Originally Posted by kennethfine
Not harsh. Some of us have lived similar lives and watched some peers succeed while others failed and flailed. We'd rather see the OP succeed.
Well, in order to do that, we'd need to understand the OP's definition of success. I'm not sure that maximizing net worth at the expense of all else is it. If it is, by all means, he should not travel at all.
I'm in my mid-30s travelling 100,000+ self-funded miles for the year, and enjoying myself. This is a function of time and professionalism. It's also a function of income. The travel gets easier and more available as you become richer and more specialized in your career.
That's great for your situation. I know for me, travel was a lot easier when I was poorer and younger. I was living near ORD and I was unmarried. If I found out today that AA was running a weekend special $99 one-way base fare to MXP or CDG (which they did in those early years of email-only fares), I knew I had the flexibility to be on that flight tomorrow. I could usually find 1-2 buddies to join me. And I was still young enough (with memories of the Eurailpass still fresh in my mind) that I thought nothing of throwing some crap in a backpack and going without a real plan for once I got there. There's always a cheap pensione with a room available somewhere.
Now I'm in my mid-30's and we still take perfectly nice vacations, but the dynamic has changed. Time is scarce - if we want to take an international trip for a week or so, we calendar it 6-9 months in advance. And of course we have to arrange the right hotels, the right flights that are easy for kids, etc.
Many young people would be well advised to follow amazon.com's early mantra: "get big fast." After your income is rolling in, your retirement is being funded, and your workplace has a heroinlike addiction to your bona-fide skills, you will be able to enjoy all the travel you wish.
No question about it: if your goal is max net worth fast, that's the way to do it. But who knows when or if you will get to enjoy all the travel you wish. I'd like to think that once kids are all in college, we're going to do a 3-month around the world trip. But who knows... I definitely didn't have that mindset in my 20's - then it was more like "I want to experience the world now."