Top 9 Reasons You Should Travel While You’re Young

1.  You Might Not Ever Make it to Old

You have plans of retiring someday. You and your spouse will enjoy vacations from your vacations because you’re traveling so much, right?  Well, let’s ask you a question.  What happens if you never get old?  What happens if you die in an accident like Paul Walker?

Traveling while you’re young ensures that you don’t wait too long before you can start experiencing life.  Whether it be a sickness or an accident, ensure that you travel before the Grim Reaper visits you.

2.  You might not be healthy later

It’s inevitable that health conditions will plague you at some point in your life. Hopefully they hold off until your final days, but odds are against that these days. People are living longer, but with more health problems. Taking 10 bottles of pills on a vacation or undergoing dialysis will definitely deter you from taking vacations later in life.

Make sure you get in some great trips before your health prohibits you from taking lifelong adventures.

3. Experiences will last a lifetime

Stanley and Pouchon

It was a muggy April day in Port-au-Prince.  I was sent with Pouchon to buy some bottles of water for all of the people working on our project.  We were rebuilding a home for a family who was homeless after the earthquake that had taken it down completely.

We caught a tap-tap to the nearest market, and that is when I turned to Pouchon, who was 28, and asked him if he had a girlfriend.  “No” he responded.  I prodded further, “Why, not?”  With a serious look in his eye he responded, “I’m 28 and I’ve never had a job, how could I provide for anyone else?  I can barely have enough food to feed myself.”

I was speechless.  It felt like I had been punched in the stomach.  My ignorance about his circumstances made me feel ashamed.  As I pondered his situation, I realized how responsible and selfless were his actions.  It is a moment like this that will stay with me forever.  If you travel while you’re young, it will provide you with similar experiences that will enrich your life and those who surround you.

4.  Having children makes it more difficult

My Family

Don’t get me wrong.  Having two children has been an incredible experience.  They brighten my day and make me proud. Being a parent is great.

Our first child didn’t hardly slow us down. We took him everywhere with us and it was a breeze.  He snoozed in the car, and on the plane.  Life was great and our travels continued.  The arrival of the second has made things change a bit for us.  It isn’t as much as having the second child, as much as it is the older child becoming a terror (and a sweetheart).

All these changes in life can really put a damper on your travels though.  You can still leave them with family, or with a nanny, but the costs increase and the time you can spend traveling decreases.

Before you plan on having kids, plan a babymoon.  Make your trip at LEAST two weeks, and enjoy those last moments spending time together before life changes.  You’ll NEVER regret taking a trip like this.

5. The world is changing

Brad posted the other day about how the world is changing.  You’ve got to read about his 7 Reasons Why the World is Changing, and Why You Need to See it Now!

Before you know it, ethnic foods will disappear and we’ll all be eating McDonald’s.  Get out there and enjoy the world before it changes.

6. You won’t have money later

Forex Money for Exchange in Currency Bank (Photo credit: epSos.de)

Traveling while you’re young is impossible you say?  You’ll have much more money later to spend on travel you insist?  I beg to differ.

I’m not saying that your income won’t increase with time, but what you can’t deny either is that your expenses grow with your income. Soon you’ll want a bigger house, and newer car. Before you know it the money is gone every month and like 80% of America you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck.  (I don’t recommend this lifestyle)

At Worldwanderlusting we think that your travel should be cheap, so you can travel while you’re young.  For that reason we try hard to bring you some of the best offers and ideas on how to use your points and miles to lower the cost of your vacation.

7. You won’t have time later

Congratulations!  You’ve worked hard to get 4.0 GPA and you land your first job in the real world.  They start you out at 65,000, which is much more than the rest of your classmates.  The company offers a great match on the 401k, with health insurance benefits that would make the Senators jealous.  Then you get to the bottom page of the job offer, and they tell you that you’ve got 2 days off the entire year.  If you’re a great employee they’ll give you another at the end of the first year.

Tyler on His 2 Month Excursion Across South America

Then, because you want to make partner in your firm, you decide that you’ll never take another day off in your lifetime.  It’s all part of the rat race.  Even being self-employed isn’t much easier because you’ve always got to be looking for your next sale.

If you travel while you’re young, you’ll have oodles of time.

 8. It’s the best education money can buy

The sage Mark Twain penned, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Couldn’t the world use more people who aren’t so prejudice?  Or could it use more people who are open-minded?  You bet.

Panama Canal Gatun Locks

When I was in high school my American History teacher put on a video about the construction of the Panama Canal.  He went back to his office and presumably looked up stuff on the Internet while half the class slept and the other half slipped into the hall.  We remembered just enough to regurgitate the information on the test two weeks later, and forgot about Ferdinand de Lesseps forever.

Here it was 13 years later and I’m voluntarily reading a 400+ page book about the construction in anticipation of my trip to see the Gatun Locks.  I’m sure that I could pass his test with flying colors, all because I went there and wanted to learn about it.  Go see the world and learn!

9. You’re more adventurous now

There is something to be said for those young whippersnappers.

Dominican Tree House Village

As you age you become more mature, and boring.  Things that seemed cool in high school like hitting curbs in the rental car (no personal experience here) become outlandish.  The thought of throwing a live chicken off a bridge where it met its fate in the mouth of a 800 pound crocodile is appalling.  (No personal experience here either)

If you travel while you’re young you’ll probably do more exciting things (and dangerous) that you wouldn’t do when you’re older.  I often tell people that I’d travel dang near anywhere, if I wasn’t married with two kids.  Before your aging takes away the adventurous bones in your body, get out there!