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

Toad

Why not consider teaching English as a second language. This way you can travel the world, experience the cultures a lot more closely and even get paid for it!
Of course it's not for everybody, I took a career break aged 33 and loved doing it!

Topsy21

Don't borrow money. Work your way round the world. I did! That way you see real people and learn how they live, not the glossy brochure, artificial life styles so often shown.
'Never a borrower nor a lender be!' used to be the mantra by which we all lived and it is still relevant.

stevemcol

Only my view but...never borrow money that you will still be paying back after the event has passed. You'll probably resent the repayments and it will take the edge off the experience. The world will still be there after you've saved up.

Hutchch0920

The value of saving the money instead of taking a loan is that you will have time to plan appropriately and I think the experience will seem much more worthwhile knowing that it has been well earnt. Having been travelling before, from my experience it is easy to spash loads of cash because you've gone without any proper plan, and in the same instance it's easy to do it on a tighter budget if you've planned your way round.

Having now read the post explaining your situation, this seems like a good move. I do not think your Mum is over-indulging you, I know many friends that have had support from their parents for various things, a medical degree, a postgraduate degree, a deposit on a house - all big live changing events...so why not travelling?

The 6 months will be invaluable for you to plan properly. You mention you're going to SEA...here's my blog from my time there http://travelpod.com/members/clairewych - this cost me £1600 in total for 6 weeks on a medium-low budget, flights cost £400, inter-country travel about £190 in total and we also did two lots of diving!

LameWolf

If it was me, the fact of having borrowed the money, even from Mum, would spoil any enjoyment of the holiday.

I'm seriously debt-phobic, though, so this is just my personal view.:o

ljr77

I'd just like to wish eca08 happy travels, I hope you have an amazing time. It looks like you have put a lot of thought in to what you want to do, given yourself time to save and are lucky enough to have a mum who will support you in this.

South East Asia will be pretty cheap for travelling and as many people have mentioned there are options for working as well.

3 years ago I took 1 years sabbatical from my job and went travelling round the world, even doing it on the cheap I spent about £15,000 in total which I had saved, inherited etc. I also made the decision not to work for the whole year. I had an absolutely amazing time and will never regret the trip, I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to do the same.

Be warned though, it doesn't cure you of wanting to go travelling it just makes you want to do more!!!

WelshGandalf

Thanks for responding eca08. You are lucky to have the mother that you do! I wouldn't say her offer is indulging you - if she just gifted you loads of money and you had to save nothing then it would be over-indulging imo.

Not having to worry about housing costs etc. definately helps make the decision easier for you (as that is a major concern raised by others).

For comparison, I did 1 month interrailing around Europe with my wife a few years ago and it came to £5k for the both of us. We stayed in hostels and wanted to shar ea room if possible, if you didn't mind shared dorms I reckon the figure coudl've dropped another £500 - £800.

JimmyTheWig

Good for your mum!

What would be ideal, then, would be to take the money your mum lends you as an emergency fund, but plan to work - as others have suggested - when and where you can. Wouldn't it be great to come home with the money your mum lent you intact that you can give straight back to her there and then!


I answered "yes" in the poll, even though it isn't something that I would do / would have done.
But it strikes me that if you don't do it soon then it may well be too late - commitments will only increase and you may end up looking back at 30 and regretting not doing it.
But I would only say "yes" if there was a plan to repay the money.

menorah56

As individuals we have differing reasons for wanting to travel. We only need consider the motivation behind such action and weigh the 'pros & cons. Assuming knowledge, experience, character building and some fun too, are motivating factors then the benefits can be enormous.

£10,000 is not an inconsiderable sum of cash but neither is it a vast fortune. Aside from future prospects upon return, more important is the ability to repay the loan over an agreed period prior to departure.

From a personal point of view and with some bias, my own life 'raced ahead' once I finally made a break from the home location where I'd lived since childhood until my early 20's.

As is often said...Life is not a rehearsal, so get out and live it.

lisaoxborough

When I was 23, I was single with no resonsibilities. Within 18 months I had met the man of my dreams, bought a house, got married and was expecting a baby....nuff said.