general travel age

There is no such thing as being out of place in a hostel, being a traveller in the first place gives you something in common with EVERYONE! Infact we think it can be even better being over 21 & able to drink and gamble & all that!

Mike also says, "you're only as old as the woman you feel!!"

hee hee :-) Reply to this

Huh - 30??? you're a baby!
well I'm gonna be honest - at times I did find it a bit tough being older than most people. I was 38/39 when I travelled. In India I really found this no problem because there were a lot of solo travellers - most people I met were still younger than me but it didn't seem to matter - a lot of the time people didn't know how old I was and assumed I was younger, but aside from that, it didnt' come into the equation. When I moved on into south-east Asia, I had a bit of a different experience - this was mainly because most people I met weren't travelling alone, they were in twos, couples or groups, which at times I felt hard to infiltrate in to, and sometimes when I did, I ended up regretting it because a lot of the people were so much younger than me and I didn't have so much in common with them - despite all being travellers! Also there was much more of a party/drinking scene in SE Asia. And in Australia a lot of people were 18/19 and doing work/travel (though not all). I did find one or two like-minded people, but at times in Oz and NZ I felt like I didn't want to be part of the travellers network so much, as generally the contingent was 20 years younger than me.
However (the good news! sorry to be negative) I found that staying in YHAs in Oz and NZ, I was more likely to meet slightly older people, than the other backpacker places. And also happy with my own company a lot of the time. I don't think you need to worry about seeming out of place, at 30ish there are more people around your age (much more than my age!) and also people don't really care - it's really more of a personal thing that will come from you - ie if you want to be around people, no matter what their age, and if they're much younger than you, you'll be able to - people aren't bothered - and you don't have to tell them how old you are - people will probably think you're younger anyway. If you don't want to be around much younger people, don't be - you can enjoy your own company, and you'll still meet those people who are more your age, or anyway mature - I hung out for a while with an 18 year old in India and barely noticed the age difference as she was quite grounded and solid. And some times I was still happy to hang out with the young people - I found it refreshing. other times I found it annoying and so didn't do it!
I think 18 right up to about 32, are the general ages of people you'll meet. Then there are the 50's and 60's lot. And then there are a very few late thirties/early forties (travelling alone that is). so I felt I was in the age bracket least likely to find other travellers my own age - I don't know - how have you found that, Mell?
In any case I ended up meeting a guy 9 years younger than me (another traveller) and am still with him now, in fact I moved to Ireland to be with him, so there you go - I just ended up contradicting everything I previously said! 😊
Don't worry - you'll have a great time anyway - I certainly felt I got much more out of the experience, being a bit older and having some life-exprience behind me. Reply to this

I live in Dublin, northside. Actually surprised how much of a foreigner I feel over here, though I'm only from London. But I quite like feeling like a foreigner 😊 Reply to this

Where are you from originally then - somewhere else in Ireland? Yes I'll meet you for that coffee, let me know when you'll be here 😊 Probably be cold, rainy and windy by then; but then again it's cold, rainy and windy now in the middle of summer... Reply to this

funny questions 😊
well in my opinion ain't now age range, like others here also said. to me it's all a "mind thing". when i stayed in hostels and met people who were 20 years older than me (i'm 25) i always enjoyed listening to their stories and experiences, places they have been at and things they have seen. ....of course it can be hard to socialize with a group of teenagers when you are mature and totally into art and culture but everything the younger people want is drinking and having a party Reply to this

Here is a related thread.

What age is ''best'' to travel. Reply to this

in Hump Hostel in Kunming china last year I met an incredible 74yr old american woman off on her own backpacking en route to do the trans siberian railway trip. She tries to travel for 6 weeks every 2nd year and lives in a retirement complex in Florida i think it was...now what a hell of a way to go, I guess she will die on her feet or in a hostel in some place a 74plus would never dare to explore. Soooooooo age what is it.a state of mind. I am 50plus and still do the backp acker trails when time and $$ allows. Reply to this