feeling it.
Also not to mention factors that are out of our control. Global warming, natural disasters, war. Countries/places are never the same after these events.
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u/Q__Q- 8d ago
I traveled the world when I was younger, chasing experiences like I was racing a clock—snapping photos, posting everything, barely stopping to feel the moments. Looking back now, I’m honestly disappointed in how little I truly absorbed. I saw so much, but I wasn’t present enough to let it change me. Now that I’m older, I think about how different that same journey would be. I’d slow down. I’d let the silence of a place sink in, have conversations with strangers instead of curating captions, and I wouldn’t need to prove I was there. I’d just be there. There’s no expiration date on wonder. The world isn’t going anywhere, and sometimes the deeper joy comes not from doing it early, but from doing it when your soul is ready to receive it.
Long story short… If you’re young and ready—go. But if you’re older and wondering if you missed your chance—trust me, you didn’t. You might just be arriving at the perfect time. ♥️
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u/lampfiles 9d ago
I’m 37 and wish I had done more in my 20s but couldn’t afford it. I feel behind and it’s overwhelming. So many places I want to see and I’m not getting younger. I’m pretty fit but tomorrow is not a guarantee.
Also I think a lot of people in their 30s and 40s don’t realize they’ll have health issues and mobility issues when they get older. Plus traveling can be exhausting, lots of sleep deprivation, you’re out of your comfort zone a lot if you’re not used to it, and there is a bit of a learning curve. I’ve learned a lot traveling the last 7 years and made mistakes…. But mistakes I wouldn’t want to make in my 60s and 70s.
I’m still young but I already can’t bounce back like I could.
But travel when you’re young and when you’re old.
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u/Trinidadthai 10d ago
I’m not old (31) and am travelling, well I decided to stay, now for the first time.
I’m sure I will want to continue when I’m older too.
However, I do wish I travelled in my early 20s too. Different ages appreciate different things
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u/shenme_ 10d ago
It's great to travel if you're older too, nobody is saying you shouldn't, but if you wait to travel at all until you're older, you might not ever get to travel due to health or if the worst happens and you pass away early.
It also can be a lot more tiring to travel when you're older.
But nobody is saying don't do both if you can.
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u/shoretel230 10d ago
Even if you grow old, will you be financially able to travel?
Even if you're older and financially blessed enough to travel, will your body be able to do all the things you want to? Good Health isn't promised.
Travel while you're young and old. But don't put off any travel plans for when you're older
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u/Money_Sandwich_5153 10d ago
As you grow older your responsibilities might increase. Having two kids you might not hitchhike or even quit your job for the sake of traveling a year.
When you’re 70 you’re most likely not as fit as you were being in your 20s.
Nobody can guarantee you’re not hit by a bus tomorrow and die.
I try to travel as much as I can since I consider it as my passion. Other people may have other priorities and that’s fine too.
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u/no_sight 10d ago
I’ve taken some great trips in my 30s that I couldn’t have afforded when young.
I also took some incredible adventures in my late teens/early 20s that I wouldn’t do now. I’m not hostel backpacking anymore but I’m glad i
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u/StoneCrabClaws United States 10d ago edited 10d ago
Because to see and do many cool things requires a lot of physical activity which one has less and less of when they get older.
I'm so old now when I travel I just stay in the room and look out the windows.
No pool, no hiking, no kyacking, no sailing nothing. Just look out the window and order room service. Maybe go see a show.
But when I was young I went around the world and to nearly every major national park and site in the USA. Lived in Hawaii for 16 years and was in the water constantly either on my catamaran or boogie boarding, surfing or exploring outer islands. Plus some hiking and grabbing fruit etc from the woods to eat. Bananas, mountain apples, papayas and guavas.
In the Keys I've been fishing and caught dolphin and sailfish.
Now I can close my eyes and relive those great times without leaving my bed. Because I did things while I was young.
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u/capybaramelhor 10d ago
You never know how long you’ll have your health/ mobility. I developed chronic back pain in my 30s. I am glad I did a decent amount of traveling, and some more adventuresome traveling, in my 20s. If people are fully and health and mobile for many decades of their life- that’s a wonderful blessing. But it isn’t always the case.
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u/awidmerwidmer 10d ago
Watch the first 15 minutes of Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009). That’s a good depiction as to why you should travel while you’re young.
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u/knowspickers 10d ago
Much easier to move around Machu Picchu without a walker. Not all countries have excellent accessibility.
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u/ipwnedin1928 10d ago
You’ll have more energy to hike, talk to people, make mistakes and learn so that when you’re older the trips become easier to plan and more comfortable. When you’re younger you just rely on yourself for the most part. When you’re older, you might be planning the trip for a spouse and children so it might be a little more challenging.
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u/realmozzarella22 10d ago
When you see old people travel and how some of them are not as mobile then you realize that their itinerary is limited.
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u/Wooden_Marionberry40 10d ago
I travelled a lot before I had kids. But now it’s kind of a pain in the ass to bring everyone or find childcare. Travel before you have a bunch of codependents.
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u/Used_Platform_3114 10d ago
Totally depends on your circumstances and what you want. Being young with presumably better health and less responsibilities tends to make it a bit easier. If you wait til you’re older you may have poor health/mobility, and responsibilities like pets/kids and aging parents to look after. You may also have a really good job that you can’t just leave for months at a time. There’s so many factors.
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u/LePetitNeep 10d ago
I absolutely wish I’d traveled more when I was younger. I’m only 45 but struggling with back pain and can’t do everything I used to do. I’m still traveling and I hope I will for years to come, but I’m trying to tackle more adventurous destinations while I still have mobility and save the more accessible ones for later.
Plus, as someone mentioned, global conditions change. I had my eye on Russia as a destination for 2020/2021. Didn’t happen originally because of the pandemic and now it may never happen. Easy to say “good riddance” but it’s a place significant to global history with some incredible art and architecture.
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u/Schnuribus 10d ago
If you are younger, you can save a lot of money because you do not have the same standards as a „real“ adult. Hostels are fine, travelling an hour by bus is fine, walking 3 hours through the same city is fine… not getting a hotel and going straight to the airport after the club is ok.
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u/mrspalmieri 9d ago
I'm finally at a point in life where I can afford to travel a little but I'm also here to say that my energy & stamina is not like it used to be. I can't walk all day without my arthritic left knee painfully clicking with every step and feeling my back hurting so much that I want to cry. Cuisine is also an issue now and it didn't used to be. I've developed lactose intolerance and food with any kind of spiciness and greasy foods give me indigestion. I'm happy I get to go to cool places but I wish I'd been traveling all along. The times I did go places in my younger years I never got tired and nothing hurt. Ah, the good ol' days
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u/DC2LA_NYC 9d ago
I’m glad I traveled when I was young. Saw places you can’t really see now- Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (well you can see Iran and Pakistan still). Goa when it was a deserted beach. And saw the world before over tourism. Being the only tourists at Angkor wat or borobdur or Machu Picchu. Staying in Phnom Penh when the few westerners hung out at the foreign correspondents club, Vietnam before there were any hotels, only government guesthouses, Myanmar, Bali pre-tourists, Singapore when orchard rd and bugis st had actual hawker stalls, not the sterilized food courts they have today, and of course Bangkok before sukhamvit and patpong were night markets. Kathmandu when freak street was the place everyone smoked hash. Or Zambia when there were just a few locals running raft trips by Victoria falls on the Zambezi.
Going back now is still fun, but it’s just not the same.
Still I’m always happy when young people i know go now cuz places aren’t gonna get less touristy.
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u/lovepotao 9d ago
Because you might have financial and medical issues that prevent you from traveling later- like my family. My loved one is thankful they were able to see Paris (in the late 70s).
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u/lavidaloco123 9d ago
Do both. When you’re young you have a lot more energy and more willingness to be adventurous and accept adversity. When I was young (and single) I travelled much in Central and South America. Lately (and married) I have done much more of Europe. I don’t foresee myself mountain biking in Chile again. But damn glad I did it when I could.
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u/Bernies_daughter 9d ago
It's a lot harder to travel for longer than a few days if you have a mortgage, kids in school, a partner with a demanding job, aging parents who need you to check on them daily, etc. Those are things you're more likely to have as you get older.
My son could quit his job tomorrow, put his belongings in storage, travel for six months on his savings, come back, stay with us while he looked for an apartment and s job, and resume his life in this country fairly easily. Not so for us.
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u/ChiGuyDreamer 9d ago
I guess I encourage more young people to travel because they often do not know what they are missing. I, probably incorrectly, assume if you are my age (55) and don’t travel you’ve made a conscious effort to not get a passport. To not explore. You certainly know the outside world exists but for whatever reason you’ve deprioritized wandering through it.
For many your youth is free. You have the least responsibilities, not tied down, you are a sponge for knowledge and many of your biases, and perspectives are not yet formed. Travel and exposure to different people and cultures expands your mind at a time before you begin to close it. And you’ll gladly expect less comfort. We love to travel but I’m not staying at a hostel. lol. That probably cuts down on some great experiences but I do need a certain level of comfort.
Then there is a tough period of trying to get a career off the ground, raise kids, learn how to live with and grow a partnership, etc. That all conspires to put travel further down the list. Your 30’s and 40’s tend to be family travel. Trying to appease a toddler, an 8 year old and a 16 year old missing her boyfriend is a challenge. So more Disney and less Amazon rainforest.
Then you emerge from that as an empty nester like we are with hopefully more money and if you’re lucky and not scared of strangers and strange lands you’ll have a sense of adventure. You’ll have built a list of places you’ve wanted to see. And if you’re smart you’ll start seeing them.
I suppose the next phase is when the body catches up with you. Traveling becomes a challenge due to physical limitations. I dread that period. I really hope I can put that off long enough to at least satisfy my largest chunk of planned adventures.
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u/Caro________ 9d ago
Travel while you're alive.
I'm not sure life experience makes travel better, but money definitely does.
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u/onemanmelee 9d ago
You can do both. But people say that for a few reasons.
1- Traveling while you're young might give you some wisdom or a life-altering experience early on. It would be amazing to have something awakened in you at 20 that changes your life, rather than at 40 after spending 20 years doing something you hate, or etc.
2- If you wait til you're older, you're more likely to have a steady job, marriage, mortgage, kids, and other responsibilities that may make it much harder to travel.
3- If you wait too long to do certain types of travel, you just may not be able to do them to the same degree. Chances are if you want to climb Kilimanjaro, you have a way better shot at 25 than 65.
The thing about traveling young is if you love it, it will inspire you to travel when you're older too. If you wait til you're older to travel you might very well think, "why the FUCK didn't I do this when I was younger?"
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u/SillyWoodpecker6508 9d ago
That saying came from people who would have a home and family in their 30s
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u/Sumo-Subjects 9d ago
Both, the types of travel you'll enjoy tend to vary with age so IMO it's good to get exposure at all stages of life to experience different things.
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u/lucapal1 Italy 10d ago
Do both,if you can.
I travelled a lot when I was young, and I still do so now...