should i travel now or save for the future?
Last year, I spent a month traveling around Australia, and honestly, it was incredible—except for the part where I kept worrying about how much money I was spending. I shelled out about £6,000 (which still makes me wince a little), and now I’m sitting here in the UK, freshly qualified as a teacher, but still job hunting with nothing solid lined up.
Now, I’m thinking about spending the summer in Italy with my boyfriend, and I keep daydreaming about bigger adventures—like Thailand, Peru, or even Jordan. But every time I get excited, that little voice in my head reminds me: "You’re dipping into your savings, and who knows when you’ll have a steady paycheck again?" It’s not like teaching jobs are famous for long vacations either. Most schools I’ve talked to say I’d only get a few weeks off in August and maybe a week or two at Christmas. That’s not much time for the kind of trips I want to take.
I’m torn. On one hand, I’m healthy, I don’t have kids or a mortgage, and I know once I start working full-time, it’ll be tough to take long trips. On the other hand, I worry that if I blow my savings now, I’ll regret it later—especially when it comes time to buy a house or deal with real grown-up stuff. Has anyone else faced this tug-of-war between seeing the world and building a secure future? Did you end up wishing you’d traveled more, or do you wish you’d saved your money instead? I can’t help but feel like there’s no perfect answer, and it’s driving me a little nuts.
#traveldecisions #midlifequestions #savemoney #Travel
