THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS FROM WHICH WE MIGHT MAKE A COMMISSION.
Why wait to travel the world? Your teenage years are the perfect time to travel. Waiting until you retire, or even until after you graduate from college, will be too late to really experience the freedom and independence traveling at a young age will give you. Maybe you think that taking a semester studying abroad is enough, but it’s not. Nothing compares to the thrill of traveling the world as a teenager. So take a break from high school, take a gap year before college, take a lads trip to Europe over the summer, or just take off for good as soon as you get a drivers license.
I took a gap year between high school and college and before that traveled every chance I had: summer vacations, Christmas break, spring break. Traveling as a teenager changed my life. So you should travel the world in your teen years too.
Here are nineteen reasons you should travel the world in your teens:
1. Your parents aren’t there.
If you’re a teenager, most likely you live with your parents. And your parents are probably always on your case. They want you to clean your room. They want you to do the dishes. They want you to do your homework. Fuck that. If you travel the world, you’re your only boss and you have no one tell you what to do. Plus hostels have someone to make your bed for you.
2. You have no responsibilities.
School. Parents. Jobs. Traveling as a teenager you have no responsibilities. None.
3. You’ll meet all kinds of new people.
At home, you’ve probably been friends with the same people since kindergarten. Traveling will open your eyes to a whole new group of friends. You’ll meet people from Australia, England, Europe: people from all over the world who will open your eyes to different cultures and ways of life.
4. You can drink. Legally.
In America the legal drinking age is 21. But elsewhere? It’s younger. And no one cares anyways. Travel the world, and you can drink before 21 and no one cares.
5. You can smoke pot. Legally.
Sure some states in America are catching on, but not many. Unless you live in Colorado or Washington, you’re out of luck. But if you travel to Amsterdam, you’ll not only experience a different culture, but you can do it while high and no one can stop you
6. You can up your country count.
The younger you travel, the more countries you can say you’ve seen earlier than anyone else. Maybe your friends have been to a two or three countries. You can say you’ve been to ten or thirty.
7. You have time.
Never again in your life will you have the time to travel that you have to travel as a teen. After you start college you’ll get stuck in the brainwashed path of school, career, family. Once you’re in college, have a job, or have kids, you may never have the time to travel again.
8. You have your parent’s bank account.
When you’re a teenager it’s totally acceptable to ask your parents to pay for your travels. Do it under the guise of life experience or college application booster. Tell them you plan to volunteer or something (even if you just plan to party). They eat that shit up.
9. It will look great on college applications.
Tell college admissions you volunteered or something (even if you just partied). They eat that shit up.
10. You might finally lose your virginity.
Girls who travel are easy. Want to lose your virginity and all the girls in your high school too much a prude? Just travel. Plus you’ll get ultimate bragging rights back home if you can say you lost your virginity banging some Swedish girl in the shower.
11. You’ll learn new things you wouldn’t at home.
While traveling the world you’ll learn so many new things you wouldn’t learn at home. Whether that’s surfing, foreign card games, how to open a beer bottle with just a lighter, or how to ride an elephant.
12. You have nothing to hold you back.
As a teenager you have literally nothing that is yours. Everything you own belongs to your parents so you can leave it behind. Your room, clothes, cell phone: none of it’s yours. And your high school sweetheart? She doesn’t ever have to know about that hot Brazilian.
13. You’ll be more daring.
All those backpackers in their 20s, 30s, or older are too set in their ways. Teenagers are free. You won’t care about the consequences of your actions. So go bungee jumping, go sky diving, so diving with sharks, jump off a rope swing into a cenote. Do everything. You might think twice when you’re older if not.
14. You’ll find yourself.
Going out into the world with nothing more than the clothes on your back builds character and shows you who you really are. You’ve probably been sheltered and safe your whole life. Traveling the world reveals the true you.
15. You can make your friends jealous.
Face it. Most of your friends aren’t traveling long term. They probably aren’t traveling at all outside of a family trip to Disneyland. If you travel, you’ll be the coolest kid in your high school. And Facebook will prove it. Make everyone jealous that you backpacked through Southeast Asia all summer while they were babysitting back home.
16. You’ll receive a real education.
You think you learned anything in high school? I sure didn’t. I barely passed. But traveling the world? You learn so much more than you ever will in a classroom.
17. Your body is great.
After high school, your body starts to go downhill. Ever heard of the freshman 15? In high school you’re forced to take gym classes so you’ll be at the peak of fit. So travel while you still have a 6-pack or can rock a bikini. You’ll look better in photos and pick up much hotter foreigners.
18. Travel is the ultimate freedom.
When you travel around the world as a teenager you can do what you want, when you want. You have nothing holding you back. It’s the ultimate freedom.
19. It will be the most amazing thing you’ve ever done.
Trust me. There is no reason to put off travel. You’ll have the most amazing adventure. You won’t ever be able to capture the care-free spirit you have in your teenage years again. So travel young. Travel often.
Did you travel the world in your teens? Was it the best or what?
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