As many of you know, I’ve traveled a lot. 32 countries and counting. I’ve lived in 3 and spent countless late nights in the rest. That’s more than most people do in a lifetime, and I’m only 26.
And because of that, I’m seen as an outlier.
People frame travel as a luxury. A once-in-a-while thing. Something you do after you’ve “made it” Or worse, something you save for retirement.
While those labels can apply, they don’t have to.
Traveling, especially before you have real-world responsibilities, is one of life’s great pleasures. You don’t need a ton of money. You don’t even need that much time. Though I do recommend staying as long as you possibly can… and then a little longer.
There is nothing quite like extending your trip by a few extra days even though your bank account is red-lining, because your new friends from the trip say:
“Dude! You can’t leave before we go volcano boarding!”
Traveling can be shockingly cheap. The flight is the most expensive part, so the longer you stay the more it’s worth it. Life is all about trade-offs, and how to spend your money is one of them.
Instead of that $800-a-month BMW, get a Camry. Six months of savings later you could be spending three weeks in Asia!
While you may have the money and time to travel when you retire, you won’t be able to do or experience the same things. The Ha Giang Loop is a perfect example. You won’t want to sit on the back of a moto for 4 days when you’re old. It is one of the more incredible things I’ve done, but it’s a now thing. Not a someday thing.
When you only take one “big” trip every year or two, that trip has to go perfectly. And that is not how traveling works. Something always goes wrong. It might be minor, it might be major, but the universe loves to throw curve balls.
If you travel frequently, or for longer periods of time, you expect these curveballs and even learn to hit them. But if you’re on a two-week trip to Italy, those same curveballs feel like the end of the world.
So don’t let me be the outlier. I’d rather be normal if it meant more people actually saw the world.
Take some risks. Extend the trip. Hit some curve balls.
Walk the Great Wall. Swim with sharks. Sled down a volcano.
Live a little.
-Mack