Should you spend your twenties having fun and travelling and

>be in the 20s
>have no money to do fun things
>be in the 30s
>have money but not time
>be in the 70s
>have money, have time but not health

Life's a cunt.

>>1224478
>not doing both at the same time

Unless you're privileged enough to come from money, you have to make sacrifices and determine which trade-off is in your best interests.

I'm 23 and finished high school in 2011; in all likelihood, I won't have my first bachelors degree for another year. I've taken a lot of time off from university to work, travel, and live abroad. While I certainly don't regret the experiences I've had, I do feel an ever-growing amount of pressure to get my act together and start being a productive member of society.

That doesn't mean I want to work 9-5 in an office. I'm tentatively planning to do a two year stint in the Peace Corps while simultaneously earning a masters degree. After that, I'd like to do a PhD or, depending on my final CGPA, apply for medical programs.

No matter what, I'm probably going to be joining the real-world workforce with all of my credentials and skills when I'm about 30. That isn't too old, but it'd make me a full-fledged adult. To an extent, I do wish that I'd traveled a little less and gotten my priorities straightened out earlier.

tl;dr - you can do both, but don't expect there not to be a trade-off. Your career is going to start later and you're going to have to play catch-up to get to the same salary as your peers, unless you're also pursuing an advanced or professional degree (which takes more time, which means you live the broke life for longer than you might like).

File: old kid zim 2.jpg (125KB, 400x300px) Image search: [Google]

125KB, 400x300px

>>1224478
FWIW, over 50, still having fun.

>>1224507
Are your twenties the best time of your life?

>>1224486
>I'm tentatively planning to do a two year stint in the Peace Corps while simultaneously earning a masters degree.
You should just enroll yourself in a master's degree program in Germany...it's free for everyone, even foreign students.

>>1224478
The reason people tend to look at their youth as the "fun time" is because that is usually the time before they had kids. Children are insanely expensive and the biggest responsibility you will ever have. So that doesn't leave much time for fun.
So don't have children if you want to be able to have that freedom later in life.

I've met plenty of people who haven't started traveling until their 30's/40's/50's and are having the time of their lives now.
But then you have to sacrifice the big high powered career.

Honestly OP, live life how you want to. There aren't any rulebooks for this shit. You don't even have to acquire the full collection of big house, big career, big family by the time you die.

>>1224525
>But then you have to sacrifice the big high powered career.


Can you have both? A high powered career where you're not tied down to one location?

I don't know whether I want the big career or travel, I don't want to choose between them

>>1224525
I'm in my 30s, having the time of my life traveling, and I have a highly paid career. They're not mutually exclusive.

>>1224535
Are you one of those "digital nomads"?

>>1224533
Possibly. I'm no expert, I'm just going off what I've seen other people do. Drop their careers and go traveling the world. I suppose it depends what career you want.

>>1224535
That must be hard to do, but congrats! What career/how did you do it?

>>1224486
>Unless you're privileged enough to come from money, you have to make sacrifices and determine which trade-off is in your best interests.
>I'm 23 and finished high school in 2011; in all likelihood, I won't have my first bachelors degree for another year. I've taken a lot of time off from university to work, travel, and live abroad. While I certainly don't regret the experiences I've had, I do feel an ever-growing amount of pressure to get my act together and start being a productive member of society.
>That doesn't mean I want to work 9-5 in an office. I'm tentatively planning to do a two year stint in the Peace Corps while simultaneously earning a masters degree. After that, I'd like to do a PhD
Holy shit, are you me? I'm 23 - traveled on and off for four years after high school while taking classes at community college. Just transferred ~two years worth of credits to a state school. Was actually looking into doing Peace Corps while pursuing a masters online after I finish up here.

>>1224478
I think going too far to either extreme is a bad idea but finding that perfect compromise is very difficult and ultimately it comes down to your personality as to where you want to make the sacrifices. If you come out of your twenties without any significant marketable experience or enduring relationships you're going to be racing against the clock to establish that in your 30s, especially if you're female or trying to enter a competitive work field. On the other hand if you spent your 20s working in a job that doesn't provide you with diverse experiences you may find yourself with too many responsibilities to travel much.

So I think instead you should be thinking about how you can travel and get other new experiences while still developing a career, and following on from that, what level of compromise you want to reach if you have to sacrifice a bit of one for the other.

>>1224486
How do you intend to pay your student loans (assuming you have some) while being in the Peace Corps?

I'm 25 and desperatly want to travel. I have considered Americorps and the Peace Corps, but I fucked myself with school loans and car payments. If I managed to have all my living expenses taken car of I would still have to pay a minimum of $450 a month. I can defer my college loan payments for up to 3 years so that my monthly payments decrease to $200 a month, but I would rather not have to do that.

To my understanding the Peace Corps doesn't pay you and Americorps gives you a pittance. Would you or any other Anons have some insight or suggestions for my situation?

>>1224535
I would also like to know how you have achieved this, Anon. Teach me your ways.

File: DFTCARAT.jpg (13KB, 274x184px) Image search: [Google]

13KB, 274x184px

>>1225958
join the Navy.

I enlisted at 21 after i did all i could at community college and realized transferring to a 4 year university was going to drown me in debt. i also had that itch for travel.

boy, it was the best decision i ever made. i spent 5 years traveling the world, drinking beer, chasing girls, and getting a bunch of credentials/job experience. i got out and finished off two degree's with enough GI bill left over to cover a masters if i want. now i'm getting ready to take a 4 year government job in japan as soon my exemption letter gets across the SECNAV's desk.

the military isn't what most people think it is, especially the non combat stuff.

shitty pic related. we were pouring the concrete pad for an orphanage building in thailand. after we were done we got drunk with the thai marines and played soccer.

File: p3.jpg (35KB, 401x259px) Image search: [Google]

35KB, 401x259px

>>1225964
Join a guerrilla lot's of outdoors too.

I'm 25, only have a basic education, and the only work I've had is minimum wage shit like retail and administration. I come from a working class background and have no friends/family that can give me a leg up.
Maybe I could have gotten lucky, taken out some loans and gone on to college/university, but at my age if I started trying to go down that route now I'd be well into my 30's before I graduate. And in truth, while I am fairly intelligent I don't do well in a school environment, so it might not benefit me anyway.
Basically, I'll never have that big career, which is a fact I struggled with at first.

But I also don't have student loans etc. In fact, I am completely debt free. So there is an advantage to not working towards the high-power career; I'm free to pack up my shit and leave whenever I want.
And so long as I am able to have a bit of money left over most months to put into savings, I can potentially own my own home one day too. The difficulty for me is figuring out how to work towards both my dream of getting a mortgage, and my dream of being able to travel more than I am currently doing.


I don't know OP. Life is complicated.

>>1224478

I did five years in the Navy and it was probably the best decision I ever made. I got to see Bahrain, UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Spain (Palma de Mallorca, if that counts as Spain), Sri Lanka, and got to live in a couple of different places around the States.

I consider myself very lucky in that regard, though. A lot of people I knew stayed in one place for their entire enlistments. I just made sure to follow the route that would take me into sea duty (which I pulled the entire five years)

File: 1489196817611.jpg (174KB, 1080x1080px) Image search: [Google]

174KB, 1080x1080px

>>1225991

see what I posted in >>1226001

>>1225958
>To my understanding the Peace Corps doesn't pay you and Americorps gives you a pittance. Would you or any other Anons have some insight or suggestions for my situation?

peace can put a pause on loans
but they do not want the fresh grad, anyway
it's a pipe dream
they want highly experienced people who can pull a plan out of their ass to change lives but not require a real salary
Really, it's for the couple that just sold their startup or just retired, and want to give back to the world

OP, you sound lazy. There's no reason why you can't enjoy your life while getting an education. The only path to happiness is an education that gives you opportunities to make the above average salary such that you have disposable income to invest, or to have fun money. That kid that can't afford the concert tickets every weekend is unhappy. That kid who dreams of vacations, but doesn't have the ability to blow $500 every other weekend with some grand idea is unhappy. But that person who gets to age 30 and doesn't have a dime of savings, a house, a marriage, a fulfilled life because the pissed it all away in distractions to avoid responsibilities? They can be the worst kind of unhappy. You never regret finishing your bachelors. Nothing is preventing you from doing a masters in your 30s or 40s, but not having the bachelors will hold you back from any and all of the things that make you happy.

The more you get out, the more friends you make. But, having some friends with similar goals makes you do more.

>>1226021

What are you on about, mate?

>they do not want the fresh grad

Both of my best friends are in the Peace Corps; they joined immediately after finishing their BSc degrees. My university even has a Peace Corps recruiting center in the International Center.

Another of my buddies was accepted for a site in Africa; he declined the offer, as he'd been accepted to a medical school in the South.

The majority of people in my friends' departure groups were close to our age (mid-twenties), with a handful of retired and middle-aged folks sprinkled in. As long as you have a degree or extensive experience, the Peace Corps will take you. It's not an extremely selective service, but a lot of people drop out due to the length of time it takes to get processed, given a location, and then flown out.

A big part of the Peace Corps' mission is simply giving the United States a good reputation and image abroad. Nobody I know who has done it said they felt like they were making a huge difference or "saving" their community. You create a recycling program, help control AIDS, or teach science to kids, and then you get out. You do genuinely help people, but it's not like you're more than a cog in an extensive and well-established machine.

However, I will say this: people who are looking for a fast and fun getaway shouldn't consider the Peace Corps for even a moment. You have to take intensive language courses for eight hours per day for three months, after which you'll be plopped off in a village or backwards city with only a vague idea of what you're supposed to be doing. Everywhere I know in the Peace Corps gained a lot of experience, but only after tripping over themselves and wondering what to do for the first few months.

I'll have my degree next year and am planning to do the Peace Corps in sync with a MS or MSc.

>>1225958

The Peace Corps has both loan diversion and limited loan forgiveness plans. Moreover, if you have only federal loans, you can cap repayment at a maximum of 12% of your annual income, which is rough but quite manageable.

Not sure what to tell you about car payments - you'd probably have to work to pay those off prior.

I helped three of my friends with their Peace Corps application, and they do ask about non-student debt and other financial obligations. While you will be provided a stipend in accordance with the local cost of living, it will not be enough to take care of the bills back home.

One of my buddies is in Tanzania and gets $250 per month; another is in Moldova and gets around $400. After two years, you get a lump sum of $10,000. Volunteers can also choose to either receive a ticket back home or an equivalent amount of money. Apparently only idiots choose the latter, since they write a check for overpriced fares as well as the probably price of connections and a taxi straight to your doorstep.

>>1226001
i'm planning to join the royal navy in a couple of years, as an aircraft technician, hoping to stay in for the long haul, at least to the rank of warrant officer. RN are about to launch two new aircraft carriers so i figure it's a good time to join.
Going to do a bit of travelling before i sign up.
I'm 27 at the moment. I've wasted my life. Dropped out of Uni. Haven't done any travelling or anything exciting at all. Just lived with my parents and worked dead end jobs.
Plus side is i've accumulated a decent amount of savings, whilst most of my peers are living in debt.

I worked in my 20's at a very highly-paid job, saved up a whole fuckload of money, and then travelled for a year and a half when I turned 30. Currently preparing to go back to work.

If you have a skill that allows you to be hired easily, you can quit and travel for a while, then get re-hired.

If you want to travel in your 20's without money it's not hard, you just work along the way (WorkAway and such).

The problem with traveling when you're older like me is that you'll probably have commitments that you can't leave. You'll have a serious girlfriend or wife, maybe kids, maybe a job that you can't reasonably leave. That's the case with maybe 90% of the people I know my age.

>>1226003
Ehhh... I don't really fancy getting raped tbqh m8

>>1224485
This.

You need balance. You cant just be an irresponsible drunk cunt youre entire 20's. You need to focus on a career too. Although i would say in your 20's you should focus more on fun where as in your 30's more on career but still having fun.

If you spend your entire 20's being an idiot then you will have to work extra hard in your 30's and burn yourself out. If you just focus on a career in your 20's you'll be that creepy old guy trying to fit in and catch up on lost time.

>>1224486
how the fuck are you going to do a masters degree in the middle of some shit african country with no internet

>>1226318

A number of universities have MS and MA courses which are specifically tailored or recommended for Peace Corps volunteers.

Just don't have kids man.

Traveling isn't as expensive as you think it is. Save $10k-$15k, and that should last you a year.

If you can't figure out how to save that much in the Western world, then it's your fault. Maybe move to aus

>>1224512
I didn't think so, particularly, though a lot of great things happened for me in my twenties (got married, had children, that sort of stuff.) Now is always the best time, its where you live.

I don't feel particularly like my life now is any worse than it was -- got a few ore aches in my knees, but more money and a wider variety of experience to draw on.

>>1226576
>Just don't have kids man.

I disagree -- some of my best travel experiences have been with my wife and kids.