Better to travel when your young or older?

[Mychildneverstopstalking]

Chatting with a friend today and it got me thinking.
She fell pregnant (by accident) when we were at university and had her first child at 21, she’d had two more by her mid-late twenties.
I had my dc at age 40 (infertility, wasn’t really the plan)
We’re both now mid 40’s.
I travelled the world, lived abroad and spent my 20’s & 30’s making a career, but also going to so many new places, having so many new adventures etc.
She said because she had her children young, in the next five years or so, her and her Dh will be travelling the world and doing everything they missed out on, which is fantastic.
However, when I think of travelling the way I did then…months in Australia with my bestie, boat trips and dodgy places in Thailand, driving around Morocco and all around Europe, crazy bars in New York, open top roof parties in Goa etc..I wouldn’t be the same now, I wouldn’t have anywhere near as many adventures as I’m far more cautious and much more boring in comparison 🙈I was free and fun and gorgeous and slim (I’m not now! 😂)
She was saying it’s better to do it the way they’re doing it now as now they can have all this fun..but tbh, I don’t like travelling in the same way as I did when younger, I still love to see new places, but I was obsessed with travelling when young and it was my favourite thing to do.
Which is better, travelling when younger or older?

Oh and I also had a shit load more energy then, was less fussy and would sleep anywhere and was much more outdoing and daring and so on…surely all that makes travelling much more of an adventure, now I’m just tired quite a lot 😅

*YOUR’E Ffs 🤦‍♀️

younger. you can take more risks and have more fun when you haven't got kids and grandkids to worry about leaving behind.

Older comes a close second though.

Or you could just travel all your life. You don’t have to choose.

I did the budget craziness when I was young, and now I do the slightly more lux options now - no more crazy flight itineraries, dodgy hostels, 36 hour bus rides. Both were/are great.

I’ve travelled extensively since the age of 18 and I don’t think there’s any “better”, really. The experiences are different. I’m glad that I did the somewhat irresponsible and actually quite risky things when travelling that I felt immortal enough to do in my late teens and early twenties; and having a lot more money and a different outlook on life has definitely allowed for some equally great but different travel experiences as an older adult.

I travelled when younger too - so glad I did. I don't have the energy now that I did when I was younger.

I plan to travel once the children are grown up too.... but that will be closer to retirement travel .... so I guess best of both worlds - young and care free, older and more luxurious!

See the world through young eyes if you can.

When still full of hope.

Older, more money as you’re likely to have a much better paid job and there are biological advantages to having children in your 20s. There’s no right or wrong though.

Wow, you’re a ray of sunshine.

You can be middle age and older and still have hope and wonder and adventure.

I’ll be 58 when my Dd is 18…travelling alone with Dh will surely be completely different to what we were doing when we felt young and free even up to around 38 with trips to Thailand and Ibiza etc..I wonder how I’ll feel about it at 58 🤔

you need to play the hand you're dealt, it doesn't sound like early middle aged travel is an option for you, in the same way as early adult travelling wasn't an option for your friend.

Surely they are just different experiences, one isn’t ‘better’ than the other? DH travelled the world in his 20s, where as I didn’t. I couldn’t afford to and I didn’t have the confidence. Both of us are trying to do as much as we can to stay fit and healthy to have the option to travel as much as we can afford in retirement. I’d say this is probably even more DH’s goal than mine even though he’s been there and done that.

Different experiences I think, both with pros and cons. Energy wise, I look at people who are having kids at my age now (late 30s) and want to take a nap! Knowing how much energy kids take up, I don't know how people do it later in life! But I guess they do... so it's horses for courses...

Neither is better, they're just different experiences.

Your friend might be exhausted at the thought of having small children at 40 when she was done with all that in her mid-20s but that's the way your life worked out. No point in either of you regretting anything.

It's best to travel when the time is right for you.

There's no right or wrong answer.

I was crippled with anxiety when I was younger, so for me travelling when I'm older is better. The opposite is true for you. Both of those are fine!

Definitely younger, DH and I did albeit not together! I wouldn’t change it! Although all being well we’re going to rock retirement, saving up for the world cruise 🤣

It's also fine to not want to travel at all! Being content at home is also an excellent way to spend your time.

I think travel at any age is good. I've travelled as a young free singleton, sleeping in budget hostels and taking buses and trains across continents, and as an older, almost retired woman, travelling with my husband in a much more luxurious manner.

I had my DS when I was 18. I plan to do my travelling in a couple of years when he goes off to uni. I have plenty of energy! Lack of energy comes from having young kids in my experience. 😁

I'm far more outgoing and daring now at 33 than I was at 18. I'm more comfortable with myself, less tolerant of bullshit. I don't have a partner, I plan on joining group tours.

Both! Holidays are always fun. I had some amazing times in my late teens, but were mostly spent drinking/dancing/snogging/sunbathing. Mid-20s still clubbing, but also more culture. 30s more romantic couples holidays (still some clubbing!), mostly cultural and a lot of swanky hotels and amazing food. Late 30s, holidays with a baby, as much culture as we can fit in, but no longer hours in galleries/architectural tours, or long concerts. Still lots of fun exploring cities and relaxing on a beach making sandcastles.

I have loved all of them and just thankful I’ve been lucky enough to have been able to experience them.

Definitely younger, I saw countries before they became massively developed, busy. had more energy, less cautious.
still travel now but luxury, high end as I have more money.

Firstly, I don't think it has to be 'either / or'. You can do both.

I'm 58 and have just been travelling with dh.
Yes, it's different from the travelling I did with my friend 35 years ago, but both have their merits.
Having more money (now) definitely has huge plus points over travelling on a shoestring back in my youth. Yes, we probably have less energy, but it is nice being able to afford to go in to more places you visit rather than just looking from the outside, and to be able to enjoy more experiences than I ever could have done when we were young and skint.

I haven't stopped travelling. Now that we have kids (late 30s) we just bring them with us. I guess the good thing about waiting for us was we now earn enough to be able to do that without really worrying about it, which was not the case in our 20s.

I travelled young and had a blast, but I think a lot of the cultural, historical and political subtleties went over my head. Now, I have a much better frame of reference and enjoy taking my time to explore new places.

You cannot really compare. Swings and roundabouts.