How do young adults in Europe manage to travel extensively across the globe?

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chincheckmcgee@reddit

The very real answer is most (not all but the vast majority) of young people that travel ‘extensively across the globe’ (ie not just knocking around Europe) either (a) earn a lot of money at a young age, (b) have parents that provide a financial foundation that allows them to do these things I know plenty of people in the latter category. They earn maybe 40-50k which isn’t a great deal here in London BUT they often have parents that have given them money for a house deposit so they are less fussed about saving, or have parents that will pay for entire holidays as standard.

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Rogue_pigeon1@reddit

What young person is earning 40-50k in London, junior doctors don't even earn this so unless you are a Nepo baby I find it very difficult to see how young people are walking into mid level management position wages.

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SuperHansDunYourMum@reddit

Nah, backpacking isn't that expensive. Easy to save money when you're going and have few responsibilities.

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

Maybe the gap yaaaa ones do but, there are lots of travellers who do it on the cheap. The surfing community has a lot of travellers who will make their way around the world working shit jobs here and there. Also currently there is a large numbers of stoners travelling around Thailand now that it is semi legal and you can rent a room for £150 a month.

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trade-da-ting@reddit

Nah, you can earn £40-50k outside London and go travelling fairly regularly. I've been to about 15 different countries in Europe, Thailand, US, Morocco and none of those have been parent funded. You just have to save a little bit for the holiday and manage your money

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Avon_gent@reddit

When I went backpacking in my 20s I was making about £60k a year (or 7.4 million INR). It was cheaper for me living abroad for those two months than going out in London, the value propositions were insane. You had a choice of something with $5 a night for a shared room or $20 for a private bungalow. I would pay more than $20 for a round of drinks back home.

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Miserable_Swim7757@reddit

Where did you stay. In asia?

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Avon_gent@reddit

Around SE Asia yes.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Yup thats it

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Aggravating-Ant-6767@reddit

When I was 18 I did the whole backpacking thing- I worked full time in a supermarket for a year to save for the flights and a bit of spending money (they were a lot cheaper back then) and sorted volunteer placements in every country I went to where I got free accommodation and food. I’m 31 now but me and my fiancé go to about 12-15 countries a year- we both have well paid jobs, which obviously we didn’t have when we were younger. I also have 3 passports so that helps a lot of visa situations for me.

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Miserable_Swim7757@reddit

Ich spare seit 40 Jahren, single, mehr als 4 Wochen 3 Sterne sind nicht drin

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Wow thats amazing at considering you guys at 30s still have time to kick the world traveler

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Aggravating-Ant-6767@reddit

We are lucky in a way that we both do shift work so have irregular working patterns, meaning like 12 days of work followed by 6 days off, so that’s how we have the time!

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

European work cultures are the best.

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TheEnglishNorwegian@reddit

Just save and then book a holiday. Some places require more saving than others. I'm at a stage in my life where the financial barriers aren't too much, but finding the time between kids school holidays and my wife's job needing holiday booked quite far in advance that things become tough to plan. When I was young we'd go on holiday in terms time all the time, so I was fortunate enough to see many parts of the world quite cheaply. America was great pre 9/11 as it was like £1 for £2 on top of everything being much cheaper there to begin with.

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Minskdhaka@reddit

£1 for *$2, I presume?

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TheEnglishNorwegian@reddit

Yes, typo.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Wow

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Banes_Addiction@reddit

We have a relatively strong currency and high housing costs. It would be cheaper for me to backpack across Vietnam than rent my home.

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Accurate_Prune5743@reddit

Yes, but presumably most people still rent while travelling. Otherwise what do you do with all you stuff?

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dbxp@reddit

Not if you're a student

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

Well the OP is asking about Europe not just the UK. I have friends in Germany who went travelling and the Landlord just froze their rent and even went in and dusted their stuff for them whilst they were gone for two years.

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Accurate_Prune5743@reddit

If that even happened, it will be a rarity. No landlord, anywhere will just freeze rent because the place is unoccupied.

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Dynamite_Shovels@reddit

We've just left it with family when travelling - handed in flat notice, moved everything down with family and then headed off. You can also put stuff in storage which, whilst it's not cheap, I still think it's cheaper than keeping most rental flats going whilst you travel.

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Scotto6UK@reddit

Everything I own can fit in 2 rucksacks. You just don't have stuff. The last time I was in the UK, I was living and working in the same area for 2 years and just didn't get any more stuff. There's transient things like cutlery and crockery, but I just either use what is already in the place I'm renting, or leave it for the next tenant. It's not for everyone, but I find it extremely freeing to not have stuff.

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Banes_Addiction@reddit

Now, I'd struggle. Up to about 25 all my stuff could fit in my parents' house without much issue. Didn't own any furniture, for example.

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1duck@reddit

Storage/live light and leave it with family. Everywhere I rented in my 20s came furnished so my own possessions other than vehicles could fit in about 4 boxes.

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AzzTheMan@reddit

But how do you get the money together to do the backpacking? Do you take career breaks to travel?

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tiny-but-spicy@reddit

literally same. it would actually be cheaper for me to travel full time tbh, the reason I’m not is because I like my current career and I can still travel plenty on the side

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peppermint_aero@reddit

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet - our work contracts may be quite different to yours. Most office jobs here are Mon-Fri (or the equivalent of 35-40h per week), and there are legal minimums for annual leave (paid holiday) of X days per year.

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b1ggu5dicku5@reddit

We earn more than you think. Not that young now I guess but the median salary amongst my friends (25-30) is about £60k (all sorts of fields like engineering, the trades, finance, teaching, law, science). None of us live with our parents and most are homeowners. We do 2-3 trips together per year. I do at least five trips per year, some of them do many more than that.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Hoping next life i recarninate in europe😂

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Sufficient-Till-6022@reddit

The biggest expense is the plane ticket. Once that is paid for you don't need much to backpack, stay in hostels / home stays and eat street food

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soulsteela@reddit

Some of it comes down to it being so expensive here in the U.K. It’s cheaper to fly abroad and rent a nice place than it is to get a train and stay in a not nice hotel here in the U.K. so if you can afford a holiday it makes sense to go somewhere where there’s a better chance of good weather/service. I spent one summer travelling around Europe following music festivals and finding work at them. I had £200 when I left England and we went all over Europe.

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

My dad whilst not a young person finds it cheaper to live in Goa for 3 months in the winter than to stay in the UK. The flights, accommodation and food for three months in Calangute is less than his heating and food bill in his council provided bungalow in the UK.

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RestaurantAntique497@reddit

>I am from India You come from a country which is poor and your currency has low purchasing power.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Yh i know have to figure out a way to escape this artificial life

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Far-Presentation6307@reddit

Out of interest, I have a colleague from India, who works 3 weeks in UK, then does 5 weeks of work remotely from India + annual leave. The job is well paid, earning at least £150k GBP. (₹184 Lakhs INR), Although tax is high, so they actually receive around £83k GBP (₹102 Lakhs INR) after tax and 10% pension contribution. What sort of lifestyle does this afford in India? In the UK that is enough to get a good mortgage and afford a nice house outside of the most expensive cities, but not enough for private school / childcare, especially if your partner does not have a well paid job.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Is he in tech or

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Far-Presentation6307@reddit

No, doctor.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Okay

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HW90@reddit

Something which others haven't mentioned is Europeans have a lot more time off than most other countries with the same purchasing power, either holiday time during university or paid time off at work. Everywhere else tends to either have lower purchasing power or significantly less paid time off or has an expectation of students doing internships during the summer.

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sauce___x@reddit

I can take a month off work, travel around Asia, and come back with more money than I went with.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

😅skills ah

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Temo2212@reddit

Flights are super cheap, buses also. I flew from Cyprus to Georgia for 6.99€ that’s my personal record haha Hostels are cheap, couch surfing is common, generally europe is safe and worst case there are camping, clubbing whole night or idk I’ve done bunch of shit when I was younger haha We always speak at least one extra european language if not more. And cross border friendships are also more common than other continents, this also helps. However Brits aren’t the best example to ask. I think for a lot of reasons British people are less travelled than other Europeans. Probs because of Geography(it’s an island) and also because of economy, per capita UK is much poorer than Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark etc

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Entry_Left@reddit

if you live with your parents and work a few months it’s easy to save. I traveled extensively when I was younger and a student, as a student I was getting a lot of money from the government to study + I was working. Best time of my life, but I’m only realising now when I upgrade to be a full time adult

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Good for you traveling is always my passion but got stuck in wrong country here local travelling is cheap and after all india has a lot to explore but still for traveling abroad its a big financial headache some times

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Entry_Left@reddit

for us (Europeans) I usually cheaper to fly to Asia and having holidays there as it’s becoming a lot cheaper then going going for holidays in Europe. Eg. we are going to Philippines tomorrow, we paid £350 for return flights, and once we are there we i’ll probably spent £650 each on a very comfortable budget for 11 days (hotels & everything else) compare to going to Spain for example (same duration, flights £100, car £100, accommodation £600, food and everything else £300 (£30ish a day) and it suddenly becomes cheaper to travel to Asia. I’m not saying that you can’t do Europe on a budget. but if you are looking for a comfortable holidays with a lot better value is suddenly cheaper to fly further. Plus it definitely helps that we earn £

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Have you been into india?

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Entry_Left@reddit

not yet, but very high on the list! I’ve seen most of SE Asia, but not India. There just hasn’t been the right time, as India is one of those places that won’t be the most relaxing holidays, but there’s a time and a place for it. I definitely want to visit, hopefully i get a chance soon!

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

😅i can agree on north india and busiest cities but if you are planning start from kerala you will be amazed

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Iwantedalbino@reddit

A colleague in my office is on a mission to visit every country. She’s currently knocking off 8-12 a year, admittedly some quick visits utilising overnight trains and buses through SE Asia means she saves accommodation costs and just sleeps on the flight home. I think she’s in the low 120s so far but it’ll obviously slow down a bit with the countries she can’t really go see. She very much maximises her time and fight costs so if she’s spent the money flying to XX then she’ll go and see XY and XW while she’s there. I had a teacher who in 2001ish was 3 countries short of visiting them all. He saved his money and used the long summer to travel

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Ynoxz@reddit

Strong currencies and highish minimum wages mean it’s relatively affordable. Cheap flights. Strong passports which mean you don’t need many visas. I did a lot of travel in my 20s due to this combination.

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Far_Scallion_97@reddit

High minimum wage is definitely a factor. I have a mate in his mid 20s who works part time minimum wage agency jobs. He goes on holidays abroad 4 times a year, and not to cheap locations either. He was in Iceland over Christmas and Norway in September. Granted he has no savings and regularly complains about having no money but he clearly makes enough to travel as much as he does.

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tiny-but-spicy@reddit

I can answer this one, I’m 24 and from the UK and I’ve been to 46 countries. Basically, travel within Europe is easy. Largely visa-free, and border-free within Schengen. It’s cheap and well-connected by road/air/rail. Most European passports including the UK are strong. The euro and the pound are stronger currencies than most so I can afford to travel way more than if I was paid the same amount of rupees. TLDR: stronger passports, stronger currency, better paying jobs, better transport links, fewer borders and visa requirements

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

🤩46 countries your soul must be happy for a reason

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tiny-but-spicy@reddit

I’m very grateful for the privilege I have, I know it’s not universal!

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TroublesZoo@reddit

You can do it "relatively" cheaply if you are doing hostel lifestyle and just picking up bar work and stuff here and there as you go.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Still the financials for ticket & all or is it cheap for you guys compared to our living standards

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Superspark76@reddit

It will depend massively on where you are and costs to leave. I live in part of the UK and can fly to anywhere in Europe for under £100 return if I'm not picky on dates. The return flight would be the equivalent of a days work for most people on the lowest wages. On minimum wage is very hard to live off for most people but if you still live at home or have minimal bills it's a lot of money.

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Banes_Addiction@reddit

To compare with India, minimum wage for a 21 year old working full time is about 33 LPA.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

🙂 here one months salary for that age cannot cover a trip to nearby country

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towerridge@reddit

No one would call it cheap or a wise financial choice, but yes the sad truth is that it is much more attainable for someone that grew up here.

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peachypeach13610@reddit

What do you mean extensively? Because one 2-week holiday a year and maybe 1 or 2 city breaks is more or less the average for a young professional in Europe, but I don’t think that would be considered extensive travelling. The main advantage is a strong currency and often not having to pay for visas.

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factualreality@reddit

A plane ticket round the world can be bought with about 3 months work at a minimum wage job. Young people often live at home still with their parents, so if their parents are happy not to charge them much rent and board (which is often the case for parents not on benefits as it just means they are in the same position as while the child was in school), it is easy to save up that money and get the ticket. Options then include taking out a credit card and just setting off with a plan to work while travelling, or working a full year first on the same basis to have cash funds for the trip. Essentially, most people' wages go on high housing costs so young people housed by their parents end up with disposable income.

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death_by_mustard@reddit

After uni I moved back home, worked my butt off and saved every penny. Essentially - as a few others have commented - not paying rent was what funded my half year travel, plus at the time the pound was pretty solid in comparison to the currencies in the destination countries. Not sure I could do something to that extent today…

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Good to hear

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Iamtir3dtoday@reddit

My sister does live-in hospitality jobs in the summer with free accommodation and discounted food, saves almost every penny and then travels for six months straight before the next season. No family money or parent's house to rely on here, my mum lives in a yurt in the woods lol! She's just got a very clever pattern going.

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Cool-Assistance-8666@reddit (OP)

Sounds like my plan🙂but wrong country

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Iamtir3dtoday@reddit

She also works a bit when away and travels on a budget

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gaynorg@reddit

They have rich parents and the wages here are relatively high.

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Electricbell20@reddit

40k salary and living with your parents means you have a lot of fun money.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

Strong passports mean you don't need to bother about visas, which also means you can buy as soon as you spot cheap tickets. You don't need to think about what if my visa doesn't get approved. The UK for example has a minimum wage of £12.21/hour, but even when it was £10/hour or whatever. If you're young enough and living with your parents still, your costs aren't that much. Basically you'll be paying for your phone, your commute or your car if you have one and leisure. If you choose to save for travel, you can easily save £10k in a 18-24 months. You can get return flights for under £1000 to just about anywhere in the world. And if you go to cheap places, £9000 will give you 3-4 months of fairly good travel. If you don't have family support, then you simply can't save that money, so you can't do this travel.

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AzzTheMan@reddit

I've never travelled that way, couldn't afford it. I know a few people who have, and yes they saved, worked while travelling, and lived frugally, but they also knew their families could support them when they got back.

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sritanona@reddit

A euro or a pound are very high in value in other places of the world. I live in the UK now and 99% of places I go to outside of the UK, I feel they are affordable and I can buy more stuff than at home. I used to live in Argentina and did two overseas trips while living there, and it felt like I had to basically not eat to keep in budget. As someone who didn't grow up with money, and in a country that has no money, I understand your question. People saying "rich parents" have no idea what they're talking about. Traveling when you're FROM Europe or UK is so easy and cheap compared to people from other countries. Also all the traveling you see within Europe is usually quite cheap too. My mum lives in Malaga now and last time she came to visit her flight (here and back) was cheaper than ONE train ticket in the UK to get to my house (which costs £60 - 1:30 hour train ride from London to the commuter belt). It's usually cheaper for me to plan for holidays abroad than to do holidays within the UK.

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Evening-Tour@reddit

Be born ritch.

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Siads23@reddit

Depends, some I knew worked 3 to 6 months of the year saved almost everything and travelled by budgeting. Others travel and work whilst traveling.

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Nirnroot_Enjoyer@reddit

Rich parents, usually.

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