The Difference Between Travelling in Your Early 20s Versus Your Early 30s

What a difference a decade makes.

Once upon a time in your early 20s, you thought you’d forever opt for saving a buck or two any way you could on your vacation. After all, bedbugs and saggy mattresses aside, skimping here and there just meant you can afford to buy more beer later.

But as time went by, your habits changed and suddenly we consider sleeping in the same room as 11 other snoring humans or drinking until 5 am and wasting precious hours sightseeing in the day as highly undesirable.

Sure, things are little different than they used to be. But that doesn’t mean travelling in your 30s is any less fun than it was in your 20s: there are just a few minor changes that we’ve noticed.

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Planning a trip
Early 20s:
“Well, Caitlyn went to a Full Moon Party and she said it was AWESOME.”
Early 30s: Caitlyn is an idiot. Months of extensive research goes into planning your perfect trip based on a number of factors including peak seasons, average climate and user reviews. Spontaneity is only for the lazy.

Accommodation
Early 20s: 
You got four nights for the price of three when you booked into ‘City Guesthouse’ online. Only trouble is, it’s on the outskirts of the ‘city’ and you run up a huge debt ordering a cab downtown twice daily.
Early 30s: You’ve read up on the best places to stay, scrolling through hundreds of user reviews and travel comparison websites. You went for a quirky little neighbourhood just outside the centre of town, close enough to comfortably commute but with its own unique vibe.

Daytrippin
Early 20s:
Head out for the day in hot pants, sunglasses, and a tiny purse that can barely hold your wallet. Refused entry from all temples because you are baring too much skin and return a deep shade of lobster after burning badly. 
Early 30s:
You take a backpack which has everything you need for the day; travel guide, water, sunscreen and, most importantly, snacks – you wasted years of your 20s feeling ‘hangry’, so you’re not about to waste another week of precious vacation.

Socializing:
Early 20s:
Many evenings are spent sitting in a circle with other travellers, listening to ‘Spike’ playing some of his own compositions on the guitar. That is until some drunk Brit comes along and demands a ‘Wonderwall’ sing-a-long.
Early 30s: You came on vacation to escape people, not to meet more of them. You already had some gentle hockey-related banter with a guy you met from Vancouver yesterday – you’re tapped out for the holiday.

Eating
Early 20s:
You still have a kilo of pasta left so you might cook some of that in the kitchen. Or perhaps you’ll inspect the ‘free’ shelf in your hostel fridge. Failing that, there has to be a McDonald’s around here somewhere. 
Early 30s:
A combination of street food (because you’re down with the locals) and Zagat-rated restaurants. “Keep the change” you say, winking at the waiter and knowing full well that even with a gratuity the meal costs less than a beer at a King street bar.

Drinking
Early 20s: One tequila, two tequila, three tequila… floor. *Picks self up*. Four tequila, five tequila, etc. This, of course, is interchangeable with ANYTHING on special at the hostel bar that night, and yes, thank you, hostel proprietor, you’d love another glass of that local firewater you’ve been handing out all evening.
Early 30s: A bottle of the finest vino with your meal, coupled with extensive conversation about wine pairings and the fermentation process. This may lead to a follow-up wine tour in the region to try the grape first-hand. Your server brings you some complimentary after-dinner liqueur, and by then you’re feeling pretty crazy (if by crazy you mean sleepy).

Evening Entertainment
Early 20s:
Your evening doesn’t really get going until midnight. That’s those crazy Europeans for you. You start drinking at the bar with other travellers around 9 p.m. and then head to a super club at 12.30 a.m. The rest is a blur. A long blur.
Early 30s: 
After your evening meal, you might head to a bar if you’re not in too much of a food coma. After one and a half beers, you tell yourself that tomorrow night will be different – you’re just a little jet lagged still – and faceplant a pillow before midnight.

Nighttime
Early 20s:
You climb into your bunk and are lulled gently to sleep by the sound of a Dutch couple going hammer and tongue in the bed below you accompanied by the snoring of other oblivious dorm mates.
Early 30s:
You have a key to your bedroom. And the door has a lock.

Hangovers
Early 20s:
 Wake up. Feel dreadful. Drag yourself to the beach. Experiment with a ‘hair of the dog’. Feel semi-normal again. Order another beer. Cured.
Early 30s: You lose a whole day of your vacation to that limoncello you had with your dinner. You swear off spirits forever and can’t even so much as look at a shot glass for the rest of the vacation without heaving.

Safety
Early 20s: Keeping money in your bra is a perfectly safe way to ward off potential pickpockets and thieves. They’ll never suspect it either – unless you take part in a wet t-shirt competition. Which, let’s face it, you probably will after you “discreetly” dislodge some euros from your wonderbra to pay for yet another round of shots at the bar.
Early 30s: You actually have a fanny pack.

Image: Yep Bag

Budget
Early 20s
: You hunt around for the best bargains, not understanding that the savings you make now will come back to haunt you later. Like that heavily discounted tour of Halong Bay, where the only form of entertainment on the “party boat” was a DVD of Mission Impossible 3 dubbed in Vietnamese.
Early 30s: You book your excursion from a licensed travel agent you found in your Lonely Planet, read the fine print of the terms and conditions extensively, and pay for cancellation cover just in case something happens. YOLO has no place here.

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