7 Reasons You Should Not Delay Your Travel Dreams
Many people have dreams of someday traveling the world, for example when they turn a certain age, or when their kids move out, when they retire, etc. However, the majority of the time someday never comes and neither does the world travel. I love this quote by William Shedd: “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”
Of course there are some circumstances where it may be necessary for someone to wait to travel, but unless you are currently dealing with a health situation that will get better in the future or something similar, your time to travel (or at least start planning), is now.
HEALTH
Let’s face it, every day we get older, our chances of a travel restraining disease or conditions increase. You never know what will happen within the next year or even the next month. So many people plan on traveling someday, then before they know it, they get diagnosed with something that requires weekly doctor’s visits, lots of medication, and other conditions that make it much more difficult to go on vacation or travel long-term.
So stop waiting for the perfect moment you have in mind, for 99% people that never happens, if you want to travel, start planning your travels now and make someday, today!
LIFE
Who knows, maybe in 10 years you will have children that you need to take care off that you didn’t plan on having. Or your parents will need special care and need you to be by their side. Or the economy will face another recession and you will be too afraid to lose your job if you take off 2 weeks vacation time at once. There are so many potential obstacles that may arise in time that I could keep on writing and naming the off for several hours, but I think you get the point.
You can also view the same in a positive light, most of these situations as mentioned above, are temporary and if you are currently in such any situation that absolutely prevents you from travelling right now, then don’t get discouraged and lose hope of ever having the chance to travel. Try to at least devote some time each week to just focus on your dreams, day-dream about travel, and stay motivated, so that once you are able to, you can immediately start planning your travels and fulfilling your dreams.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
While traveling, you get to meet you new people, you get to know new cultures, and you get to experience new things. With each new “thing” you explore and each new person you meet, you will not only learn new things, but also get to know yourself a lot better. You will discover fears you never knew about and maybe even find a new passion, whether it’s a location, certain foods, or an experience. The more you travel around the world to places that are much unlike home, the more of a new perspective you will gain on life, especially life back at home. In developed countries, most people take everyday things like having shelter, having running water (cold and hot), having electricity every time you turn the light switch or your tv on, having clothes and shoes, having education or a job, and not having to go hungry to bed at night. However, once you experience the other side, your life as you knew it up until this point will change and you will gain appreciation for all of these things. When you wake up in the morning and you discover the electric is out (again!) when you try to toast your breakfast bread, when you shower in cold water under such a light stream, it’s almost impossible to get the shampoo out of your hair, when you have to walk to get drinking water and then boil it before it’s safe to drink, and when you get to eat only one meal per day, yes, then certainly, your perspective on life and your level of empathy and compassion for others who live in those conditions all of their lives, will change!
GLOBALIZATION
There is still a lot to discover at this point, when you travel to remote parts of Africa, life will look a lot different than life in the U.S. or other developed countries. It actually doesn’t even feel like we live in the same world. But when you look 20 years, those “undeveloped” areas were much larger and the differences were even more significant over a wider area. This gap is slowly but surely closing and rural areas that now are still untouched, full of nature, full of locals whom you can learn their traditions from, full of culture you can immerse in, may experience significant growth in the next 10-20 years, and become another tourist destination that will look almost the same as all other tourist destinations, losing all of its cultural roots.
If you are looking for a 5-star luxurious hotel, a beautiful beach that looks photoshopped, a Western cuisine, and a beautiful resort complex that you will never leave anyway, you may as well travel within your home country, because these kinds of destinations exist all over the world and are becoming more common.
ENERGY
You are probably currently at the highest energy level you will ever be in your life. A common trend among people is that our energy levels decrease over time. Some of the things that may now be no problem for you to do, might be more difficult to complete in the future with a lower energy level.
For example, if you are planning on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and that is one of the things on your bucket list, don’t put it off for too long. Plan your trip, book your flights in advance, and just prepare over the next few months (if you are currently not in shape), but there will never be a better time to do it than now.
FINANCES
Yes, you are reading correct – money is one reason you should not wait to travel, contrary to common belief. Many High School graduates, College students, and young adults think to themselves “One day, when I have a good job and a decent salary, then my dream is to travel the world”. But for over 90% of people that scenario later in life does not happen. Some people do end up having a great job and do earn a lot of money, but they have such a busy schedule, they actually lack the time to go and travel. Others may have a great job and good pay, but buy a house, have a baby (or two), and many bills, so even though they are earning well, at the end of the month, no extra money is left over for travel. Again, there are so many situations that I could name many more, but the general truth is, we never know what will happen in the future; there are so many things we cannot control that can happen and alter our life situation, so if you want to travel, work a few hours extra now, save up some money, and travel now.
EXCITEMENT
As you become older, you get to experience more things in life, live through different situations, see a variety of things, and have/possess more, and one day the law of diminishing returns sets in and each new thing you experience is less “exciting”, because it is more likely to be something similar to what you have experienced before.
On the other hand, when you are young, inexperienced, haven’t seen much of the world or experienced a lot yet, you are much more aware and appreciative as you travel, see new things, try new food, meet new people, do new activities – everything is perceived as more “interesting” and it leads to much more excitement, which in turn leads to you feeling like you are getting a lot more value for your money than you would in the situation above.
Are you waiting to travel or are you traveling now? What are some reasons you would recommend people not to wait to travel?