Getting older doesn’t mean you will inevitably stop traveling but aging out of travel is easy to succumb to. You won’t notice it until it’s already been years in the making, much like that gray hair or wrinkle. We all inevitably get older you’ll find your friends and own travels become far and few between.
Here are some of the signs to look for when you’re in your 20s and what have some 60 years old figured out to traveling for a lifetime.
You Keep Going Back To The Same Place
We all have favorite cities or close relatives somewhere else in the world. As your time and money become limited you’ll find yourself going back to those places more often than not, sacrificing everywhere else in the world.
Cure: There are two good ways to take your anti-aging potion for this one. Depending on the time you have and your situation plan to go somewhere you’ve never been at least once a year. Another good thing is to make a mini-trip out of any ‘regular one’ you take.
- Going to Europe from the US? Spend a night or two in Iceland on your way over.
You Have A Little More Stuff Each Year
The more time passes the more stuff we accumulate. Your car and house are major possessions but really the equivalent of giant containers that you’ll eventually fill up with more things. Not only do lots of possessions take up space and money but they weight down your thoughts.
Cure: Reduce your debt and keep only things around that you need – not want. Overcoming the obstacle of money starts with good planning and a simple travel budget for your life.
You Fall In With The Crowd
When your friends stop traveling you’re more likely to as well. Marriage, kids, and a new job don’t mean that you can’t travel. It only means that your travels will change although many of your buddies won’t see it that way.
Cure: Take a solo trip with your family and show your friends what they’re missing out on. Even if it doesn’t convince them you’ll keep traveling if you don’t let these misconceptions get you.
Challenge Yourself
Simply going somewhere new will get old too unless you keep trying and doing new things. Go outside of your comfort zone – something that gets harder the older you get. Push yourself to see and try new things no matter how insignificant they may seem.
- Try one of these top 10 bizarre foods.
- Give back. Don’t think you can? Check out Teresa Wilson’s first time volunteer experience in Nicaragua.
- Embrace the digital nomadic tendencies and don’t be afraid to travel with a laptop.
- Watch for other warning signs and keep the trip going.
Continuing to travel as you get older is probably one of the biggest challenges you’ll have to get over time and time again. The warning signs are there and show up early on and unless you address them early on it’ll be easy to fall into the routine of so many others who reminisce about “the good old days”. Traveling may age you biologically but that doesn’t mean it has to slow you down.
[photos by: schnaars, Skrewtape, Alana Holmberg]
And don’t forget travel with kids. It doesn’t age you, but it certainly changes you. I am constantly getting serious urges to just say f**K to it all and for us to buy a van and gooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! But, I can’t anymore. My son needs an education (I can’t home school, nor do I want to:) and he also needs little friends.
I’m kind of curious to see how it all plays out in a few years or whenever I have kids. There is so much more to consider and I think no matter what you plan those plans morph and change when you have kids.
…but I’m not a big fan of planning anyway 🙂
Ditto to Marina.. I wish I have the patience to home school otherwise we will be out in the world already. But it’s something that I know my limitation. 🙂 Love this post. I think it can be applied to any situation not just the mature travelers.
Thanks Amy!
Some great indicators to watch out for. I know so many who go to the same place each year, visit the same things, eat at the same cafes. Maybe such comfort brings them the break and relaxation that they require.
It’s hard, some places just click with you and the comfort is well, comforting! It just takes a little extra push to get out there and see new things especially as you go on.
I’m only 27 but I can’t help but fear that travel will become impossible as I pile on the years and the commitments. Thanks for this post, very inspiring!
I hear ya! I was thinking the same when I wrote this – age and the future was on my mind 🙂
Nope. Not me. Never gonna happen. I’ll be traveling until I’m 100.
I believe it, hope I will be too!
This is crazy talk. I’m 58 and have been traveling since my early 20’s. None of these signs matter. Just stumbled onto this post via Twitter and found it offensive! sarah
Didn’t mean to offend Sarah! Curious, what did you find offensive?
The point I was trying to make is that it’s not biological age but other factors that slow you down as time goes on which are evident early on. Of course this doesn’t mean everyone!
Oh great topic! I already feel burdened by responsibilities – need a job, a house, money, phewww… But one of the resolutions I made to myself was to be away for atleast 5 weeks every year, hopefully that will keep me from aging (travel-wise).
I think the quarter-life crisis is the new mid-life crisis as cheesy as that sounds. Things pile up quickly, hope we stay travel-young 🙂
Age won’t stop me! I met an American lady during my travels and she has inspired me in so many ways. Easier if I give you the link than try to summarise it here.
http://www.gourmantic.com/2009/07/08/lamericaine/
Wonderful story, thanks for the link! It’s getting easier with technology to stay at home but it can also be a great inspiration and motivation as well to get out and keep traveling 🙂
Great topic !
I agree with you. I am in the age group you are talking about and yes, it happens and happened with us too. Too busy with life to travel extensively. Now that I am somewhat free, I am trying to make good use of my remaining life and will continue to do so.
Thanks for this wonderful topic. I am sending link to some ppl.
Thanks Nisha – seems we notice time go by from watching everyone else age, until you suddenly realize you’re getting older too.
Great topic! I actually didn’t start traveling until I was older…so I’m in some bizzaro travel world most of the time where I’m a 39 year old backpacker! Your point about hanging out with friends that travel is totally true – it makes you travel too! My 73 year old father is coming with me on my next trip – guess I influenced him to get out of his comfort zone!
I can’t wait to read about that – has your dad traveled a lot before or is it going to be a new experience for him?
This will be a totally new experience as he’s never traveled to a developing country. We did a short 12 day trip to China a couple of years ago – but that’s about as rough as he had it and we were shuttled around by drivers and a great guide – pretty posh compared to Nepal! I think he’ll do ok – he grew up on a farm in the middle of Nebraska in the depression…that has to prepare him somewhat! 🙂
Thats why i’m doing my travelling now while I can i.e before they give me a zimmer frame
haha, we’ll hopefully that’s a long ways off 🙂
The older I become, the more I travel. The same applies to most of my baby boomer friends who are out exploring the world. We call it skiing (spending kids inheritance).
haha, skiing, hadn’t heard that one before – I like it!
I’m hoping to travel more as I age and as we grow our family. I hope I never stop. The day I stop is the day my soul dies…
I don’t have any doubt you’ll keep traveling Jen!
I have to say that when I have travelled I’ve found the older mature people more active and adventurous than the younger ones. Older people are up earlier, plan better, have more money and don’t stop until they have seen excatly what they want. Younger people tend to hang out in in their hostels and watch their cashflow.
I’m noticing much the same with myself as well. I think I’ve gotten more efficient and see more now than I did 10 years ago.
I have friends who always travel to the same place. One would think that they were stuck in a timeshare nightmare, but they are simply set in their ways. I guess they can get credit for leaving town at least, but I wish that they could understand limiting their mindset is. It’s not even the matter to traveling to somewhere exotic, just somewhere different where you will have the opportunity to learn something new. That’s what’s so amazing about traveling; challenging yourself to step outside the box and learn something that is totally foreign to you. Great article, Anil!
It’s one that sneaks up on you – going back to a place you like. You’re right though it becomes a routine and can make it hard to get out of your comfort zone even though you are still traveling.
I think there arrives a point where you’ve seen a great majority of what you want to see. What good is it trying to get to some little corner of the world, just because you haven’t been there? Wouldn’t it be a lot better if, after years of travelling, you knew that your favorite areas are Northern Portugal, a resort town in the Caucuses, and the beaches of Vietnam?
It’s been said that the true enjoyment of travel is 50% in the planning and 50% in the remembering. Knowing a place intimately can be just as fulfilling as having never been to a place, from a travel perspective.
I won’t agree with the planning part since I’m terrible at it and always last minute but you bring up some good points. You don’t need to see every little thing but there is something to be said for continuing to discover new places near and far every now and then.
Many of the things you mention are barriers to people regardless of their biological age. However, it is foolhardy to think that there is no such thing as a biological age barrier. There are people who can no longer go to high altitudes because of blood pressure, or people who cannot travel too far from medical help, and other age-related health issues. But worse, are actual age-related barriers like the age limits on renting cars in many European countries. Just when arthritis makes it difficult to heft bags onto trains, you are not permitted to drive. It is easy to think such things will never stop you when you are in your thirties and forties–but when you are well over 65, sometimes the only thing that is young is the attitude–and you can’t go forever on attitude alone.
Excellent point – there are always physical limitations of course. While you can adjust your mode of travel (skip the planes) and do things to increase your overall health to keep traveling as much as possible, the body is the ultimate limit. Many of these things mentioned above though happen way before the physical limitations become of major consequence. In fact using health as an excuse could be added to the list.
I started traveling in my mid 20’s when the thought of getting older just started to kick in and I realized age doesn’t and shouldn’t limit you from anything. As long as your healthy, you could travel the world the same at 30, 40 or 50…That’s why some of those nomads out there don’t even bother to keep count anymore. Simply isn’t necessary as long as you feel good and you’re alive!
Funny you should mention that and glad I’m not the only one who started thinking about age right before 30 😛