8 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22
21. May, 2008 
249 Comments
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When I was 22, I wouldn’t have listened to my old curmudgeonly self. I would have said, “You don’t get it”, then put my headphones back on and headed over the Haymarket. I might have written about it on my blog over at TheGlobe.com (remember that site?) under my pen name ‘nehalennia’. 1999 was a great year, and I was going to make a million trillion dollars working teh internets. Instead I got laid off from my dot com job and ran into the warm embrace of reliable employment. So despite the fact that I wouldn’t have taken my own advice, here are 8 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22:
1. Pick a career you love; you don’t have to give into the pressure to be practical. Everyone changes careers over their lifetime; why not experiment with one that you are crazy about? Worst case scenario, you go get that crappy corporate job when you’re 28 and let the cool waters of 9-5ing wash away any memories of your failed Falafel-R-Us Gift Basket business.
2. Pay off your credit card debt and don’t buy so much stuff. Does every college do this? Offer credit cards at the student union, and in exchange for filling out an application, they gift you a candy bar? I was hungry! I was broke! Sign me up! Thankfully I was so thoroughly burned the first time, I learned my lesson.
3. Your student loans can be deferred practically indefinitely. After graduation, just call them and ask for a deferment. They will bend over backwards to make deferring easy to do. In six months when your deferment is over, call them up and do another. Repeat as needed.
4. It doesn’t cost as much as you’d think to travel. You don’t need to save $50,000 to spend a year overseas. If you’re young, willing to sleep anywhere (hello, couchsurfing!) and go to countries off the beaten tourist track, then you can survive on much less (I’ve heard as low as $1000/mo).
5. The job you have right now is not that important. If I were an employer I would only hire ambitious twenty something’s. They will knock themselves out working incredibly hard on stuff that barely matters. Try to get a 35 year old to take photocopying that seriously and you’re more likely to get your dog to iron your suit in the morning.
6. You don’t need a safety net. You can figure this out. The idea of being out there, with nothing to catch you if everything goes wrong may make your stomach do little flips, but really, you’ll be just fine.
7. This is the best time in your life to travel carefree. If you wait it’s going to be more complicated financially and emotionally. Now instead of putting on a backpack and heading out the door, I’ve got to cancel leases, forward mail, set up online payment arrangements, sell a ton of stuff, convince my family that I don’t need an MRI “just in case this idea is a sympton of a brain tumor”, and wrangle with complex stuff like dodging the “when are you going to have kids” question.
8. Did you read #7? Go Travel Now!
If you were giving advice to your 22 year old self, what would it be?
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good for those who can afford to spent money for traveling how about for those who cannot is there a best way you can advice for them to do aside from traveling? like in my case i am turning 22 this coming June and like most of you i also love to explore different place know their culture and a lot more. primarily what deters me to do it is that i do not have the money. we know for a fact that when we travel it would really require expenses which were not known if how much. can you think of some brilliant ways for person like me, i mean worthwhile ways which i can enjoy?
Hi,
I found this list thru “stumble.com” and think it is great. At 22 i wish someone had told me (in addition to the great advice already posted):
1. If you really don’t want to get married- DON’T! Even if it is only a few weeks till the wedding and it is all booked etc.
2. Make sure you do what YOU want to do, not what you THINK you should do.
3. True friends will stick by you- do what makes you happy!
4. Your parents will know if you are not happy, trust them to support you.
I finally realised all this @28- left my husband and deeply unhappy marriage (unhappy for us both), went to live in Europe for a few years and am now happily settled. I travel yearly, i am making steps to move to a career i LOVE (from the one i am good at and pays well) etc.
sorry, that should have been stumbleupon.com
my apologies
Awesome list! I’m 26 and have been traveling since I was 23, luckily what i thought was reckless and fun turned out to be just a great way to live– on the road and traveling. You mentioned doing it for as low as $1,000. We travel for about half that a month and don’t stay at total crapshoots (though no Hyatts, either).
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Thank you! This is such a fabulous post and it’s not the “typical” advice you’d get from your average Joe. I’m 22 and thinking about traveling for a year or so and you’ve thoroughly convinced me. It’s refreshing to hear a point of view that doesn’t involve a safety net, toughing it out or things you “should” do. You rock!
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I’m 22 right now. Thank you for validating everything that i believe in
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Hi,
Thanks so much for this post and all the comments.
I’m turning 22 in June. I have a plan in place and not sure if i’m on the ‘right’ path.
I’m tryin to finish my degree in management (which i have absolutely no interest in) then apply to teach English in Japan for a year when im done the degree. Only thing is by the time im finished the degree i will be about 25-26 ish (I work full time with a catamaran company which i’m doing pretty well in). I don’t want to wait that long to see the world….
Not sure what to do….any thoughts?
1 & 2 are great!!
The rest – not so sure. You don’t get unlimited deferments on student loans so don’t expect them.
Your current job is more important than you think. It is where you build networking opportunities and real world experience – things that are tough to come by in school.
I would add the advice – SAVE SAVE SAVE!!! (Contradicts #6) – it’s a no brainer to believe that the more savings and the larger the safety net you have – the better. Especially in today’s economy.
If I had to pick one of these I like the most – #1. Give your dream a shot but get out when you can if things go sour.
If I had 22 to live over again I would try and find out who I was before I became what others thought I should be. I didn’t know that I had an authentic self, I didn’t know what it meant to be intentional in my life. Now that I am grown up ; ) I am happy to grasp these things for myself, happy to see my college students that I parent living out their lives knowing these things… but sad that I wasted so much of my life/youth not knowing that I have an authentic self.
I took my first trip abroad when I was 18, and haven’t stopped since. I’m 25 now and constantly here the phrase, “oh, you’re so lucky.” I’m not lucky, I just make it a priority to do what I love to do. Perhaps, I am the exception, but for that I am grateful.
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I started out at the young age of 16 – discovering unknown worlds (countries) and new languages became a passion. the point #4 is very true – it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to do all this travelling, there are aloways ways to get around for free or nearly free.
gotta love #1. It can take years and years for some people to realise what they like doing. At school/uni i just studied what i was good at but $30k later i realised i didn’t want to do programming.
Now i’m a graphic designer working for myself and loving life…yay!
Excellent blog, so many things one has to research before taking a decision on where to go, what to do, with witch organization, how to fly there, vaccinations, price.
The 3 main things I can say is to make sure you read many volunteer feedbacks, go here http://www.abroadreviews.com, also ask for previews volunteer emails (ask for the experience), and go with ***Non Profit Organizations***, your costs will be tax deductible (tickets, insurance, program, and anything else you may get for the volunteer experience .
Bravo! I’ve heard it said that if you wait for the perfect time to go to college, get married or have babies…you’ll end up uneducated, single, and childless. Well add travel to that list.
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Amazing!…..im 19 years old and i have friends who are currently in spain for 7 months and are traveling Europe. i was debating weather or not to go because i just started a new job and was scared to leave incase i wouldnt find anything else. but reading this ive made up my mind. i will be saving up all the money i can for the next couple months and then im gone!
thanks for the pushh!
Amazing article. I agree with you, spent you life time to travel. This is what i want to do while reach 30. But you put in 22.
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You Are Rock……
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Wow, i wish i new this stuff when i was 40
I too, fell into the credit card debt trap during college and am still paying for it even though I’ve been a college grad for 2 years. Tough lessons, but at least I learned them now!
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#6 is completely wrong.
Actually, I think #6 is one of the most important things to trust in. If you trust in life, it will work out. If you take that leap, the net will appear. It just works.
thanks for these words of wisdom. sometimes you find yourself stuck in a spot wondering how you got there. its posts like this that can help give you that kick to get you out, kindly. thanks again for this great post!
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get as much tail as you can…
The world is divided into people who say they’d like to travel, but… & people who travel.
Motivational writeup.
hmm, i would give myself an advice, to try different adventures around the globe.
Bunjee jump is the first thing i would do
Good advice. I am 36, in transition after living in Japan/Romania for the past 6 years, and trying to prepare for an MBA program this Autumn. I work as a banquet server in the meantime to earn some money and am surrounded by twenty-something year old workers that “seep” eagerness out of every pore. At 36 I just can’t get that excited about mopping a floor or moving tables and saying “yes sir” or “yes ma’am” to people who don’t know me from Adam. My coworkers seem to love this work and this list helps to make me feel a bit normal in my way of viewing my current situation.
Great article! Life is meant to be enjoyed. When you’re 22-years-old, do what you want to do and allow no one to hold you back. If you want to embark on a year of travel then go ahead and do it.
It would behoove people to stop listening to the advice of others. Take a step back and look at the lives of family and friends. Are they happy? Did they accomplish what they wanted to do? Are they financially set? Are they living life to the fullest? Are they grateful for what they have? If not, they’re not the role models for you!
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I’m 21 but I’m gonna kill myself anyway so I dont need any of this tips..
dude seriously where have you been living all of these years !! and not now all this things by 22
I’m sure you can write another list at some point in future harping on about the the things you wish you knew when you were forty…