Is travelling in your twenties romanticised?

I feel like I can’t be the only one that when mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, comes across an aesthetic post or reel of someone who is somewhere in the world that’s a darn sight more interesting than where I am, lying in my bed scrolling my life away. You’re filled with the sudden desire to be where they are, to have one of these great and colourful adventures in a new country, exploring new cultures and locations. But hold on. You’re only 20, which means you’re likely, a) in full time education or employment, b) broke, or c) both of these. So instead, you stay in your bed and ignore the pull of a new adventure due to its complete lack of feasibility.

You’re only 20, which means you’re likely, a) in full time education or employment, b) broke, or c) both of these.

However, one thing you might not consider when you’re daydreaming about travel in your 20s is whether you’d actually get to have these magical adventures and opportunities when you travel that are presented to you online. So much of the content we consume online is meticulously handpicked, and in the case of travel content, you’re likely to only be seeing small snippets of the very best parts of someone’s holiday. You actually have no idea what stresses that same person could have experienced because they chose not to share it. This is what I mean when I say travel is romanticised, the idea that you’d have this perfect, stress free, break where you could explore and relax to your heart’s content. I’m sure this sort of travel experience is possible, but for most of us, especially when we’re in our 20s, this is not going to be the case should we get the chance to travel.

So much of the content we consume online is meticulously handpicked, and in the case of travel content, you’re likely to only be seeing small snippets of the very best parts of someone’s holiday.

While I personally have not got the chance to travel much, mostly due to a lack of money, the one trip I have taken independently of my family was not at all what I expected it to be. I fell prey to the content I consumed about the area I was travelling to, and when I got off of the plane, I felt so ready to take on this new place. I’m young, so you’d expect me to be full of energy and in peak health, and therefore perfectly capable to do anything I put my mind to. The reality couldn’t have been more different. Hit with food poisoning on the first night of my six-day trip, I could not eat more than a small bit of pasta or cheese for the rest of the holiday – there goes my plans to experience local cuisine. My poor health and lack of sleep caught up to me after three days of being constantly on my feet, and each of these days were sprinkled with their fair share of travel problems, language barriers, and unfortunately, creepy men. I was exhausted, overstimulated and ill, this was not the holiday that had been sold to me on social media.

Perhaps next time I will not be going with a romanticised outlook on travel and will instead focus on living in the moment.

Looking back at this trip, it’s obvious I had some serious setbacks, at it really highlighted my young age and inexperience in particular. However, I still have a few good memories and photos from this trip, and it has definitely not put me off of travel altogether, but perhaps next time I will not be going with a romanticised outlook on travel and will instead focus on living in the moment, taking what I can from the experience, and accepting that things will go wrong.

There is so much pressure put on those of us in our 20s to see the world now, ‘while you’re still young and able’. I do in part agree with this, because you might not see me doing as much cliff diving or hiking in my 60s, but that doesn’t mean we have to tick off our entire travel bucket list in our 20s just because social media might romanticise the idea of seeing the whole world when we’re younger. Personally, I intend to strike a balance. Finances and time permitting, I would love to travel more in the next 10 years when I can, but I am in no rush to complete a checklist or to have the perfect travel experience. Reflecting on my first trip showed me that there’s still great memories to be made in the most chaotic of travel experiences. It’s all part of your journey, the unpredictable nature of travel. While it might not be fun in the moment, there’s always something you can take from it.

I am in no rush to complete a checklist or to have the perfect travel experience.

So maybe don’t believe everything you seen on social media, with people’s perfect stories from a fancy hotel pool or never-ending beach, there’s more to travel than a perfectly curated and romanticised snapshot.