Millennials are increasingly prioritizing travel over their careers. Why is this the case? (Credit: rema1n5 via Flickr)
Like many soon-to-be college alumni, I remember facing multiple options for life post-grad. Two felt responsible attend graduate school or immediately enter my career while the third seemed more personally fulfilling: go see the world.
As graduation day approached, I still didnt have an answer. Even with a wait-list letter from an Ivy League and silence on the job front, traveling didnt stand out to me as a feasible option. Career-driven, not the bravest of people and lacking the financial support of my parents to jet-set, there were a number of reasons why, while romantic, the idea of traveling post-grad didnt seem like a legitimate choice. I never had to really consider it though; I received a job offer right before graduation and took the more conventional route.
My college roommate didnt.
Within weeks of finishing the final courses for her degree, Kristin Wallash and her twin sister, Briana, flew on one-way tickets to Bangkok to start a year-long backpacking trip. Suddenly, her Facebook wall was flooded with exotic locales, stunning sunsets and somewhat-nauseating local cuisine the typical fare for millennials on post-grad trips. With the intent ofWWOOFing, Kristin and Briana set off to work on organic farms across Southeast Asia, wherever their paths took them, to finance their trip.
Our two diverging lifestyles made me wonder: Is it better to put off your career to travel?
The Benefits Of Traveling Before Starting A Career
While Kristin and Brianas deviance seemed foreign to me, their impulse to buck the conventional post-graduate step is common. According to American Express American Express Business Insights, millennials are thefastest-growing age groupwhen it comes to travel spending. Theyre twice as likely as non-millennials totravel as a hobby, with 50% taking at least four leisure trips a year. Whats more, young people make up about 20% of all international travelers, according toU.N. estimates, generating a whopping $185 billion in tourism revenue abroad.
Traveling is expensive, but it doesnt seem to be a luxury reserved for established adults anymore. That change can be explained by a cocktail of reasons, ranging from a tough job market to a shifting value system.
The millennial generation prioritizes experiences and by extension, travel above all else, said Susana Hawkins, a design researcher at Lextant. Given how easy it has always been for them to access things digitally, millennials see analog experiences as the preferred way to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.
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Should You Put Travel Above Your Career?
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