Settle Down or Keep on Travelling??? Fun vs Security

cerey

When I was at home, all I wanted (thought I wanted) was to settle down, get a good job, have kids, buy house etc etc....la la la

Been travelling two years now. Like a new lease of life. Have saved more money working in Temp jobs while travelling than I did on my big salary back home...

Am wondering should we conform to social pressures to have material things and "save" our money. Ok, we do need savings for a rainy day, but why work in jobs most of us do not like to save money we are never goin to spend....?! Is this living??

I could happily travel for the rest of my life and be happy....but hardly a chance of having kids while trying to maintain this lifestyle.

The oldest and happiest people in the world are those which do not live in first world countries such as ours, and live a fairly stress free life due to lesser social demands.

How the hell do we find the right balance????? Very confused :mad:

DamoDLK

Spain every year for a week ftw!!!


(Sorry... this isn't AH!)

Find a place you like the most and settle down:)

dearg lady

may i ask how old you are? i would say travel as long as it makes you happy. Chances are at some point you will want to settle, but don't force it if you don't want to.
If you don't have anything tying you to one place you are lucky, enjoy it!

cerey

dearg lady wrote: »

may i ask how old you are? i would say travel as long as it makes you happy. Chances are at some point you will want to settle, but don't force it if you don't want to.
If you don't have anything tying you to one place you are lucky, enjoy it!

Im 28. Would love to keep travelling but am worried by time I decide to settle down, will have thrown away my career and will have to start all over again in my thirties!!!! Plus get my firts mortgage at that age :eek:......

Zambia

cerey wrote: »

Im 28. Would love to keep travelling but am worried by time I decide to settle down, will have thrown away my career and will have to start all over again in my thirties!!!! Plus get my firts mortgage at that age :eek:......

All well possible.

Rest assured the travel bug does fade.

pclancy

Am in much the same boat being 28 and nowhere near considering going back to Ireland to settle down. Why bother. Have job. Have visa. Dont have incredible amounts of money but have very good life.

If it aint broke dont fix it. Enjoy it for as long as it lasts then move on somewhere else.

I'm learning Spanish and when I'm bored here i'll head off somewhere in South America for a while.

Feck material things, they are worth nothing to you on your deathbed so just enjoy it while you have freedom. Kids and sometimes careers will one day take that away somewhat so just enjoy it

mikewest

Zambia232 wrote: »

Rest assured the travel bug does fade.

Does it? I stopped travelling for personal reasons at 28 and having stopped, a partner and kids came along, but now that old travel bug is really starting to itch again and luckily my partner is starting to feel the itch as well so I will probably be on the road down under by the end of this year with partner and kids in tow. Career wise the stupidest thing I ever did was stop travelling! Luckily for me what I do is in demand in "interesting" places around the world but not always very civilized places so my travel options are slightly more limited with kids in tow because they need schooling and some stability to grow up.

OP why not stop travelling for a year or so somewhere nice and see what the world throws your way. Maybe don't put down too deep of roots though, like a mortgage aka millstone.

Zambia

mikewest wrote: »

Does it? I stopped travelling for personal reasons at 28 and having stopped, a partner and kids came along, but now that old travel bug is really starting to itch again and luckily my partner is starting to feel the itch as well so I will probably be on the road down under by the end of this year with partner and kids in tow. Career wise the stupidest thing I ever did was stop travelling! Luckily for me what I do is in demand in "interesting" places around the world but not always very civilized places so my travel options are slightly more limited with kids in tow because they need schooling and some stability to grow up.

OP why not stop travelling for a year or so somewhere nice and see what the world throws your way. Maybe don't put down too deep of roots though, like a mortgage aka millstone.

Yes but you will not be travelling you will just relocate, you should not just keep swanning around the world up rooting your kids every 1-2 years. Unless they are over 12 then you can stick em in a Boarding school and they can visit you three times a year.

The urge to keep wandering around the world a month at a time is what I am talking about but of course I admit there are exceptions.

NikNakOoo

OP, don't feel like you have to settled down just because you think this is what is expected.

I'm 31, I had bought my first house when I was 26, thinking that's what I wanted and what I should do... relationship broke down, sold house. Travelled for 4 months around Europe, and realised that life is too short to settle down till you're really ready... despite it being the Australian dream, having a house doesn't make you happy! Have been living overseas for a year now and travelling like crazy in my down time... haven't been this happy in years. Don't plan to settle down for many years to come (despite the snips about my body clock ticking, blahblahblah.) In my view, 28 is too young to settle down... travel while you can, because once you settle down it'll be too hard to travel like you are doing so now.

Chet Zar

NikNakOoo wrote: »

OP, don't feel like you have to settled down just because you think this is what is expected.

I'm 31, I had bought my first house when I was 26, thinking that's what I wanted and what I should do... relationship broke down, sold house. Travelled for 4 months around Europe, and realised that life is too short to settle down till you're really ready... despite it being the Australian dream, having a house doesn't make you happy! Have been living overseas for a year now and travelling like crazy in my down time... haven't been this happy in years. Don't plan to settle down for many years to come (despite the snips about my body clock ticking, blahblahblah.) In my view, 28 is too young to settle down... travel while you can, because once you settle down it'll be too hard to travel like you are doing so now.

Amen to all of that! Defo not one for the get married>buy a place>have kids expectation that society lays down on ya myself either!!

Zambia

Chet Zar wrote: »

Amen to all of that! Defo not one for the get married>buy a place>have kids expectation that society lays down on ya myself either!!

Who has ever said that to you?

Everyone has a choice in life they can choose to live as they wish. The only thing "society" tells you to do is obey the laws of the land.