Travel in your 30s vs your 20s
And a simple celebration of seafood.
I travelled to three new countries the year I turned 29. A random Jetstar sale (those pay-one-way-free-to-return ones will getcha good) saw me fly to Thailand for the first time, for a week.
Towards the end of that year, my beloved and I went on a fantastic two week adventure to the North Island of New Zealand/Aotearoa. The next month, I travelled to Goa, India, for a wedding. It was a lot and a lot of fun.
I knew that as I approached my thirties, I should probably stop taking such a carefree approach to my finances, knuckle down and be responsible or something. So I resolved to not travel overseas in 2019 (hindsight…).
A return to Aotearoa to explore the South Island was on the cards for 2020… well, that obviously didn’t happen.
So, as life would have it, a recent trip to Europe has not only been the first time I’ve been overseas for over five years; it’s also the first time I’ve travelled overseas in my thirties (and pretty much mid-thirties by now; not sure when that happened but here we are!).
As such, there are some marked differences.
It’s easier to get around and pay for things. Okay, so this is more a passing of time thing, rather than a which-decade-are-we-playing-in thing. Yet, I’m kinda marvelling at how easy it is to get around Europe now, compared to the first time I travelled here at age 20.
I did have a phone at the time, but the battery sucked and the only option really was to download Google Maps (which was still in its infancy) on the free WiFi of hostels and and stumble through the streets, hoping for the best. Or consult paper maps! The horror! (I’m joking, I like a solid map and am somehow much better at reading and understanding them than Google Maps. I do not see this as a failure).
This was in the days before WhatsApp, Instagram, etc so I also emailed my friends and family to stay in touch! Sometimes from… Internet cafes!
Before I left Australia, I very grudgingly updated my rapidly dying iPhone 8 to a 14 and I’m so glad I did this. What a revelation to have double the storage space, a camera that works and a battery that lasts longer than 3 hours!
I was also able to buy a relatively cheap roaming pack on my Oz mobile provider Amaysim (which allows for a certain amount of texts and minutes) and a data only eSim from Holafly; unlimited data and it covers everywhere I’ve travelled to in Europe and the UK. I mean, I’m typing this from the Greek island of Hydra, where I have 5G. It’s wild. Highly recommend.
The downside is that it’s nowhere near as easy to ‘switch-off’ from the world. I find myself checking my emails and Instagram probably as much as I would at home (although Instagram stories have proved to be endlessly entertaining to put together, so that’s something).
Plus, it’s much easier to access money; go to the right ATM and you won’t be charged fees by your bank (depending on who you’re with, my cue to sing ‘Up’s’ praises) and if you choose, you can also pay for most things with card without getting whacked by crazy and unfair conversion rates. Long gone are the days of Traveller Cheques, but also having to take out a wad of cash at home, to travel with you as you go. NO THANKS.
Not having to stay in hostels. Mid-range hotels all the way, bébe. I know some people in their thirties do still stay in hostels and I certainly reckon I could do a private room, but I think at my age, dorms need to be a thing of the past. One of my favourite parts of this holiday so far was dropping into a hostel in Florence that had a karaoke sign out the front (like moths to the flame…) and having a 22 year old (that’s someone BORN IN 2001 WHO IS NOW AN ADULT) tell my boyfriend and I that it was “nice to see an older married couple staying in a hostel”. He was so wrong, on multiple levels.
Fast travel is a flop. We’re doing a pretty jam-packed trip, which I’ve jokingly been referring to as my partner’s first Europe Contiki tour, as he never had the privilege of travelling like that in his 20s. I’m talking primarily about the type of travel where you’re on a bus, getting wasted in different countries, with a bunch of strangers around your age.
Our trip is not quite like that thank god, as I have no stamina and wish to be in bed before midnight essentially every night. I’ve done some faster-paced trips in my youth (lol), but I’m now definitely much more of a fan of slow travel, and forgiving of myself if I need to spend a morning or arvo in a new place doing not that much; better than paying for it later. And I’m happy to avoid buses wherever possible.
Having more money to do things! This is a goody; hopefully as you age, your disposable income increases. I know our generation was kinda sold a raw deal what with rising inflation, cost of living, etc, but on the upside, I’m no longer a student/have ditched the student mentality and feel I can say yes to the odd blow-out meal or unreal but slightly spenny experience (within reason, of course).
Contrast this with the fact I refused to enter Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia in 2009 because it cost 10 euros and that was a lot for me at the time (although I will still argue the point that it’s something worth looking at from the outside, perhaps rather than from the inside. Don’t get mad, I’m sure the inside of this magnificent building is well worth it).
Being able to rent cars and have everyone drive. I’m thinking of a two-week long trip around Ireland by car, undertaken when I was 25 and the people I was travelling with were 24. Meaning, thanks to annoying car hire rules, I did all the driving for two weeks and it wiped me out. Glad to not have to even think about this anymore.
Not going out every night with the intention of trying to pull. In fairness, not applicable to everyone in their thirties, but I reckon even if I were single, this would be far less of a novelty than it seemed in my twenties. Also keeping in my mind I’m travelling with my boyfriend, but I haven’t had any experiences of being groped/cat-called/followed this time round, so hurray for being a wrinkly old crone that no one is interested in!
Much of your leave/holidays revolving around people’s weddings. It is a joy to be present at weddings again and I’ve been pretty lucky to attend a handful overseas and many interstate (and never any in Melbourne, weirdly?). Definitely not something I planned an entire trip around when I was, say, 22.
Not taking trips or the ability to travel for granted. Again, probably more a post-pandemic point of view than a 20s vs 30s thing. But, thinking of the things that may creep up on you in your thirties; chronic illness, injuries, children - I’m not gonna take the ability to travel for granted again anytime soon. I hope.
Any comparisons you’ve noticed from travelling in your 20s or your 30s?Or 40s, 50s, 60s?! - please do share.
The best thing I ate this fortnight
Argh, hard decisions again! It’s probably gonna have to be a three-way draw, I’m sorry.
I had a very pleasing collection of dishes in a restaurant called Vessel in Amsterdam. It was freakishly hot that day, the Dutch were joyfully jumping in every available waterhole they could find and I cooled down with oysters, KFC (Kentucky Fried Cauliflower) and goats cheese ravioli. Man, was it good.
Sometimes however, simply does it. And that’s how I feel about a pile of pasta I ate in a food hall in Florence. Cooked to perfection, mixed with truffle cream and sprinkled with Parmesan. It was delicious. And I don’t even like pasta that much! Something I’d really like to replicate at home.
And I was going to leave it there, but then I ate this pasta dish on the Greek Island of Hydra, which completely blew my socks off (at Veranda Restaurant, which has beautiful views of the port). I actually couldn’t finish all the orzo, as I’d stupidly filled up on bread and taramasalata for an appetiser. Foolish woman! This may be the best thing I’ve had on the trip; but it’s generally an easy sell where seafood is concerned, IMO.
That’s it for this fortnight. I’ll be writing my next dispatch from my desk, with my furry boy by my side, probably while wearing at least ten layers, because Melbourne winter.
And there will be some actual cooking in the next edition! How exciting. Thanks for sticking around for these weird dispatches from on the road. I appreciate it.
-Celine
Travelling in your 30s is the way to go! And there's nothing stupid about filling up on bread and taramasalata. That's a pro move there.