Is it wise to borrow £10,000 to travel the world?

Former_MSE_Debs

Poll started 2 Oct 2012

This poll is inspired by the following tweet we received:

“Is it a seriously silly idea to get a £10k loan to travel the world? I’m 23 with no responsibilities."

Which of the options in this week's poll would be closest to your advice?

Vote in this week's poll

Did you vote? Why did you pick that option? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below. To see the results from last time, click this

Simon_c_2

Do it for 2 grand, and it might be worth doing.
For 10grand, you're just having a long holiday and paying for it over the next 5 years.
For 2 grand, you're paying for a few tickets, and you'll have to work your way around the world and will actually learn something.

spanielson

10 grand?! Are you travelling by private jet and staying in 5* resorts?

kezbabybabe

Too busy thinking about the now and not the later.

Yes the person is just 23, but sooner or later they may wish to settle down and then they will be stuck with such a big debt over their head which means they would be unable to comprehend how they are going to build a future with the person they wish to spend it with.

Holidays are great and often full of experiences, but wouldn't you much rather put the actually money towards a deposit on a house?

lazer

Depends on their job prospects

If they will be travelling the world for a year for £10k and coming home and straight into a job paying £30k plus, and are willing to live a relatively quiet life for a year and get it all paid back, then yes i don't see why not

If the job prospects are poor, then IMO its a bad idea!

ian9outof10

I borrowed around this amount to buy a car once. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. The car was solid, and to this day is still running, so it was a good investment - my dad has it now - but even so, I could have bought a serviceable car for a lot less, and not gone in to debt.

My parents always had the right idea. Never borrow anything for anything. A mortgage is, obviously, acceptable, but if you can't afford it with the money in your bank account, then you can't have it.

These days people have forgotten about what it's like to want but not have, now everyone tends to just spend first, think later.

curlycat_2

Surely there are repayments to be made - whilst the person is abroad. How will they do that ?
They will return to a serious debt or are they hoping to borrow and then get it written off when they get home ?

ArielLondon

Don't do it!!

I started getting in debt at the age of 18 not fully understanding just how it works (was fooled in to getting a credit card in freshers week of uni).

By 21 I was 10k in debt. At 25 I consolidated my loan and two credit cards. My debt increased more and more and at the ago of 30 I had to do a repayment plan with all of those that I owed money too and at 33 I'm still paying it all off.

It's a very viscous circle and unless you can earn enough to pay it off - which you won't immediately as you'll be on holiday - then you should never, ever do it.

Selenafk

I have just turned 24 and I'm in the process of buying my first house. I saved £10k to help towards my deposit and wouldn't dream of taking out a loan to do so. 23 is young yes but a £10k loan will bog you down for a long time just to do some travelling? I travelled a fare bit in my holidays from Uni and it's more than possible to save the money yourself to do it rather than loaning the money. Plus if you pay for it yourself it makes the experience more worthwhile and it teaches you a valuable lesson about how important it is to save money rather than relying on a loan which you'll end up paying more back for in the long term.

Save the money in a high interest account and an ISA and if you still want to go by the time you've saved £10k then go for it, you might have changed your mind by then!

georgev

I'm 22, I owe £4000, and I've had to organise my life around it. For me, it was a huge mistake. Don't take the loan - just save up for half a year and go on a smaller budget. You'll enjoy it more if you earn it.

norangeduck

At 24, I saved up about 4 grand to do a year out - then I spent about 7 grand on credit cards - a year and a half later Im down to 2 grand to pay off - do I regret it...

HELL NO!!!

I had the best year of my life, I have no commitments, no kids,no mortgage, so, paying it back has been ok for me, Im not desperate for a house, or a flash car, we live in this world for experiences, and 10 grand for a year is pretty reasonable to to travel with...... Do it while you still can, would you regret not doing so if 40 years down the line your thinking "I wish....." I know my grandparents do...