I Too Would Like to Travel Someday!

Although I’m in my 50s, I try to play football with people my age every Sunday near my home. One of my football buddies lives nearby and also invests in cryptocurrencies. So, we often chat about cryptocurrencies while walking home after a game.

Recently, he told me he was very annoyed with a friend (not a mutual friend). That friend had asked my buddy for advice on investing in cryptocurrencies. Considering that this person was impulsive and a poor decision-maker, my friend agreed to help only on the condition that the person would buy and sell only when my friend told him to do so.

The person bought a particular cryptocurrency on my friend’s suggestion. A few months later, the price had risen several times from the initial investment. Seeing that the price had gone parabolic, my friend called and told him to sell immediately. However, his friend rather sheepishly admitted that he had already taken profit a few weeks after investing, when the price had risen by about 20%. He explained that he had used the funds to take his family on another overseas holiday.

When my friend agreed to advise him on investing in cryptocurrencies, he did so with his friend’s long-term financial well-being in mind. His friend, however, was focused on making quick money and short-term gains.

I tried to calm my friend down by saying that although I wouldn’t have done what his friend did, I understood that the need for instant gratification is common for many people. I know individuals who go on one overseas holiday after another. It’s as if, just days after returning from one trip, they are already planning the next. As I see it, the fact that someone seeks a new holiday so quickly suggests that the previous one was not deeply satisfying or meaningful, which then motivates them to plan another.

I also think that people who plan a new holiday shortly after returning from one have a strong predisposition toward novelty. For them, where they travel may matter less than having a constant stream of new experiences. (This then raises the question: if novelty is what they truly seek, is it really necessary to travel at all? Why not pursue novelty through other, preferably less expensive means?)

Deeply rooted in most people’s psyche is the need for novelty. For many in Singapore, that need can be satisfied rather inexpensively—by being a movie buff or a foodie who visits various hawker centres to seek the tastiest dishes. Overseas travel, however, does not come cheaply. If one relies on overseas travel to satisfy the need for novelty, it will eventually have a significant impact on one’s finances.

One cannot have everything in life. If one frequently takes overseas holidays, something else eventually has to give way. For example, money needs to be set aside for long-term needs such as getting married, buying a house, or starting a family. Where is that money going to come from if it is always being spent on frequent overseas trips?

Some people take loans to fund their frequent overseas holidays, but all loans must eventually be repaid—with interest. In other words, borrowing to pay for an overseas holiday may provide a better quality-of-life experience in the short term, but it can come at the expense of one’s standard of living in the future. Servicing that debt for years later means having fewer funds available to afford things or services that could improve quality of life.

Some adopt the YOLO (“You Only Live Once”) mentality: if you don’t travel frequently while young, you may not get the chance later due to other life commitments or declining health. There is some validity to this argument, but if taken to the extreme, frequent overseas travel that leaves one broke or in debt will lead to a poorer standard of living later because one can no longer afford better things.

Again, the principle is that one cannot have everything in life. If one maximises enjoyment today to the extreme, it will invariably come at the expense of less enjoyment in the later part of life.

A better approach might be balance: use some funds to enjoy life today, but save enough to ensure a bit of enjoyment in the future as well.

Another approach could be to reduce and limit overseas holidays to only locations that are most meaningful.

For me, besides travelling to my company headquarters in Copenhagen once or twice a year, I seldom go overseas. A major reason is my elderly parents—my dad just turned 90 last year, and my mum has dementia. They live together with two elderly aunts who have refused to have a maid look after them. As a result, I find myself in a situation where I don’t think I can fly overseas without worrying about sudden issues that might arise in Singapore.

Nonetheless, I look forward to the day when I retire and when my parents are either no longer around or in a better elder-care situation, which would then allow me to travel freely and at peace. My wife is learning Japanese, and I too have some interest in Japanese culture. So, I can see myself taking numerous trips to Japan.

Financially, I am already in a position where I could make several trips across Japan—or even to other parts of the world—wherever I wish. However, I don’t find it meaningful to travel to random places overseas just for the sake of travel or for the sake of having new experiences. One cannot have everything in life, and I would like to prioritise travelling to places that would be meaningful to me, perhaps as part of a bigger plan to learn more about a culture I am truly interested in.

In the meantime, the funds I don’t use for travel can be channelled into investing—and I would be happy about that too. Cryptocurrencies, particularly the theme of tokenisation and real-world assets (RWA), are still at a very early stage. Investing in this space could be a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, if I’m successful in my investments (which I’m confident I will be), it would mean a larger pool of funds for overseas holidays in the future (translating to more frequent trips or longer stays).

Meanwhile, I’m also keeping myself healthy (like by playing football on Sundays) so that I will still be able to travel in the future with ease of mobility despite being older.

#Money #Travel #PersonalFinance