Worth it

hello im 21 and i was planning a one month trip to japan next year as i really wanted to see japan before settling down and getting on with my life. i live in australia and at the moment my bf had the great idea to buy a house, this would mean that we would have to put our trip off for an uncertian amount of time. my question is do you think its better that i try and go now as im younger and already have a good iten in place or does matter if i dont go for another lets say 5-10 years? i just think that there is alot more i can do at this age that i might not be able/want to do when i get older.

Your question is something you should resolve after consulting your friends and family who know you and your situation best. It's not a travel question, but a personal one. A bunch of strangers in cyberspace ranging from age 13-? may give you all kinds of wrong advice without intending to.

You are young to be tying yourself down to a mortgage and all the other expenses that come with owning a house. In 5-10 years time you may have children which could also make it harder to travel.

I bought a small house in NZ as an investment (I live in Japan) when I was about 28, and I was definitely able to travel a lot more when I didn't own the house, including one year when I was 26 and visited 25 countries in 12 months- there's no way I could do that now. I have to pay rates and maintenance fees- I can't just use all my money for travel any more.

Even if you are thinking you can rent it out and travel at some point, there is always the chance that the tenants will move out meaning you have to pay the mortgage yourself for several months, which could be tricky if you are not working- I have to put money aside for this possibility as well.

Wait until you are at least 25 or so to buy the house- in the meantime you can save up a bigger deposit and see some of the world while you are still young before you tie yourself to a mortgage- believe me, you will be tied to it.

Best advice ever: travel now while you can: enjoy being 21 and have a life of broadening experiences: you will be able to give so much more to future decisions with a wealth of travel behind you: there is a whole world out there: see it while you can

Personally I feel that seeing a world beyond your normal surroundings is a great thing, at any point in one's life, but particularly good when you are younger - you absorb and "feel" a lot more when you are young like at your age. And if you have the feeling that you want to do more before you "settle down," then better to do it now and have no regrets as you jump into your family life later :) A house is a nice thing, but its ownership definitely does tie and weigh you down to some extent.

(From a Japanese woman in her early 40s, who travelled extensively in her 20s and 30s, and settled down to own a condominium unit just a few years ago :))

A 1-month vacation or my own home. I know what I'd choose but that's just me. Home prices are pretty low right now and there's a lot of talk of impending inflation. Maybe you should just take a 1 week vacation, you might not like Japan. It's not everyone's cup of tea.

Getting a mortgage from a bank isn't really owning one's own home, it's committing oneself to many years of paying a lot of interest to the bank.

At 21 I know which one I would have chosen as well- an opportunity to broaden my horizons and gain valuable life experience, or a considerable financial burden which may prevent me from ever being able to travel for more than 10 days or so at a time? No contest.

There are plenty of years ahead to be thinking about purchasing real estate, no need to dive into it at 21.

thanks everyone for you replys. just needed to know what other people thought, as for asking my friends all of them either have a house or have kids. Travel is something very important and i guess i dont want to be 60 in house that i own wishing that i had seen the world.

Hi Lulu,

I'm in a similar position to you so I thought I'd share my experiences. I'm also an aussie and I decided that for my 21st birthday last year I wanted to go to Japan. My bf is very into saving and wants to buy a house but he reluctantly agreed to go to Japan because he did want to go there but didn't want to spend the money, however we flew Jetstar (around $1100 return) and tried to keep other costs like accommodation down.

So anyway we went to Japan in Feb last year and absolutely LOVED it, we are getting married in November this year and are going back to Japan for a whole month because we both loved it to much to care about how much it costs!

My bf (or should I say fiance) is still savings driven but we have worked extra hard to save this year and have a strict financial plan that we follow. Our plan is to have a 'one last hoorah' type trip then save for a deposit on a house for the first 3 years we are married and then buy a house.

So my advice is that you can do both. You just need to sit down and work out a realistic budget that you can stick to and work out whether you can afford the trip and still plan towards buying a house. Obviously your financial circumstances will make a big difference.

One point is that the exchange rate is pretty bad at the moment so maybe if you waited 12 months to go then it wouldn't be as expensive as it is on the improve.

Anyway, that's just my opinion on it. Good luck!

I just wanted to point out that although the Aussie dollar has strengthened against the yen recently, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will continue to do so. In 12 months' time it could be stronger than it is now, weaker, or exactly the same- even the experts can't predict which way it will go.