4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

March 20, 2015
4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

As a 25-year-old woman, the pressure to settle down, buy a house, get married, and have kids is constant. Friends and family are always asking me, “So have you found a boyfriend yet?” When I tell them, “No I haven’t, because my main focus is not to devote all of my spare time to finding Mr. Right,” you can see the look of disappointment in their eyes.

I’m at that age where my friends are putting away all their spare change to buy a house. Many of them are on the track to get engaged, married, and some even talk about how time is running out to have kids. Then they look at me when I tell them about my adventures and travels around the world and say, “I wish I could travel; you’re so lucky.”

The truth is, everyone can travel. It just depends where your priorities lay and what you decide you want to save your money for. I’m 25-years-old, I’m young and a strong believer that if I wait to see everything the world has to offer, I’ll never do it. I don’t want to invest in something that is going to make me settle in one single place, I want to invest in seeing the world and here’s why.

4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

1. There’s no better time to see the world then now

The travel bug bit me when I was young and because of that, travel has been a huge part of my life and a huge focus. My parents always encouraged me to travel and see the world because they knew I wouldn’t regret it. They always stressed how important it was to learn from travelling.

I’m a young, healthy, active person, and before I know it, I’ll have things in my life grounding me to one place, so this is my time to travel. I can’t count the number of people I’ve met who have told me that they wish they had traveled when they were young and had the chance to. This is my chance, and I’m not going to put it off!

2. Investing in experiences instead of things

The following quote has been attributed to Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

When seeing other people’s lives in other countries and experiencing what their definition of success is, or the hardships they go through daily just to be able to feed their families, it really puts your whole life into perspective.

Living in Canada, our society makes tangible things seem more valuable because they are physical. We can feel, hold and touch things that we purchase. Society defines the pursuit of happiness as finding joy and fulfillment through material goods, when in reality that is a never-ending battle.

I choose to spend my money differently than most people do. I save any spare money I have at the end of the month and put it in a travel fund. To me, spending my savings on seeing the world is not a waste of money. I’m just choosing to invest in experiences as opposed to things.

3. Travelling allows me to continuously learn

Continual learning is important to me. I strongly believe that you should never stop learning, and traveling has taught me more then any book, class or teacher ever could have.

I’ve learned about elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, learned about the Spanish culture while working overseas in Spain, experienced real poverty while visiting El Salvador, and seen some of the most historical and religious buildings in the world. Every trip that I go on, I bring back a whole wealth of knowledge that I wouldn’t have ever had before.

4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

4. Travelling gives me a new perspective

When experiencing life in other countries, it really gives me a new perspective on my own life and where I live. It is easy to lose sight of how lucky most of us actually are: lucky to have a job, to live in a country that is free and supports equal rights, and to have the ability to travel the world.

When seeing other people’s lives in other countries and experiencing what their definition of success is, or the hardships they go through daily just to be able to feed their families, it really puts your whole life into perspective. It makes you realize what is important in life and what little things you actually need to be happy.

Entrepreneur Sean Kim wrote: “We are all going to die one day, whether you choose to accept it or not. At the end of our lives, we’re going to ask the same questions. Did I live? Do I have regrets? Did I experience everything I wanted to in life?”

Ask yourself what you want your existence to be defined by. Is it by how big your house is, how beautiful that diamond ring on your finger is, or how many brand name clothes you have in your closet? Become rich on experience and not items, because in my opinion, experience will always win every single time.

4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

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Have you enjoyed traveling solo? Email us at [email protected] for information about sharing your experience and advice with the Pink Pangea community. We can’t wait to hear from you!

4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down photo credit: Lauren Marinigh and Unsplash. 

About Lauren Marinigh

I’m a Canadian born girl who dreams about travel constantly. I work in Toronto and have developed my career as a marketing, social media professional, and writer. My writing has always steered toward professional/marketing related topics but my real passion is travel. I’ve had a travel blog since 2009 which I mainly only used when I was traveling, my focus has now steered more towards exhilarating my blog, and sharing my travel advice, wisdom and experiences even when I’m stuck in my 9-5 job.

2 thoughts on “4 Reasons I’ve Chosen to Travel Instead of Settling Down

  1. Nashali Rivera
    December 10, 2023
    Reply

    Thank you so much for sharing your insight. I am 29 years old, and have been struggling between the decision of purchasing a home or traveling the world. Your blog has helped me come to the decision that I should continue to enjoy my young, carefree life while I can. I hope to enjoy tons of adventures and eventually build a place that I can call home. It’ll be fun to structure it with memories and concepts that I have collected from a variety of cultures that I’ve grown to understand and appreciate during my travels.

  2. November 23, 2016
    Reply

    Hi Lauren! I felt completely identified with what you’ve written. I think while young we all have to travel a lot around the whole world to gain such appreciation for human life and nature too. As you mention, we all should feel more lucky about our lives in our countries, at least in the western world. I live in Mexico, not so developed country as Canada, but at least we have freedom and opportunities for those who want to fulfill their needs and desires.
    Keep the inspiring writing and of course the yearning for travelling ! 🙂

    https://alexthewanderer.wordpress.com/

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