Travelling in Your 30s vs 20s: Is It Too Late to Go Backpacking?

No one bats an eye if you announce you’re going backpacking in your 20s: people expect it ,a gap year is a rite of passage. In your 30s expectations shift: buying property, getting married, having kids. It’s not really the done thing to pack up your life into a backpack and catch a one way flight to a far flung country, but it’s becoming a far more popular choice for people in their 30s than ever before.

Travelling in your 30s vs 20s certainly looks different, but it definitely doesn’t mean you’re too old. Having done three long term backpacking trips over the past 15 years – 2 in my twenties and the most recent being a year long career break in my late 30s – I actually think travelling in your 30s is better in lots of ways compared to your 20s.

There are advantages to travelling at both ages, but the appreciation a career break gives you 10-15 years into your career is unmatched. Doing something different to the status quo by going travelling in my 30s gave me such a thrill; instead of watching life happen around me, I decided to take control and spend a year doing something I truly loved.

If you’re thinking about scratching that travel itch to take a career break and go backpacking, understanding the differences on what to expect when travelling in your 30s vs 20s will help you decide not only whether to take the leap, but how to get the most out of a travel style that suits you now.

The Biggest Differences Between Travelling in Your 30s and 20s

Travelling in Your 20s: Chaotic Freedom, Partying and Roughing It

Backpacking trips in your 20s tend to be full of clichés: twenty bed dorm rooms in dodgy hostels, questionable buses, the cheapest flights with the longest layovers and plenty of very cheap beers.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not getting quality sleep because your bounce back after a night out is hours rather than days and those big nights make it easy to find new friends quickly.

Travelling in your 20s means being more impulsive – both a good and not-so-great thing depending on what it is! I was far less risk averse in my 20s, and I shudder at some of the irresponsible stuff I did when backpacking at 22. It was chaotic, but that’s also what made it so fun.

But I don’t think you can appreciate long term travel in your 20s in the same way when you’re older: you’re not deep enough into your career to fully enjoy the freedom that comes from simply not working the corporate grind every day.

I went on two long term backpacking trips in my 20s and I don’t regret either of them, but there is something really special about the career break I took in my 30s.

Travelling in Your 30s: More Money, More Confidence, More Thoughtful Travel

More Money To Spend

Career advancement means you’re likely to have more money to spend when you’re travelling in your 30s, which above all gives you choice.

You don’t have to stay in the cheapest hostel or take the worst, longest transport option. You can splash out on a Little Treat here and there: a nice meal out, a cocktail at a rooftop bar, a private room. More money allows you to choose tours and experiences based on the best reviews and most convenient timings, not just picking the cheapest option to save pennies.

Having a bigger budget to afford small comforts along the way allows you to enjoy travel in your 30s in a way that you can’t in your 20s.

More Confidence Makes Travel More Enjoyable

There’s something that happens to most people when you reach your 30s: you start caring less about what other people think. It’s one of the most refreshing parts of getting older, and it makes life better, including travel.

I had so much more confidence to say no to the things I didn’t want to do on my 30s backpacking trip: an activity that didn’t appeal, a night out I didn’t want to go on. I just did what I wanted and I know in my 20s I felt the pressure more.

The older you are, the better you know yourself, and you’re more comfortable in your own company. Solo travel in your 30s can still be something to get used to if you’ve never done it before, but the increased confidence you have will set you up in good stead for mastering it.

Travel Becomes More Intentional and Slow Paced

When you’ve got a finite amount of time away from work to travel, you think more carefully about where it is you want to travel to and what you want to do with your freedom. It may be tempting to fit as much in as possible, but given many people taking career breaks in their 30s are suffering from corporate burn out, it’s important to bear in mind that fast travel can burn you out too. You want to make sure you’re not travelling so fast across large distances that you come back more tired than when you left. In your 30s you’re well aware that ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ isn’t quite the flex it was in your 20s.

Focusing on specific experiences you want to do versus ticking off as many countries as possible allows you a more enriching and meaningful time away, as well as time to relax and truly get a feel for the place you are travelling. If you’re travelling so fast you only have 2 nights in a place all the time, you’ll barely scratch the surface and wear yourself out. When you’re younger, you’re definitely less impacted by this.

Much Higher Appreciation

Travelling in your 30s brings a much higher appreciation for the time and freedom you have to explore new destinations, meet cool new people you may otherwise never cross paths with and enjoy some bucket list experiences.

It may take you a while to fully relax into the backpacker life after leaving your job, I know it did for me, but once you have, the appreciation for being able to wake up every day and not have to go sit at a desk for hours on end in a high stress environment is off the charts. It never gets old; even if you have a bit of travel fatigue or suffer with some loneliness whilst travelling, the gratitude for the freedom you have at this point in your life is huge. You earnt this – enjoy it!

Taking a Career Break in Your 30s

A career break is becoming an increasingly popular choice amongst people in their 30s for good reason. Millennials have been faced with multiple recessions, high interest rates and crazy cost of living increases from the moment we left school, all before we turned 40. We are exhausted.

Career burnout and expensive costs in the UK naturally make you dream of getting away for a while, and consider how much further your money could go elsewhere. People in their 30s are reassessing their priorities, and for those who eventually want to start a family, it can be very ‘now or never’ because whilst possible, travelling with kids is a very different vibe.

It’s a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason: you won’t remember the long days stuck at a desk, but you will remember the time you took out of the rat race to go travelling in your 30s and saw the world.

To help you plan your escape, I’ve put together a full career break hub of resources here.

Can You Still Backpack in Your 30s?

Of course you can still backpack in your 30s! The beauty of travel is there are no age limitations: as long as you have a passport and the means to travel, you can – it just looks a little different to how it may have done before.

Comfort levels tend to change the older you get: you’re used to more every day luxuries, privacy and have higher standards. I’m even particular about the bedding I sleep in and the pillows I use, so I knew being faced with the absence of certain things that make me comfortable would be a challenge when backpacking in my 30s. But the alternative of not seeing Latin America, taking my time travelling through Rajasthan and island hopping the local islands in The Maldives? These small comforts are ultimately small sacrifices to make for huge reward.

Thankfully, a bigger budget means you can spend more on the things that bring you more comfort. That may be doing a mix of hostel dorms and private rooms, the VIP seat on the overnight bus, or catching a minibus shuttle instead of navigating 4 local buses to reach the same destination.

Backpacking in your 30s doesn’t have to look the same as it would in your 20s. It’s not cheating if you don’t want to stay in the cheapest accommodation or take the longest, cheapest transport to get somewhere. Let your backpacking style adjust to your age.

Your Biggest Fears About Travelling in Your 30s: The Truth Revealed

A lot of people put off going travelling out of fear, especially when they are older. I understand the concerns, but I’m also here to debunk them.

Fear: “I’m too old”

Firstly, you are so much younger than you think you are! That said, you also aren’t getting any younger, and if this is something you’re worried about now, putting off your travel dreams is only going to get harder as the years pass.

Secondly, no one cares how old you are. Sure, you’ll meet people younger than you – the vast majority of them will be happy to be faced with a real life example that shows they don’t have to stop travelling as they get older. Even 20-somethings think they’re running out of time, and you are the proof that they’re not.

You’re only as old as you feel, and there are plenty of ways to adjust your travel style to suit being in your 30s.

Fear: “I won’t meet Anyone My Age”

I met and formed friendships with people fresh out of university to women solo travelling in their 50s. Travel is for everyone of all ages. Where you choose to travel will have an impact on this too – cheaper regions attract younger people as they have less disposable income than travellers in their 30s and 40s.

Generally you will find that yes, you will meet people younger than you, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get on and enjoy each other’s company. Don’t be too narrow minded based on someone’s age; having friends in different generations is actually pretty great.

Fear: “It will damage my career”

This is an understandable fear for people in their 30s, and one that can be slightly dependant on what you do for a living and the kind of industry you work in. The best option for many in their 30s will be to secure a sabbatical if they can, allowing them freedom to travel with the security of their job to come back to.

Many companies offer sabbaticals as a perk: they know many people want to take a break, they understand that and they would rather keep the talent in the company by holding their jobs for them on their return.

There are also great advantages to taking a career break that can help your professional life. Aside from building on your people skills and improving your problem solving abilities, the chance to recover from burnout and return refreshed and rejuvenated so you can go back to work with energy and fresh ideas can be a huge asset.

If you are really worried about this, maybe consider taking a shorter trip for 3 months. That time flies by when you’re at home, but when you’re travelling they feel a lot longer as you can fit so much in. In the grand scheme of your 45 year career, 3 months is nothing.

Fear: “I’ll Hate It And I Will Have Uprooted My Life And Career For Nothing”

Trust me, you’re not going to hate it. You’re not going to hate experiencing different cultures, seeing amazing natural beauty and meeting cool people every week. You’re not going to hate the freedom of going wherever you want when you want, instead of spending your days commuting and working long hours. You’re not going to hate hiking the Inca Trail or seeing tigers on safari. Trust me.

But if for some reason you do, you can be really proud of yourself for trying something different and taking the leap. Remember, you’re only ever 24 hours from home.

Is Travelling in Your 30s Better Than Your 20s?

In many ways travelling in your 30s is better than in your 20s – having more money to spend, more appreciation for the break from work and choosing things you know you really want to do make it so. But when you are in your 20s, you don’t care so much about those things, so they aren’t factors that take away from your experience. When I backpacked in my 20s, I just wanted to travel and see as much as possible, I didn’t care that I couldn’t afford a restaurant over street food or a night in a nice hotel. It wasn’t on my radar.

Your 20s is about freedom, discovery and having fun. For most people this will involve a lot of partying and big, social hostels that make it easy to meet people. That style was perfect for my long backpacking trips in my 20s, but not so much now. My travel style has changed.

Now I want to stay somewhere more peaceful; I cannot cope partying every night because the hangovers last two days. Things have changed, and I’ve love the way I now travel in my 30s: being able to afford Little Treats like staying in a fancy hotel or choosing the more expensive tour option. That simply wasn’t an option in my 20s.

The experiences of backpacking in your 30s vs 20s are different, but the style of travel I can enjoy in my 30s is one that suits me more than the way I travelled in my 20s. You change as you grow older, and for most people, their travel style changes too.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Let Your Age Bracket Hold You Back

Being in your 30s offers so many advantages to going travelling; even if you’ve backpacked in your 20s the experience of it in your 30s will be so different than before.

Whether you take a 3 month trip or want to travel for a year, it’s a really short amount of time relative to the 45+ years you’ll have worked before retirement comes around. If you’re still thinking about it, I’ve got a full section on planning a career break here.

It’s scarier to leave your life and career the older you get, but I truly believe it’s scarier to stay feeling stuck and miss out on the freedom to see places and do the bucket list things you’ve dreamed of whilst you’re still young and able. We only have one shot of this life and we don’t know how long any of us are here for; we shouldn’t put things off or stay afraid due to our age.

Travelling In your 30s vs 20s: FAQ

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