A question that I often stumble across on traveling forums is whether someone is too old to travel. To most the answer is pretty straight forward but for many it is something that they do ponder.

Many people in their late 20’s or 30’s face mixed reactions from friends and family to their talk of travel. It’s a good idea to look outside these opinions to actually look at the issues without the negativity from people who… let’s be honest probably have never been traveling themselves.

As most people who have been traveling will tell you, age isn’t really that important as you’ll meet many like minded people whilst on the road. Whether that’s a young teenager or a middle aged traveler (or even a pensioner who I once met traveling Brazil) most people are traveling to experience and see new cultures.

There are also many advantages to travelling when you are a little older. For example you may have more disposable income and saving potential because you have been working longer.

Certain places do attract certain types of travellers, for example there tends to be a young crowd of party backpackers travelling via bus tours in Australia. You can easily put yourself in situations where you will meet like minded people – South America tends to attract a slightly older traveller on one occasion I met a pensioner staying in a hostel.

After chatting I discovered that he was travelling because he’d always wanted to see the world and his wife had died quite recently, to him this was the perfect opportunity to travel the world and age was not going to get in his way.

If you’re still not convinced, check out this post on the subject on TravelBlog.org.