How old were you when you started traveling

Going for the first time next month. Going for 3 months, I'm 20

First solo trip was a month after my 20th birthday.
Although I'd done a few domestic trips before that but I don't think they count for too much

Travel in general, six or seven I think? My parents liked traveling and every year we'd take a tent and just drive around some European country for a few weeks.
First self-organized trip without family was at 18, went for a week to Istanbul with a bunch of friends. First solo travel was a month in Japan at 24.

First solo trip at 20 yo. Cycled to Finland to work in a wwoof, then decided not to come back home and moved to UK for 6 months. Eh, no relevant pics

>>1242957
I'm 19 and going to SA in a few months

Wow.. Is this board full of fuckin children? Anyone over 30+ here?

27.

I started way, way too late.

couple months old was the first time i went abroad

on my own, i think i was 17?

I went to Hawaii when I was 1

>>1243217
I'm in my early 40s.
>>1242957
I first traveled abroad with my parents as a small kid, at least as far as Mexico. We then visited a bunch of countries in Western Europe when I was 12-13. Went on a six week school exchange trip to the USSR at 15, spent a year and change with the parents in Thailand at sixteen, and traveled around Southeast Asia solo for a few months after an academic year back in Thailand at 20.

studied abroad in Paris last year at 19. Didn't do much studying lel

>>1243231
>Went on a six week school exchange trip to the USSR
Holy shit. How was it?

I've always been interested in Russia, but I would be interested in hearing about your experiences in the freakin' CCCP.

>>1242957
I was born in Indonesia despite being a white boi with Canadian parents, so, since then?

>>1242957
18 by myself went to slovenia

>>1243219
29 here. Will be 30 when I start.

Why is it way way to late? Making me feel bad anon.

>>1243254
>Holy shit. How was it?
It was a wonderful experience in spite of itself.

This was just a couple of years before the USSR finally failed, and it was absurdly obvious despite our hosts' efforts to insulate us from the difficulties of the time that the economy was not functional. There were long lines in front of stores with almost nothing to sell, and many key foodstuffs were being rationed. But whatever was available in shops was affordable to literally anyone (I exchanged a few hundred dollars on the black market when we arrived, and struggled to find things to spend it on--everything cost pennies), nobody was homeless, there was more or less universal employment (people had jobs like sitting in a folding chair at the bottom of an escalator in the Moscow and Leningrad Metro systems, presumably watching for public safety problems, so the work may not have been of high quality, but it was well-distributed), cities were extremely clean, there was lots of beautiful hand-painted or silkscreened propaganda but no advertising at all, so public spaces were visually immaculate, and the physical plant and infrastructure were slowly, very vividly decaying. Nothing worked very well. Very few private cars. Very cheap public transit. The best tea and ice cream I have personally ever consumed (I've been back to post-Soviet Russia and both have declined with more modern production mechanisms). Some of the least palatable meat, apart from some good sausages. No fresh fruits or vegetables out of season, which was weird for an American who can buy shitty South American tomatoes in January. My exchange partner, a Soviet girl who pretended to be unimpressed by our supermarkets, ate her weight in bananas daily in Massachusetts in February and March. Lots of poetry about Lenin in the classroom. Very little familiarity with Western pop culture--lots of copies of a recent local record by Paul McCartney (Cнoвa в CCCP/Back in the USSR), but not much else.

>>1243285
I got literally no sense of the political difficulties of the time. Students living with us in the States before we went to Russia complained very vocally about the perceived ineffectuality of then-premier Gorbachev ("He's been in power for five years already, and he's done NOTHING!"), but nobody complained about politics or repression out loud. People (nearly all of those I met were fellow teenagers) were sincerely curious about America, well-informed on broad issues, very friendly, and pleased to see us. I did notice that the home of my host (a Jewish girl, daughter of a teacher at a pedagogical institute, or teachers' college) was much smaller and less impressive than the home of her best friend (a Komsomol member and daughter of a Party functionary), but the closest we came to talking politics was to gently make fun of the fact that the Komsomol member was a Komsomol member. Nobody seemed afraid for their lives or freedom. But nobody had decent shoes, either.

File: 1c21a0ed92f82bd56697f551489ebe01.jpg (70KB, 640x456px) Image search: [Google]

70KB, 640x456px

first overseas trip when i was 40,after a messy divorce.-havnt been back home since
traveled extensively through australia before that

Started at 22 right after I graduated college.

File: 1440585463926.jpg (105KB, 850x850px) Image search: [Google]

105KB, 850x850px

What are you looking for?

>>1243277
The best time to travel is now. It's never too late. But as you get older, you usually have more and more commitments which makes it harder.
Don't feel bad, you'll enjoy it, how is that a bad thing

>>1243277
Don't get me wrong, you will still have an amazing time on your trip. I just regret not going when I was younger.

I could've started when I was 18. Hell, mommy & daddy would've paid for it back then. I wasted nine fucking years doing nothing. That's the part that I hate.

>>1242957
With family since I was a baby
With friends when I was 16 (a bus excursion to a rock festival)
The first time I was alone in a foreign country was when I was in my early 23's, in Amsterdam, but the first time I traveled 100% alone I was in my late 24's, to Buenos Aires and Montevideo

23 when I got a job after uni

>>1243447
Ah yeah. Similar situation here too. I definitely would redo my 20's completely differently if I had the opportunity.

Fuck. Why does no one tell you this?

Anyway, 29 now, and have been with my gf for 2 years. Shes amazing. But I think I need to end it because there is so much I haven't done that I need to do... otherwise I will never be content getting married.

>>1242957
First oversea flight with 3, first time with friends 16 and alone with 21.

>>1243552
>Anyway, 29 now, and have been with my gf for 2 years. Shes amazing. But I think I need to end it because there is so much I haven't done that I need to do... otherwise I will never be content getting married.
WTF. There is absolutely nothing you can't do single that you can do when married, when that second income starts to share your expenses.

>>1242957
As young as I can remember, i changed cities plenty of times, first camping alone at 15, and first hithchiking road trip at 17, I'm not in the northern hemisphere tough.

>>1243219
27 also, i feel the same way. when you're late teens, early 20s you have more energy, things are more exciting, probably easier to get laid and make friends.

>>1243561
Uh... Most girls aren't cool with their man banging women around the world

>>1243552
I would at least talk to your girlfriend first. Make your decision after hearing what she has to say about your goals.

>>1243595
It's not even about that. Even if he is the most faithful man in the world, many women just don't like the idea of being away from their man for extended periods. There are a certain few who are cool with their man leaving for months at a time, albeit rare.

That's why I also suggest talking to your lady before going to travel. Can she trust you? Can you trust her while she's gone? Get a feel of the situation, and only consider dumping her if you strongly feel that it just won't work out. Hell, ask her if she wants to come along. This can also test your compatibility (in terms of relationship AND traveling style).

>>1243568
For me, I personally think the only advantage of starting younger is that you'll have seen more of the world and you won't feel that you have squandered your time on this planet. I think there are advantages to traveling at 25+ as well.

>>1243603
I'm both >>1243595 and >>1243552
Unfortunately banging random women is part of my goals. Kind of a shitty situation to be in, but I cannot shake it.

>>1243616
Okay, looks like you know what to do then.

>>1242957
Tough question
What is travel? How do you draw the line between a vacationer, a traveler, or a nomad? Is it their footwear?
Do we ever stop traveling? I used to travel across the neighborhood to go to the park growing up. Yesterday I traveled to work and back.

alone? 15 years

If we do not count traveling with family or friends, then I was about 25 when i moved overseas to work.

First trip alone abroad was when I was 17. I had to ring my parents daily (they didn't pick up, phone costs were insane, so it was just pinging them).
First trip when I didn't have to ping them was when I was like 20 or so.

First day trip without any adult supervision with friends was when we were 11... I remember it like it was yesterday, cause there were quite a few situations where we lost each other. We all made it home, albeit hours later than promised.

Also at school they wanted to prepare us for the ~real world~. We had slightly nomadic trips (both walking an cycling) from age 10. It was pretty cool to experience how to carry all your stuff for weeks in a row... It was all planned in detail by the teachers, but the skills I learned there from calculating the amount of food I need to putting the tent up in a storm without getting my stuff wet... Priceless.

25, way too old to start

>>1243219
why way too late ? i started at 25 and am 27 now and i felt like that was the best time to start and i still have the best ahead of me

>>1243815
what's with this meme ? are you going to places that are like exclusively for 18 year old backpackers ? i was 26 in colombia and i was frequently the youngest in the group

>>1243832
Once again, being older doesn't make it any less enjoyable. I just regret not starting much sooner.

Alone? I guess 7 or 8, I think, but technically I had the airline doing the unaccompanied minor thing. Parents took me backpacking and bikepacking as an infant. Always felt more at home when moving than otherwise. First completely autonomous trip I was in my teens.
>>1243834
It's the "no singles policy" of /trv/, how new r u?

First solo to another country I was 18 in Canada. Had a credit card linked to my mum's which was nice.

I also went to Bulgaria solo at 18. I think it is almost too young because everyone around in the hostel was far older as this was off peak.

Anyone who has traveled solo at 18 and has done so again a significant time later have a perspective on that?

Went to England when my Mom was 7 months pregnant with me. Think that's what planted my love for it. Traveled with the family throughout life.

Alone, Argentina immediately before a Peace Corps stint in Africa at 22.

>>1243219

Same age.

File: HAVEN'T BEEN EVERYWHERE.jpg (150KB, 590x769px) Image search: [Google]

150KB, 590x769px

>>1242957
I'd done a small amount of traveling with family as a kid. Dad was a college professor, so there was not a shit-ton of money for stuff like that, but we did what we could.

Didn't really start doing much traveling until I was in my 30s. 56 now, backpack through Mongolia and live in yurts is not really much of an option for me at this point, but on the other hand there is an advantage to having accumulated a bit more money than when I was in my 20s.

First real solo trip was at 18 to NYC. Before that, I traveled half a dozen countries in Europe with my parents/school as well as North Africa but I wouldn't count that as starting to travel

>>1244238
>backpack through Mongolia and live in yurts is not really much of an option for me at this point,
Why not?

>>1243231
>Went on a six week school exchange trip to the USSR

Are you The Machine?

File: old kid zim.jpg (136KB, 400x300px) Image search: [Google]

136KB, 400x300px

>>1244241
Various issues that arise as you get older preclude a lot of backpacking. Plus a severe yurt allergy.

>>1242957
46 my wife passed away a year ago, and would never want to travel overseas, she was xenophobic and feared all sorts of ridiculous things.

>>1242957
I was in my late twenties before I really started going for it. It's one of my biggest regrets.

>>1244250
I'm sorry for your loss, but hope that you have found travel rewarding.

>>1244250
Holy shit, this is why I can never get married.

I can deal with the xenophobia, as I'm somewhat guilty of it myself. However, I can't deal with not traveling at all. Fuck that shit.

It's bad enough when other married couples have to deal with bullshit like the wife wanting to go to Disneyland (instead of a real travel destination), or the wife being a picky eater (uggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh), but I can never handle being married to someone who doesn't travel at all.

>>1244250
Condolences from a fellow /trv/ler.

>>1244415
On the other hand, my wife aND i TRAVEL TOGETHER AND HAVE A MARVELOUS TIME, PLUS i SOMETIMES PUT ON CAPS LOCK BY ACCIDENT. iF TRAVEL IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, TR AND FINDSOMEBODY WHO LIKES TRAVEL AND LIKES YOU.