Turning 26: The Next Travel Frontier

I'll be turning 26 in a couple weeks, and 26 is a big age in the realm of budget travel. Once I turn 26, I will no longer be eligible for the more common Young Adult/Youth discounts on tickets for museums, train tickets, and other attractions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world. This saddens me since I was really hoping to do a huge backpacking trip through Europe some time before 26 to take advantage of these deals. But it is what it is, and as I get older, I will turn my travel goals toward the next big age in budget travel: 30. Once I turn 30, I will no longer be eligible for a handful of amazing Working Holiday Visas that exist in magical countries like New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. Many countries offer U.S. citizens (and others) a one or two year visa for work and play if you apply before you are 30 years old. That gives me four years to plan and execute a working holiday year in at least one fun country.

The biggest road block toward accomplishing this in my life is that is difficult to leave a job like mine. I have a very liberal paid-time-off setup, and I really enjoy my job. It's the next best thing to traveling the world. I get to work with maps and plans, and on nights and weekends I get to travel for fun. And within a year and a half, I will qualify to take the American Institute of Certified Planners exam to become a certified city planner. Having that AICP certification is like passing the bar exam for urban planning, and being so close to that goal, I'm not sure that I want to leave just yet. 


So although I don't yet know how it will work out, I have four years to find some way to take advantage of one of those working holiday visas before I turn the big 3-0. I can't wait to make it happen!

Picture from my 25th birthday last year when I was in Savannah, GA for the
National Preservation Conference. I love it when work and travel go together!