20 places to travel in your 20's
Why you should drop everything to travel in your twenties
The Internet is swamped with such articles & lists.
And reading those as a 30-something used to make me feel unaccomplished and a loser. With the Covid situation, one can’t even hope to ‘catch-up’ on these lists anytime soon, maybe not even before they leave their 30’s 😥
Don’t get me wrong. You SHOULD travel in your 20s. I did it too but only in my late 20s. The only thing these blogs achieve is putting pressure on those who are a little behind in their journey to incorporate travel as a priority in their lives.
If you live in India, your 20s is the time when you most likely are studying, even until your mid-twenties in case of a post-graduation. And if you are from a middle-class family like I am, your ‘pocket money’ is just a tad sufficient to fulfil your needs, wants and barely any desires as a student.
Let me share my story with you.
I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was born in a family where travel is considered a necessity and not luxury. Sure, we didn’t have much funds to splurge on luxury or foreign vacations, but we did roam around quite a bit within India. My parents are doctors and to let off some steam from their demanding jobs, we travelled at least once, sometimes twice a year during my school breaks. I had covered most of North India, South India, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and MP (I am from Bhopal) with them. Most of the trips happened BEFORE I turned 22. None of these travels were like the ones romanticised in those articles- trip with friends to Goa, backpacking trip to Europe etc. They were proper family trips, planned without internet and limited budget & resources.
All my travels with parents halted after I graduated from engineering. I travelled a bit here & there within 3-4 hours of Indore (where I was pursuing engineering), with my college friends but it really won’t be categorised as heavy duty traveling.
I got a job with a software company in 2009 which I reluctantly took. My ‘true calling’ was to pursue MBA from a tier-1 B-school. The ‘tiers’ are extremely important in India as there are a gazillion B-schools offering you a degree but not the similar network, campus experience or a placement. I was studying for CAT and other management entrance exams during my off-working hours.
What about travel? Not a priority. Not in budget. Also, no time for it.
Plus- there was no Instagram back then to make us feel lesser mortals if we were not traveling every other weekend posting about it. 😆
My social group was a bunch of 20-somethings who were either ‘living it up’ on the meagre salary by eating out, weekend budget trips, movies or getting sucked with the entrance exam preparations during any possible free time.
All those sacrifices paid off and just within a year of my job, I got a call from one of the top B-schools in Pune and I departed to live my student life again for the next 2 years. Again, life & other priorities like ‘job interviews preparation’ came in the way of travel.
My next big trip was only in my final year of MBA. That too after I got placed in a bank with a decent package; after all I had to convince my parents for an all-girls trip to Thailand! My first international trip. I was 25. Please don’t read too much into our destination selection. The reason was it was the cheapest option available. Yes, that’s it. I literally knew nothing about Thailand. I didn’t read any of those lists of destinations. And the only reason my trip got approved was it that it was cheap and I was traveling with 9 other girls on an organised tour.
My first two years in my job were uneventful from travel perspective. My next international trip was my honeymoon trip to Ireland. And yes, I did splurge on THAT one! That trip also marked my unending curiosity to see more of Europe. I had travelled to this continent every single year since then. Even in 2020.
Sorry, I got really carried away in reminiscing. But I hope you get the point.
Most of the ‘best’ years of my 20s were occupied with studying, figuring things like ‘college admissions’, ‘job’, ‘getting married’ etc. It’s only AFTER you get your ducks in a row that you start focusing on leisure categories like travel. At least this is what most of 30-year olds’ timelines look like in India.
The idea of 20s that is propagated widely on Instagram and blogs is completely different and away from reality. It’s almost unachievable. And if this mammoth goal of ticking off the fanciest of places is advertised as a ‘must-have’ or ‘must-do’, what impact does it have on anyone incapable of achieving that goal?
That queasy feeling of inadequacy.
It does NOT matter if you are a little behind on your ‘travel meter’. You don’t have to catch up with anyone or any of those lists. Travel when you want to. Travel when you enjoy it. Age has got little to do with it. I am saying little because to be fair, your body is more on your side keeping you agile and hyper-active in your 20s than your 30s. But is the world devoid of 30-something travellers who have done treks in the Himalayas or even sky-diving?
No! Adventure doesn’t have an age-limit. With a decent level of fitness and a lot of curiosity, you can enjoy travel as much, or may be more than your 20s.
You’ll have more money, better planning skills with experience and a better sense of judgment in choosing the experiences on your travel. The experiences that really matter, which will make you a better person. If not, at least make you realise how tiny space you occupy on this big planet. And how being anonymous in a place will lead to finding your true self.
A path to self-discovery: unlikely to happen when all you want is to party with your friends in Amsterdam in your 20s. I went to Amsterdam when I was pregnant. I neither partied nor visited the red-light district. Still I loved my time strolling along the canals while watching out every single second for the zipping cyclists. I have taken 3 solo trips after being a mom, in my thirties.
So, ditch those lists & worldly expectations and embrace falling in love with travel at whatever age you are. It only gets better.
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