WHY TO TRAVEL WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG

 

You know what I hate? When people tell me traveling is for retirement.

HA!

HA HA!

pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. (cue big eye roll)

Right after "you can't travel because you have no money", this issue is the next pet peeve that I call major B.S. too.

Traveling when you're young helps discover who you are. It'll teach you to appreciate life and appreciate everything you have learned and will learn in the future. Why be old and wise when you can be young and wise?

When I say "young and wise" it does not mean "young and boring". It means that as you do grow older you will have a better understanding of the world. It will keep you from being sucked into the dreadful news stories of CNN and the bullcrap headlines of how dangerous the world is. It's about experiencing the world while you're young and have the energy to travel from place to place and the endurance to keep up with the unexpected events, like dealing with travel transportation.

Americans especially suck at traveling. We are constantly told we must go to school, get a degree, work, retire and hope our 401k will allow us to see the world. Our schools forget to teach us that the best way to learn is to see, and how will we see sitting at a desk? Travel is a never ending learning cycle and you will learn without realizing because it is not until you experience it that you wish to learn about it. Why should one wait to learn until after their career has ended? I love learning because I learn through experience rather than a screen.

Young adults get the title of "young and stupid" correct? Well, its quite true actually. Although I'm not sure the term 'stupid' is correct, I believe it should be "Young and more likely to jump out of a plane or something else that involves risk". I'm sure because I am 21 that I would be much more willing to jump up and scream "Hell yeah!" when someone asks to go jump in a cage surrounded by Great Whites. I mean, sounds fun right?! Now ask me when I'm 70 and I'll probably laugh in your face. Do decisions like this make travel riskier? Yes. But will it also make your life into a story rather than a timeline? Yes.

Money is the big factor as too why people my age don't travel. But I'm done hearing excuses of why people can't. "I have rent, I have bills, I have blah blah blah." Well, have fun eating your weekly meal at Applebee's, ya hypocrite.

Just last weekend I got laughed at because I didn't buy a drink with dinner.  I'll save that $7 you spent on a Sangria and put it towards wine in Italy.

My first ever blog post was "The Biggest Myth About Travel", which of course was me ranting over how you can be broke as a joke and still see the world. As long as you don't have expectations of staying at the Four Seasons, traveling on a budget is actually that best way to travel and get close with the culture.

Traveling at the college-age doesn't mean you have to jet off across seas either. Weekend region trips are a great way to stay close to home, not break the bank, and learn about your surroundings. It also is a great opportunity to grab close friends and make memories with them. Traveling is not about how far you go or how long you are gone, but how you spend it and what you learn.

This age is when you can pull off three hours of sleep and still function the next day. I work at 7:30am Monday-Friday, but that doesn't stop me from pulling into my driveway from a weekend of non-stop exploring at 1:00am Monday morning. Ask anyone who knows me, they'll be happy to tell you my motto.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Lastly, college students are strained on time. It's a fact. We all have homework, papers, exams and most of us have jobs. Sometimes it's hard to find time to hit the road or jump on a plane. My biggest tips for this:

1) Get a job on campus. Usually, they pay decent and a majority are weekends off. I mean, what could be better?

2) Take advantage of school breaks. At least a couple weeks off between each semester, spring break and winter break...use it wisely.

3) Never have a down day. Maybe this is just me, but I go INSANE when I don't leave the house for a day. I understand the feeling of getting overworked and needing relaxation time...but where is better to relax than on a beach with your friends? Maybe I have a hard time with this because I haven't made an account with Netflix yet...

So I'm young. I want to be crazy and jet off on adventures of a lifetime. I don't have a problem sleeping in my car as long as I know I'm on my way to an experience. I can live off eating pizza for every meal. I made an appointment to jump out of a plane 48 hours before it happened. I've danced in the rain in my only pair of clean clothes because I know they'll dry. I'm not afraid of having no plan and could care less about the time on the clock. People say "oh to be 21 again"...well, I am 21! Hooray!