The struggles of planning a world trip when you’re 30
I don’t really like to plan.. Especially when it comes to travelling, I like to take things as they come.
But as you get older and your responsibilities increase, your life becomes more structured, you can’t just drop everything and leave..
Well, maybe you could, but by now you have learnt that it would be highly irresponsible to do so.. So actually going on a world trip is a lot different when you’re 30 than if you were still 20.
I have a home, a mortgage and a steady job. A fixed income. A structured life, where everyday is similar to the previous and each day you know what is expected of you.. and to some regard, the expectations are enormous. Once you make the decision to leave everything behind and go on an adventure, there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of.
I wish it was still as simple as it was 10 years ago. When you’ve just finished school, don’t have a job yet, don’t have money but also don’t have debt. Don’t have a home, but also don’t have stuff..
Stuff needs to go somewhere when you leave. You can’t just leave stuff behind. Literally.. I’m renting out my apartment while I’m away. So I can leave the majority of my stuff behind for the tenant. But that’s only the furniture etcetera. Have you ever considered how much stuff you’ve gathered in the last 10 years? There is only one moment you truly realize the extent of your collection: when you need to move it.
So the last few weeks (and probably the weeks to come) I’ve been considering all my stuff.. What needs to stay for my tenant? What needs to stay so I can take it with me on my trip? What needs to stay for now, because I plan on using it during my last months at home? And what is already obsolete and can be packed up to be stored? It’s a lot of thinking and a lot of planning, and it takes a bit of the fun out of going on a world trip. I’d rather spend my time thinking about the exotic places I’ll be visiting, than thinking about whether or not I should already pack up my toaster..