Your Career Can Wait: 9 Reasons Why You Should Travel When You're Young

Because you can't learn life behind a desk

Travelling for a month overseas when you are 20 will teach you more about life than you will ever learn at school or what your Mum tells you.

Read that again.

Leaving home to travel to the other side of the world at the age of nineteen changed my life.

It could change yours too.

What changes is the excitement. The anticipation. The hunger for travel evolves as you age. It’s still there, but the older you get, the more cautious you become.

“Age and your life experiences significantly influence your decisions. These experiences, whether good, bad or somewhere in-between shape your personality.”

When you are young, many of us have a ‘blank slate’. A mindset not affected by these things. These events shape our lives going forward.

Here are nine reasons why you should fill that blank slate with travel experiences and travel abroad when you are young.

You will not regret it.

You Have Fewer Responsibilities

Let’s state the obvious.

Before you own a home or have a career, there is no better opportunity to travel the world. It is the optimal time to forge your path without financial obligations at home to tend to.

“Life is an unwritten path.”

You should check in with loved ones (sorry Mum) often, but beyond that, go forth and conquer the world. Our planet is much more fun to explore without the weight of responsibilities at home.

You Will Change Your Perspective

As you grow up, your life is influenced by many things.

It starts with how you are raised, the school you go to and the environment you live in. All of these things shape your perspectives on how you see the world.

I grew up in a small town in New Zealand. My view of the world was limited to Hollywood and what I had read in books. Moving to London when I was young made me realise I was wrong about most things.

It isn’t until you go abroad that you will find you are challenged on some of those perspectives.

Experiencing foreign cultures, meeting different people and learning how other societies operate can be challenging.

“But these experiences will often become the most rewarding parts of travel.”

Having travel experiences when you are young and still figuring out your own identity can profoundly shape your future self. Sometimes, you learn that what you thought was true, isn’t always the case.

You Are Naive (That’s a Good Thing!)

When I started travelling young and solo, I was naive to the realities of the world.

In time, you find out naivety has its benefits. It makes you say ‘yes’ more.

Naivety often makes you less anxious to try out that new experience. It could be walking into a random pub alone and sharing a beer with the locals. It could mean looking at that bungee jump and going ‘Hell yeah’ as opposed to standing there in fear and shaking your head.

Being naive also opens you up to random experiences as you look at life with more positivity. With more opportunity.

“Going on that random weekend away or on that pub crawl with new friends you have known for only a few hours.”

Being naive makes you a little more impulsive. Those impulsive moments led to some of my favourite travel stories. And probably for you too.

The beauty of it all is you won’t even recognise your naivety at the time.

It Is Cheaper

Travelling when you are young is cheaper. Period.

When you are younger, the little things don’t matter as much.

Choosing between a hotel or a hostel, and eating street food instead of dining in a comfortable restaurant. As you get older, your tastes often change.

The little comforts you might have not cared about in your twenties might matter a bit more when you’re 50 years old.

Those comforts cost - and they don’t always enhance the experience. Instead, it makes your budget smaller.

“By travelling when you are young, you are more likely to spend what you saved on a comfier room with another round in the hostel bar with your new friends.”

You wouldn’t find me in a hostel dorm these days, but there was a time in my twenties when I would.

The money I saved for travel experiences (and the bar) was the priority (instead of a more comfortable bed).

A whole industry around budget travel, particularly in Europe, has been a core part of the tourism industry for decades.

Companies such as Contiki have been pioneers in this market, focusing on catering for the adventures of the under-35 market. As travel has expanded and become more accessible, Contiki is only one of many tour companies offering packages globally at a reasonable price.

Do some research and you will find the right operator for you.

Traditional transport operators have also marketed to the budget traveller for years. Bus companies such as Flixbus and Megabus offer incredible value in Europe and abroad.

The rail network in Europe has always been super efficient and easy to use - book early enough and you can score some great deals. For the sake of a slightly longer journey (where you see more!), the savings can be put to much better use.

If you are young, you could go now and be part of that movement that has created some of the best travel stories I have been part of.

You Learn to Be Independent

Growing up is hard. Learning to be independent can be harder.

The world of travel teaches you how. Making important decisions is always easier when you have a support network around you. For the time when things don’t go to plan and Mum can give you a hug (or slip you some cash to tide you over).

But what happens when that support is not there?

When you miss the last train, have a cancelled flight and are on your own, things can get scary. Under this fear, you have a hidden resourcefulness.

You have a skill to figure shit out that you might not know you had. Travel exposes this at every possible opportunity. In the unlikeliest ways.

“It’s all about expecting the unexpected and dealing with it.”

Before you know it, you will find yourself standing on your own two feet. And those times when you didn’t know what to do and were on the verge of tears, lost in a strange city somewhere? You will smile and laugh about those times in the future.

I promise you.

You Make Friends For Life

The best memories are shared memories.

When you travel young, connect with similar, wandering souls from all over the world. These shared experiences can create lifelong bonds. And they often come along at the most unlikely moment.

It could be something as simple as sharing a bus with someone, a late-night game of pool in a bar somewhere, or a dorm buddy in a hostel.

You never know who you will meet - often in the most random places.

“You realise quickly, that we are all similar. It doesn’t matter where you come from.”

I have friends now from dozens of countries around the world. We don’t talk all the time or even at all, but what we experienced will connect us forever.

Travellers chase memories. The pursuit of those forms a bond like no other.

By travelling young, you create an awesome opportunity to make lifelong connections with people all over the world.

You Will (Probably) Be Fit

If you decide to travel in your twenties, or even thirties, you will have the advantage of seeing the world when you are in as good a shape as you will ever be.

Having the stamina to climb mountains, hike trails and have the energy to stay up partying into the night before getting back on the road the following morning isn’t so easy when you are older.

“When you are younger, you have this energy and stamina in bucketloads. It is so much fun.”

I still love an adventure, but as an older traveller these days, I prefer a quiet book or watching the world go by from a cafe or bar.

When you are young, use that energy and enthusiasm to make the most of your travel experiences. It does not last forever!

Travel Makes You a Storyteller (and more interesting!)

Do your ears perk up when you are in a travel conversation when someone starts a sentence with ‘I remember a time when’?

I know I do.

When someone says those words, something interesting usually comes next. As you gather travel experiences throughout your life, every experience comes with a unique story.

Your story.

You will find yourself in a position at times where it is appropriate to share your story. Your travel stories become knowledge.

“By sharing these, you become the storyteller. And whether you like it or not, you become a more interesting person.”

These stories shape us, our personalities and our character.

By sharing your stories, you can inspire and help people. Your stories can sometimes give others the confidence to chase their dreams. That was the reason I wrote my book, ‘Twenty’.

So go forth, travel abroad and create your own travel stories while you’re young instead of always being part of the ‘next year’ crowd.

Next year is not guaranteed to happen.

No Regrets

Having no regrets has been the most motivating and influential two words in my life.

Nearly every travel experience I have had went through the ‘No Regrets’ filter. And you know what? I don’t recall a single experience I regretted doing to any significant degree.

It did not mean I particularly enjoyed everything I did, but at least I knew one way or the other.

The opposite of ‘No Regrets’ is the dreaded ‘What-if?’ scenario.

“The emotional strain of the ‘What if?’ scenario is hell compared to regretting not knowing at all.”

I know the bus I would rather be on. What about you? How will you live your life? Are you part of the next-year crowd? Or will you make life happen for you and follow your travel dreams?

The one thing I know for sure is that time doesn’t stop. So get planning and get out in the world. The world is safe for travel again.

As 2020 proved, we don’t know what is around the corner.

So get moving.