I’ve holidayed 12 times in the last 2 years, it’s more important to me than a mortgage
THERE is one thing I know that I’ll be doing for certain in 2025, and that’s stepping on a plane to explore somewhere new.
Travel is one of my favourite things, and in the past two years, I’ve been on trips 12 times – from Florence in Italy to Comporta in Portugal.
While that might sound like quite a lot of getaways, it’s similar to many of my 20- and 30-something friends – and we’re certainly not alone.
Indeed, recent research by Marriott International found that the average Brit intends to go away five times in the upcoming 12 months, with those aged 25 to 34 getting particularly itchy feet.
If my generation has killed off the single big summer holiday in favour of a smorgasbord of foreign jaunts, then I think I know just why…
Cheap flights
The origin of Gen Z and millennial globetrotters – which now includes all adults fewer than 43 years old – can arguably found in how we were grew up on the eye-wateringly low-priced seats of budget airlines, like Ryanair and EasyJet.
I spent my 20s getting into the habit of booking flights for around a tenner – far below UK train fares, even with my Railcard – and it got my peers and I in the habit of jetting off for the weekend without a second thought.
As such, the idea that foreign travel needn’t break the bank, if planned in advance, has lingered in our minds – even with the continued fallout of the 2008 financial crash and more recent rising cost of living.
Indeed, despite post-pandemic travel becoming more expensive, my generation have gone out of our way to reduce costs in order to stay up in the air.
For instance, when I flew to Florence for a friend’s birthday in February 2023, I willingly opted for a cheaper flight at the crack of dawn and stuffed everything into a single rucksack (no mean feat) to avoid extra baggage fees.
Then there was my trip to Istanbul, for a friend’s wedding in August 2023, which saw me save hundreds of pounds by changing once on the way there in Madrid, and then three times on the way back – taking in the airports of Antalya, Hamburg and Milan over 26 hours.
It’s a budget approach to air travel that I’m not sure everyone would subscribe to, yet the temptation to travel at a sociable hour, with an upgraded seat and a suitcase in the hold will ultimately equate to fewer foreign jaunts.
Speedy breaks
The traditional annual holiday may have involved relaxing by the beach, perhaps as part of an all-inclusive package, for a week or a fortnight.
However, like many of my peers, I’m totally happy with a long weekend as well as a DIY approach – one that’s been facilitated by the opening up of the internet, in which we can all be our own personal travel agents.
Indeed, head to most European cities and the chances are that it will be cheaper to dine out and get around within than London.
This was certainly the case on a girls’ trip to Naples in June 2023, where I ate award-winning pizza for just £3.
I also whizzed around ahead of a friend’s Barcelona wedding – from Park Güell to the Sagrada Família – on the metro for less than the tube.
Savvy stays
What’s more, rather than being restricted to expensive hotels, my generation has been able to make the most of the bargains to be found on AirBnb.
That’s particularly if you venture outside the usual tourist spots and share a place with several friends.
On another girls’ trip to Peniche in May 2023 – just over an hour up the Portuguese coast from Lisbon – we bagged an amazing apartment with panoramic sea views.
Similarly, I’d spotted Monsaraz – an inland area on Portugal’s eastern border with Spain – on Instagram, and a group of us stayed in a lovely villa in November 2023.
One of my smartest trips in recent times has been a three-week stay in Geneva – for free.
While Switzerland is famously expensive, I made the most of my flexibility to remote work and ‘flat-swapped’ with a friend who lives there – who in return stayed in my home in Lisbon, where I have resided since 2020.
I was able to explore the pricey city, but keep costs down by eating mostly at home or making packed lunches – with the exception of an £8 flat white from a café and a fondue for £26.
Off season
Many trips I have made have been outside the traditional summer holiday window – almost certainly helped by the fact I don’t yet have children – which can also slash costs significantly.
And you’d be surprised just how glorious it is to visit certain places in the ‘shoulder season’ or even ‘off season’.
I popped to Ibiza for a friend’s birthday in an already-hot May 2024 – a Spanish island with such round-the-clock fun that it didn’t really matter that we stayed an unusual Sunday to Thursday.
Another smart decision was to travel to Comporta – an hour from Lisbon down the Portuguese coastline – with a friend in April 2023, when we largely had the beach town to ourselves.
I was amazed to find that in California, in February 2024, I was able to ski up in Mammoth Mountain and surf on Huntington Beach, within the same trip.
However, often it’s about altering your expectations of a destination – with my assumption that I’d be sunbathing in Tuscany tweaked to enjoying a sun-dappled stroll around Cortona in December 2023.
Things were on the chilly and drizzly side in Carcassonne, France in October 2023 – but at least my boyfriend and I weren’t fighting with a million other tourists to browse the famous medieval castle.
I’m sure there will come a time when the funds I budget for travel are redirected into a mortgage or childcare.
However, in an economic climate in which it is harder than ever for my generation to feel like we are ticking off life’s important milestones, working our way through our international bucket-list feels like a more accessible luxury right now.
What’s in store for 2025? I’m bang on trend with my five upcoming trips – more of Portugal, the south of France, Dubai, Thailand and Indonesia….