Last Updated on August 27, 2020 by Bryony Clapperton

As frequent travellers we all know that one person who doesn’t really get it, they can’t justify spending the money, or they don’t understand how you can be away from home for so long.

We all know that twenty-something someone that can’t recognise that ever-growing feeling of itchy feet, the wanderlust and the nostalgia of travel.

As an avid traveller and great lover of life, I’ve collated the ultimate list of reasons to travel in your twenties. Not that you should even need them!

Travel in your Twenties

Freedom

You’re free! More than you’ve ever been in your life. You’ve been in university, education or an apprenticeship since your late teens. You’ve now finished studying or have enough work experience to feel like you’ve accomplished something.

You probably aren’t ready to commit to a career for the next 65+ years and you most likely aren’t thinking of settling down any time soon. In your early twenties you have more freedom than you’ll ever have in your life. I can’t think of a better reason to travel in your twenties.

You have minimal commitments, you aren’t tied down to anything that lasts longer than 364 days. You’re finished with the education mainstreams, you’ve qualified in something. Why rush into a career, enjoy your twenties freedom and use it wisely.

Plan a trip, go explore somewhere. Freedom lets you travel in your twenties, don’t waste that freedom you may never have it again. Your twenties are your time, why not spend it on travel? 

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Find yourself!

It’s cliche and you’ve definitely heard a story about a friend of a friend who went of to the Amazon in her twenties on a gap year to “find herself”. The idea of “finding yourself” probably makes you cringe but the term means so much more than drinking cheap booze and singing wonderwall around a campfire.

You’re twenty-something you’ve been in education for what feels like eternity, but in reality you actually have. Can you really think of a more logical reason to travel in your twenties?

Figure out who you are. What you love and what you hate. What makes you feel angry, what drives you crazy and what makes you passionate. See things, do things, experience things. Make mistakes and make some more mistakes. Its the oldest travel motivation in the book and whether love it or hate it you should go out in your twenties and travel.

Find out who you are, be that cliche, you might not get another chance.

You won’t ever want to stop travelling

 That sounds like a bad thing. But is it? Is it really all that bad. Knowing that you might possibly want to travel for the rest of your life?

Start early, travel in your twenties and set yourself up for a life filled with travel, adventure and wonder. I’m inspired by so many people around me that have experienced the world over, all these people started travelling in their teens and early twenties and that travel desire and wanderlust never seemed to leave them.

Maybe sometimes life gets in the way but start young and travel as frequently as you can in your twenties. Let the spirit of the things you experience on your journeys fuel future trips. And take a little piece of your travelling twenties you with you for the rest of your life

What are you waiting for?

This is pretty obvious, but why wait to travel? I guess this is two reasons in one because I think most people’s immediate response to why they can’t travel would be money. I see it all the time people tweeting and sharing photos that say “If travel was free, you’d never see me again”.

People have this ideology of travel in your twenties and how you can only do it if you’re wealthy or your parents are funding you. That really isn’t the case, budget travel is happening all the time you just have to be in it to win it. There’s a million travel blogs with the best tips for travel in your twenties and budget travel hacks.

Read every ‘travel in your twenties’ post you come across, save budget travel articles. Inspire yourself. Every traveller read tips from other backpackers, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t.

In your twenties you probably don’t have the most amazing salary but sensible saving and sacrifice can take you anywhere. Sacrifice for a few months to save, you probably have more disposable income in your twenties than you think.

Life is short

Finally, and in my eyes the most important reason to travel in your twenties. Life is precious and life is short. I don’t want to sound like a preaching but live as much as you can ever single day. Travel in your teens and travel in your twenties, damn travel in your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies. Travel until you can’t.

So whether you just wanna see Europe or you’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand the only thing really stopping you is yourself. You really do only live once so make the most of your twenties and travel.

Don’t be afraid to embrace your life, take a hold of your destiny.

You’re in your twenties and there’s time for settling down, investing in property and having a family to come. Be selfish and grab your twenties by the balls. Book a flight, plan a trip and definitely travel in your twenties.