Best age to travel??

rookie69

So i know there's no perfect age to go traveling but I'm in my final year in college and finishing up in a few weeks. I am currently 22.

I want to go away for a year or two to either Australia, New Zealand, USA or Canada or a combination of those whilst also spending some time in other countries along the way. (Although I am open to suggestions of other countries to go to)

So my choices are:
1. Finish college and work for about a year and head off travelling at 22.

2. Apply and do another degree and then go travelling at 26/27. (In this case I would hope to go on a couple of j1's to the USA during college)

3. Apply and do a masters, then work for a couple of months and save and then go travelling at 23/24.

4. Other ideas????

Now i know there's not that much of an age gap between 22 and 26 but I just really want to travel and see the world before getting stuck down in a full-time job.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

phelixoflaherty

In the womb, get it over and done with

R.D. aka MR.D

The sooner the better. You never know what could happen to you tomorrow.

If you wait and something stops you, you'll always regret it.

also i imagine the older you get the more difficult it might be to leave a cosy lifestyle.

lilmizzme

Do it now, before you get tied down with relationships, mortgages, loans etc!!

frankiebaby

nows the time, finished my degree last year (22), went on J1 to NYC. came back to do one year masters (just couldn't leave college) which im doing now and will be finished in august. headin to south korea teaching for a year with a few lads and then RTW or some other excursions abroad! u'll look back in 10 yrs and say why didnt i do it when i was younger! alot of backpackers are round 21-28 so just do it!

vinylbomb

Whnever the f**k ever you like is the right time.

Was in Germany on and off for a year at 20. (and all over Europe at the weekends during it)
California for 6 months at 23.
Thailand for 3 month at 24.
Lived in London for 2 years - 25 to 27.
Just arrived in Rio. 29 on Monday.

Once you get the bug, you may just end up doing it forever if youre lucky!!

FreeAnd..

plan for it now and do it later....save as much as you can over the next few years, get experience in your chosen field and make a plan on where you want to go...

That will make all the difference, If i had left when I was any younger I wouldnt be able to get work at the moment in Australia...having the 5+ years work experience makes all the difference - I can short term contract work and still save more here while travelling than i could at home

If you want to do long term travelling i.e. living in other countries as opposed to backpacking then simply heading off with no experience means you'll only get sh*tty jobs for little money and be competeing with a vast number of others in the same boat...

Having met lots of people on my travels, not having enough saved or a good earning capacity can make it a struggle...can be hard to get to do things that cost money and see the places you want...not doing things because of needing money for food when you might only be there once in your life is a shame...

My own story is finished college at 22 - worked until 27, travelled through Asia to Australia - been here a year and a half and off to NZ at the end of the year. Saving now and hopefully in New Zealand to do an extended trip through Asia back to Ireland before going to Canada and the US then South America...hopefully then ill know where i'd like to settle

Its not always easy to keep the motivation while working for a goal that is a few years off and lots of people get side-tracked i.e. mortgage, kids etc...I guess I was luck that my girlfriend had the exact same view as me so it became our main focus and I thank the stars everyday here especially as so many from home are coming over and cant get work and have to go home down big sums of money...

Its not an easy one to call and it will be different for all people - if you had the money to support yourself for a few years without working then maybe head off but then at the end of it you still have no experience and might not get a job...if you only go for a year it doesnt matter too much but if its longer you'll want to have worked so that at the end you can actually put your travelling experiences down on a CV and have them stand for and not against you

vinylbomb

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

, get experience in your chosen field and make a plan on where you want to go...

Stellar advice.

I was lucky enough to shoehorn/sham a degree and then get experience in my field as I went, and I´m only now realising how lucky I´ve been to do that.

Not having transferrable jobs skills will leave you at the bottom of the pile every time, as previously stated you´ll be doing muck savage work for not a lot of glory(and more importantly cash).

Get a degree and at least 2 years experience and you will never regret it.

breadmonkey

Well the way things are going these days it will probably be impossible to get experience in your area of expertise so I'd go for it now and hope this sh!t storm blows over by the time you get back!

A few people have said to wait a few years and they made some good points. Only problem is, you won't hear from the people who said they'd give it a couple of years and then never did it. I feel so sorry for people when I tell them about my travels and they just say "Yeah, I wish I'd done that when I was your age".

frankiebaby

i agree, the amount of ppl who have stayed to get experience in their field for a few years and ended up not going anywhere will be far greater than the amount that have actually travelled after getting the experience. the dangers of big loans/cars/mortgage/dog/a partner/job promotions will all be major obstacles. id hit the road asap for a few years and come back hopefully when things are more stable. and thats the plan of most of my friends too. the earlier the better in my opinion