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You're suffering from grass is greener syndrome, bro. All those bald dudes wish they'd been able to do what you've done.
Does that mean you've had the better deal? Obviously not, but neither have they.
You're absolutely right that it's going to work out okay, for the simple reason that you want it to, and as a traveler you're good at things like resourcefulness and self-determination.
Can't get a mortgage to buy a house as nice as your bald friend's? Ten grand will get you an acre of land in coastal Maine, a few hundred bucks will get you a lobstering license, a fiver will get you a beer at a dock-side bar where you'll meet the friends you always wanted.
The bad news is you've got the bug and you'll always want to be somewhere else.
More bad news, I'm probably half your age with a quarter your experience, so I prolly don't know wtf I'm talking about.
Heart attack? Are you shooting what zyzz was shooting?

I've got pretty much the opposite problem. I've blueballed myself after planning out a hardcore career of travel, instead getting engaged and starting a half-decent job. If we wanted to within a year we could get a loan and buy property in our neighborhood where we can be pretty much 100% certain it'll double its value within our lifetimes. We'd be dooming ourselves to 20 years of debt but we'd be able to travel in perpetua by the time we're 50.
By that time of course the world will have been paved over.

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>grass is greener syndrome

sound more like goldilocks to me. you were too hot, they were too cold. need to find balance. i've been all over three continents, a lot of it with my amazing wife, and we have a 1 year old son who we're taking to japan next year, and we're also financially stable with some very tight friendships.

>>1087693
didnt you notice the difference in traveling when you were young?

you can always get a wife and kids. forget the financial stuff you traded that for globe trotting at a young age. in my opinion its worth it. cut your losses and mive from there, but the last thing you want to do is make great memories become

>>1087718
That's my kind of ideal.
I'm 23 and I just finished a one year contract teaching English in Korea. I decided to do one more year. The food and people are amazing.

I saved '$12000 but I don't even need it for anything. The cost of living is so cheap here. Future travel plans I guess. I have no experience investing but I want to utilize my money in a smart way.

I want to travel around with my girlfriend but she doesn't have the freedom I have.

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>>1087693
I think the only downside is being 30 with a piss poor resume and no formal education.

I get by because the personality I've cultivated over the years has made me an excellent salesman. I'm still working in an entry level position alongside people a decade younger than me; one kid on our sales team is 19. I am the top seller in my division but having a district manager younger than me is a shitty feel.

Wouldn't change it for the world though. There's always a way that Street smart hustlers can rise above the rest, for me, real estate is that ticket.

>>1087693
OP, you are do regret being off the grid that long. Fact.
But none of the could of/should of arguments you make in your brain are important about your past except maybe as a life lesson you might wish to teach others.
What you need to do now is make gradual steps to the place that you wish to be in the future. As a heart attack victim, you should indeed make plans towards stable employment that has some measure of job security, good benefits and a salary that allows you to add to savings. This will keep your stress down, and allow you to plan for a rainy day of either a huge medical copay, or even time off for another event where you need to support yourself without working full time. The partying should stop being something if it affects your health. Good health in your case will be to sleep well, because arrhythmia and sleep and stress hormones are closely related. Maintain a regular schedule from week to weekend.
Most men aren't ready for a committed relationship when they have nothing to bring to the table. Serious love is when you're "settled" financially and feel secure. Then, you're just looking to complete your life with the significant other and maybe family. Absolutely find someone who likes travel, when and if you are ready. Stop being lonely with yourself, by being good to yourself (planning your future in small steps). Go fill in the gaps of your needs, one at a time, whether it be counseling, financial planner, career change, more education or certifications, or even volunteering your time to keep your energy up. These things will change your mood, and help you grow away from the things you find negative that feel omnipresent. Don't self-medicate by being lazy and avoidance.

>>1087720
>I saved '$12000 but I don't even need it for anything. The cost of living is so cheap here. Future travel plans I guess. I have no experience investing but I want to utilize my money in a smart way.
IF you don't know what to do with the money, then ignore it, and leave it in the bank. It's nothing. At 23, you should have more savings than that.

>>1087720
>Get a freelance work visa somewhere cheap in southern/eastern europe/ asia / lat am/ africa even
>put the 24000 into the initial payment for a cheap flat in the 35000-40000 range
>work online, meet cool people and travel a lot
>sell it after you own it in a few year and repeat until you have a fair amount of money

Fucking hell mate. Stop comparing yourself to other people; it will only make you sick in the head. It's your fucking life man and it's whatever you want to make it. Who anyway wants that fucking default setting life? Enjoy the world and remember that security is overrated.

>>1087802
i'm 22 and i've got zero savings and no college degree and i'm only working so i can travel.

>>1087693
Maybe I went the other way as I went through college and grad school and didn't have the luxury or freedom to travel when I had the time. I regret it, but by focusing on education and starting a career I work as a chemical engineer and I am regularly assigned projects in east Asia which allows me to travel throughout the region and get paid for it. It may not be the freedom and carefree travel of living on a beach, but I am happy with my life as it is now and have money to vacation in comfort. You made a choice OP and you have to live with it, it is not too late to go back to school earn a certificate or degree in a lucrative field and change the trajectory of your life. It's not easy, but if you want it, work for it.

>>1087802
Where the fuck do you live where it's normal to have no debt and a 4 year degree?

I'm an American and it's incredibly rare amongst my peers to save anything at all. Care to explain your situation and how you amassed your fortune at 23?

All my family is proud that I already paid off my loans and saved as much as I have.

I don't mean to sound hostile. I'm just incredibly surprised that your standard financial expectations are so high for an common man.
>>1087818
Thanks for the idea. I'll look into more online options.

I was also thinking of going another 2 years for a masters in teaching then teach on a military base where murica is currently occupying.

They get significant benefits and a fuckton of vacation which i could use to travel.

Though I'm not sure what subject I'd focus on.

>>1087802
Old economy boomer/yuro detected

>>1087848

I'm an American and I'll graduate with roughly that in savings. My scholarship covers tuition and room and board, and my co-op job pays around $10,000 per semester plus a rent stipend. I also live frugally while I'm not traveling (planning to retire early, have cheap hobbies like reading and biking), so my expenses are basically only food and one-time expenses I have.

I don't really come from a wealthy family either. My dad makes around $50k a year and my mom doesn't work, and they've only contributed a few thousand towards the school's miscellaneous fees. If you study hard in HS you can definitely graduate college without debt

>>1087720

If you don't need to touch the money for a long time (10+ years), then you should get an account with Vanguard. They have low fees and if you get a mix of index funds/bonds (50/50 - 80/20 are all common) your risk is minimized and you'll get around 5% every year after inflation.

>>1087919
Ah gotcha. Yeah my running and academic scholarships definitely contributed to getting through college debt free. When you said I should have more than 12k i was just surprised.

I didn't save shit during college. The saving only started after i finished and started teaching.

I did running start during hs and lived with my parents during uni so that's where I saved my money. Made pizzas part time.

I'm teaching in Korea now and I can comfortably save 12k each year. What are you doing if you don't mind me asking?
>>1087921
I'll check out vanguard thanks for the idea. 5% hmm. My grandparents left me a savings account with 4% compound interest so I've just been making monthly deposits there.

Is it worth it to have multiple sources like vanguard and a savings acc? Have any ideas that are more risky?

>>1088083
Vanguard is a good start. (Although a savings account with 4% is suspiciously high for right now.) However, investing in stocks is for 10+ years. If you want to use that money soon, keep the 4%.

One important thing about mutual funds or ETFs is the expense ratio. I think you can get a vanguard total market index fund with an expense ratio of 0.05% or something crazy low. Some managed funds will run off with 1% or more of your money.

You learn what you are doing and you could retire well on saving $12k/year. I hear investopedia has some good tutorials.

>>1087802

I'm pretty sure people like you are the most consistently annoying posters on /trv/.

>you're 19 and don't have $100,000 in the bank yet?
>you're 22 and decided to take a Gap Year instead of working 50 hours per week as an unpaid intern?
>you're 25 and quit your job to travel?

>>1088191
Seconded. Why is there some fag going around on a travel forum telling people not to travel?

He's probably the same dipshit who will continually reply first in threads demanding more information about the OP and his plans.

Sadly it only takes one autist to ruin an otherwise great board.

>>1087833
>i'm 22 and i've got zero savings and no college degree and i'm only working so i can travel.
Is this a badge of pride or something? Why even post that? Because it makes you look stupid, whether many are like you or if you're a rare bird, either way, it makes it looks stupid.

Anyone who has EVER sat down and looked at investing and compound interest will tell you not to waste your 20s being self-indulgent, but rather, by being moderate with your spending, even thrifty, and saving well. Go enjoy your travel, but don't do only one thing with your life, which is to spend 100% of what you get as soon as it comes in. That's stupid in every book.

>>1088197
>Seconded. Why is there some fag going around on a travel forum telling people not to travel?
What kind of filter do you have in your brain where you read that statement and somehow logic that someone should spend all of their savings in order to travel? It's not black or white. You do both. Save money AND travel. Live within your means. There are plenty of travelers (probably the majority), that simply work harder in order to play harder, but don't leave their common sense at the door. Dropping out of life, living off of savings, is either the job of the wealthy, or if that's not you, is Real Traveler nonsense.

>>1087693
Your settled friends regret NOT doing what you did.

>>1087718
>implying your wife is not banging at least one national of every country you're visiting.

I was going to do what you did OP. I was going to go travelling to Thailand and travel around Asia, freelancing here and there and try to set up an ecommerce business and live as a digital nomad. I thought it was the life. Then I saw how difficult and time consuming it is to set up a quite profitable business and even then, the first months/years you will be living very cheaply. So I decided to certify as a licensed teacher in chemistry. teach in the middle east where science teachers are in a lot of demand and the pay is high. I can use the mid east as a platform for travelling around other countries on my holidays and save a huge chunk of money so that when I come home I have enough to buy some houses and jump on the property market. That's my 10 year plan. Or marry some rich chick and be a house husband. That will be awesome as well.

>>1087693
OP, your thread hits me pretty hard because I feel for you and sort of relate. A part of me wants to tell you that you need to reframe how you're looking at things, but wtf do I know.

I'm going on my 4th year of travel. I'm good at seeing people I want to see because I'm also good at making money even if the jobs aren't stable. My problem with my friends from back home is that theyre nothing like me... While my friends from traveling are... But being closer to some means I'm further from others.

The hardest thing for me to come to terms with when I committed (ironic) to this hardcore traveling lifestyle was that knowing my peers would be "further along in life" when I was finally ready to "grow up". But I was happy doing it and so I'm still doing it. There's pros and cons... And I find myself wanting a big boy office job and a more stable life now...i used to think it would be crazy to go back to that but now I know I can die old not wondering if I should've seen the world. Perspective, OP.

I still have my ups and downs but my life has literally been amazing and I have to be grateful for all the experiences I've had as well. I'd grab you a beer and tell you it'll all be okay, if I could.

OP, have you had a job before traveling? very few people really get the job they dream about. In reality, most people live their miserable lives day after day leading towards some dream that's not even really attainable. I look at the people I work with and I see people without souls, living boring meaningless lives, people who have been no where, seen shit all, done nothing with their lives. Yeah some of the ones in management positions make decent money, but they are all so boring, so soulless.

I've been at my job for 5 years now since graduating university. I'm going to be 30 this year in September. I'm going to quit my job 2 weeks before my birthday, celebrated it in Hawaii, and then fly off to another part of the world and live life for a few years. I've been saving up since I started working, I have just a little over $100k saved up. I'll travel as long as I still have a passion for it, I will work here and there (still eligible for some work holiday visas for example and I might go teach in Asia for a while go experience life in that region), and I'm sure that eventually I will end up in a position where I will go back to that soulless existence that my parents live, that my coworkers live, that most of my family lives. But I hope to at least have a few years of real life in between.

For most of us who will never earn high wages, work these days is just modern age slavery. Governments know what they're doing, people get so into their jobs that they spend all their energy at work and don't have more energy to complain or cause trouble. It's why most of the "trouble makers" in western countries are people who are either un or underemployed. You OP got to live a bit of freedom. Those people you're comparing yourself to might never understand what they missed out on. They've been slaves for so long they've become accustomed to it.

>>1087831
This, dont compare yourself like that with other people. Instead recognize what they have and respect it.

I think traveling without purpose would be tiring for me. I personally think someone like world of wanderlust live quite shallow lives. At the moment I'm teaching in international schools (Italy ATM). I plan to move after two years.

>>1088488
What's your credentials and experience to get that job? How's the pay, vacation and benefits if you don't mind me asking?

I'm the korean teacher guy. I'm looking at teaching as a career and I want to set myself on a good path. I just finished my first year teaching. I have a TEFL and a bachelors.

>>1088856
Pay is ok (30000+) depending on the school and the country. But generally in western Europe it's much better than the equivalent TEFL job. You get rediculously long holidays (I have about 13 weeks spread throughout the year) but the job itself is intense with a high marking and planning workload. I'm tolerating the relatively low pay of my school in Paris because I have a tiny class (10) and I don't work on Wednesdays and I'm given a very free hand in how I teach.

I recommend you go back home and either study a masters or do a teaching diploma (TEFL is only good for teaching EFL, it won't get you anywhere in actual schools unless you want to be a language support assistant). International schools have very high standards and they will normally demand that you have a number years of teaching (class teaching) experience.

>>1088881
I'm a different guy btw.

Btw big famous schools (like the American School of Paris) will often only hire people with LOADS of teaching experience and either a masters or a PHD.

>>1088488
I agree with your original statement. After a few months of travel I think I would really want to put my hands onto a project of some kind. But I've done longer travel, you can stop and work on farms or get a job of some kinda in a particular city. Hell, even stopping for a few weeks in one city and trying to catch the vibe of the place can give you added energy to keep going.

But over my travels I met people who have been on the road for months doing next to nothing. In Mexico there was a guy in my hostel who spent over a month there barely going outside. He seemed like a complete moron though, after a month in Mexico he genuinely didn't know any Spanish beyond Hola and he pronounced it with the h...

>>1087802
>At 23, you should have more savings than that.

Out of touch much?

>>1087719
Become what? The suspense is killing me.

>>1087693
I'am on the other side. Hitting almost 35 and haven't been anywhere. I like reading other peoples experiences because it kind of gives me a glimpse of what I missed out on. I feel the best time to travel and have fun is in your early to late twenty's. I already missed the boat and life is ticking away day by day. I wish I was in your shoes.
>feels bad man

>>1088915
Shut the fuck up with that defeatist nonsense. At 35, surely you have some money in the bank. Get out there [SPOILER]and git gud[/SPOILER]

>>1088915
Ha, my 90 year old granddad is still out there traveling. He just went to see the great wall of China last year and going to Hungary in a few months.

>>1088915
The only thing people over 30 miss out on is fitting in on a shitty kontiki tour or full moon party. Actually, scratch #2, there's a lot of old dudes partying up there. Any time is a good time to travel, it's only bad if you make it bad yourself.

>>1088915
>. I feel the best time to travel and have fun is in your early to late twenty's. I already missed the boat and life is ticking away day by day
My best trips have really been now in my 40s, and I've hit every state and a couple dozen countries....been traveling since an infant.

Don't have regrets, just practice your savings and take the trips you wish, as you wish them. It's no biggie. You're just wiser and more appreciative of things you see (and hopefully more funds to do more than the kids who live like the homeless).

>>1087693
Brother without no less than absolute sincerity, I feel that I love you. Your position is one that I cannot help but imagine myself to be in some years from now if nothing I have planned for my travels succeeds. I am only 24 but I already know of some of my classmates settling down; I only pity them now, but I always wonder if I won't maybe envy them a few years down the road.

This may be presumptuous of me, but I am almost certain that you are more interesting than any of your balding, rooted friends; you don't have their security but they are no more than products of the corporation they have worked for for so long. I don't know to what extent you believe that you didn't really develop because I find it difficult to imagine that years of travel wouldn't develop a man, even if in a manner that is imperceptible to him.

I've been traveling for a little more than a year and consider myself to be so much more than I was prior, primarily due to what I have seen and done in different environments. I feel sort of sorry for you that you compare yourself to those around you; their material possessions and security are paltry in my opinion compared to your experiences. As to the job, I suppose it's easier said than done but just ask yourself what you want to spend your time doing and do that, or do all you can to do that; your attempts will safeguard you from viewing yourself or your life with any remorse.

Best of luck brother and I hope you figure it all out.

>>1088915
I'll be 34 this month and hitting Costa Rica for my birthday, making it 5 countries in 5 years for birthday celebration. Stop hitching if you truly want to travel.

Didn't expect this much of a response.
>>1088954
It's just missing the best time to travel
>>1088969
Yea but I'am sure it would have been better if he started when he was young. Mentally and physically fresh.
>>1088978
Yea, that's the killer. Missing out on travelling and being young. I know I can still travel but can't do the stuff young people do.
>>1088988
>who live like the homeless
You know some people don't mind being like that. They or I might be naive or delusional but I won't ever know if I will like it or not without trying. Now in my mid 30's I say I wish I could have done it. But I won't know for sure.

>>1089242
>can't do the stuff young people do
You mean getting blackout drunk like you did every weekend at home when you were fresh out of college? 35 is not old, certainly not too old to travel, and definitely not too old to go get shitfaced if that's what you really want. If you're so self conscious about your age, just lie if it ever comes up in conversation (it probably won't). You may not be the "young stallion" you were a decade ago but you are not decrepit - you can still do those hikes and be adventurous, do an all nighter out in the town, camp on the beach, hook up with a stranger, etc.

If you've been working all this time then it's likely that you're sitting on a nice hunk of change. No one says you need to stay in the nicest places - bum it if you want to and eat peanut butter sandwiches 3 meals a day, and feel secure in the knowledge that if something happens, you have the finances to get yourself out of the situation.

I started traveling solo when I was 21 and I'm 29 now, and before then had traveled pretty extensively locally with family. For me, traveling has only gotten better. I can afford more, I'm smarter and wiser, I have a better idea of my needs and desires. It feels much more satisfying.

It's OK to regret that you didn't travel when you were younger, fine. But in another 5 years you will think to yourself, "If only I traveled when I was 35! I was more physically and mentally fit back then," and in another 5 years you will have that thought again about your 40s. My point is, use regret as incentive instead of a deterrent. Like >>1088969's granddad, traveling was something he wanted to do in his life, and he did it, old age be damned. Many people live their entire lives never leaving their home country. If you don't want that to be you, then do something about it. Take responsibility for your own life.