Originally Posted by
toomanybooks
Looking back 35 years and talking to my 19 y.o. self, I'd say "What you have now is time. Burn it. You don't have a job, or a spouse, or responsibilities, or monthly payments, or ailing parents to hold you back. DO STUFF."
Travel cheap. You can do it while your body is limber and you can sleep on overnight trains and ferries without pain and you can get drunk and be up at 6 am with vigor and you can live on bread and cheese and salami and beer and wine. Sleep in train stations, or on the beach on a Greek island. You are free.
You have fewer boundaries than I. Take advantage.
I love this. By all means, follow this advice. I was fortunate to do some pretty cool things when I was younger, but looking back, I certainly would have done more. Backpacking anywhere. Staying in hostels. Drinking too much abroad. It's funny how many responses are of us telling the kid what we wished we could've told ourselves back then. I will be 35 next week (sigh) and traveling with toddler twins is awesome, but it isn't the same as being able to sleep on a train, or at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. Good times.
It's so cliche that I cringe to say it, but you really do regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did do.
All that said, I'm also with the people who say to get a card, charge a little, pay it off, and then lock it up. I got a credit card my freshman year of college, and it's still open. I use it once or twice a year to make sure it stays that way, since it's my oldest card. Remember you are in charge of it; don't let it become in charge of you (translation: don't go into debt).
Also, you didn't ask, but since we're bringing it up: if I were you - or if I could tell my 18 yo self this - don't get caught up in fancy (expensive) private schools. I wasn't in debt to the point that most people were, but I'm still paying my loans (had to defer repayment for grad school). In retrospect, a big state school would've offered more opportunities for half the price.
One more thing - get a job and start saving. You might catch a great mistake fare or just a crazy cheap fare that pops up every now and then. You'll need the cash to book it, along w/ a hostel or couch surfing or whatever you'll do. Good luck!