Obvious? Maybe. True? Absolutely. Age brings with it many things – knowledge, experience, god damn wrinkles – but one things for sure, as we get older, our sense of adventure and what we want from our travels changes just as much as we do.
You get More Confident
From the outside the world can look like a pretty scary place, but the more you explore and travel the more you realise it really isn’t. As long as you’re safe about what you do and where you go, travel will continue to push you out of your comfort zone and improve your confidence in so many different ways, be it seeing how easy it is to make friends on your first solo travel experience, travelling in a third-world country and realising we only need the bare essentials, or physically pushing yourself to new levels when trekking your way up a mountain. Like all good things, this takes time – but the older you get, the more you travel and the more confident traveller and person you become!
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You take greater (calculated) risks
And with increased confidence comes increased risks … calculated risks (as we’re older and wiser, obvs). Risks may be not booking your accommodation until the night before so you can get a slamming last minute deal, or a risk could be hiring out a car and going off the beaten track to explore some of nature’s most beautiful sites. Becoming more ‘worldly wise’ over time enables us to establish which risks are legit, and which are a no go (e.g. drunken 4am swims in the sea are most definitely not calculated).
Your travel bucket list becomes a whole lot bigger
Thinking about the world age 15, my travel bucket list consisted of anywhere with a beach and some sun. Today, travel takes me a whole lot further than a fly and flop holiday and sure, I still enjoy catching rays but there’s a whole lot more I’m chasing than just a sweet tan. Exploring new cultures, foods, trekking through jungles, waking up at 4am for a sunrise Safari, white water-rafting through rainforests, teaching at schools in Asia and dune driving through the sands of the Sahara, these are all experiences I’ve craved over the last few years… not a sun bed in sight! Of course, this insatiable hunger for travel is a blessing and a curse – so many places, so little time…
You’re brave enough to go off the beaten track
And the one main reason for the never ending bucket list …. Well, you don’t want to just go where everyone else goes, do you? Tourist traps, see yaaaaa. You’ve done the basic travel musts, now it’s time to really see what’s out there. Go off piste, take a trip away from the path, venture into the outback of Australia, the mists of the Amazon rainforest, the crooked side streets of Italy, mingle with the locals, live their lives and really immerse into new cultures – that’s what authentic adventures are all about, right?
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Solo Travel becomes the norm
When I first started travelling it was a family affair, then group holidays with my friends in holiday resorts or beach towns. Next were the road trips, and before I knew it I was jetting over to the other side of the world solo with no plans, just me, myself, my backpack and a little $$$. It’s the natural process of your travel journey, it just happens. The majority of solo travellers will tell you it’s by far the best kind of travel experience for as great as it is to travel with friends, families and other halves, nothing quite compares to the freedom of solo travel.
You do things you thought you were never capable of
Increased confidence, solo travel, going off the beaten track, taking more risks, this all adds up to pushing yourself further then you ever thought possible. Physically, mentally, spiritually – travel takes you on all different types of journeys and the more experienced traveller you become, the more you challenge yourself. You’ll surprise yourself, you’ll overcome fears, you’ll discover new interests, you’ll understand and learn more about yourself, and one things for sure – your travelling experiences will just get sweeter and sweeter.