Summary

The article reflects on the author's wild experiences in their twenties, including a low-budget European tour, hitchhiking, long-distance relationships, and working for free, which they cherish but would not repeat.

Abstract

The author, Gladys Carmina, recounts her adventurous twenties, emphasizing a particularly wild European trip taken on a shoestring budget. She describes the lengths she and her friend went to save money, such as couch-surfing, skipping public transport fares, and sleeping in airports. Despite the memorable experiences, she acknowledges the exhaustion and missed opportunities due to their hectic schedule. Carmina also shares a risky hitchhiking incident in Ibiza and her past long-distance relationship, which she values for strengthening her current relationship but would not want to endure again. Additionally, she discusses a naive encounter with a man who attempted to take advantage of her and her initial willingness to work for free to gain experience as a freelancer. The author concludes by affirming that while the twenties are a time for valuable, wild experiences, aging brings a heightened awareness of consequences, leading to more cautious choices.

Opinions

The author does not regret her past experiences but recognizes that her tolerance for such adventures has diminished with age.
She values the lessons learned from her budget European tour but prefers a more relaxed and immersive travel experience now.
The author would not repeat hitchhiking due to the potential risks involved, despite her positive experience.
Long-distance relationships are seen as challenging and exhausting, requiring immense loyalty, patience, and trust, though they can strengthen a bond.
She reflects on a past incident where she was almost taken advantage of, emphasizing the importance of being cautious and trusting one's instincts.
The author regrets undervaluing her time and work by accepting low-budget projects early in her freelance career and now advocates for fair compensation.
She believes that with age, one becomes more conscious of the potential consequences of their actions, often leading to safer choices.

5 Things You Will Not Regret You Did In Your Twenties But You Rather Not Repeat

Certainly, the twenties is an age for learning lessons from wild experiences

The twenties is a wild age, people always tell crazy stories about what they did when they were twenty-something. — Are you one of those?

I am closer to the third floor and even though I don’t regret anything from my past, I wouldn’t repeat the list here. Either because I have learned the lessons or my wilderness has decreased.

Today I can’t see myself asking for a ride in the middle of nowhere in Ibiza, making a Euro Trip on a pretty low budget and sleeping on unknown people’s coaches. And I absolutely would not have a long-distance relationship again.

Travel to Europe in a Pretty Low Budget

I love travelling, but this On-Budget travel was too wild that I wouldn’t do it again. I was 21 years old, I felt unstoppable and I had the travel spirits on point.

I was an international student in France and my best friend came from Mexico to visit me to travel in Europe.

We travelled for one and a half months visiting more than 10 countries and more than 20 cities.

Italy: Milán, Pisa, Rome
Grece: Athens, Agistri island
Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza
Germany: Frankfurt, Berlin
Netherlands: Amsterdam
Vaticano: Vatican City
Hungary: Budapest
Belgium: Brussels
France: Paris
Maroc: Tánger, Marrakesh
Slovac: Bratislava
Czech Republic: Prague

We managed to do so because we were cheap and tried to take advantage of every opportunity from where we could save some money. For example:

Buying canned food and preparing food in advance for the day. So we could enjoy cold pasta or a damp sandwich in front of the Pissa Tower.

2. Trusted people from the platform Couchsurfing and sleeping on unknown people’s coaches risking our lives in a foreign country where we wouldn’t speak the language.

3. I have to confess sometimes we skipped the metro or the bus fee in different cities in Europe to save some money. Absolutely not proud of.

4. We would spend 3 nights in a row sleeping in the airport as it was free and more comfortable than a camping site in Ibiza.

5. And we would take Free Walking Tours in every city.

Those are the main reasons why I wouldn’t have another wild cheap Euro Trip. I enjoyed, I laugh and I treasure every single moment of this tour but whenever I recall these memories, it is too wild for me now.

I am glad I had all these extreme adventures in my early twenties.

The cons of travelling in a hustle phase are that it became so tired that we couldn’t enjoy the last part. We missed a lot from every city as we tried to make the most of the destinations. Certainly, we didn’t take the time to deeply explore every location.

This is something I would like to do in the near future: To give me the time to explore Europe on a slow pace trip.

Ask for a Ride in the Middle of Nowhere

I wanted to take picture of the sunset in the cove in Ibiza and we missed the last bus to the airport where we were spending the night.

After realizing the bus and the people were almost gone, my friend started to freak out.

Normally, I would be the one who freaks out. This time I was in a peace-out and chilly vibe. — Let’s ask for a ride, I said.

I raised my thumb and the first car stopped and drove us to the airport. This woman lived nearby. We were so lucky.

Anything strange happened. However, I can see multiple scenarios where this story didn’t go well.

Now I would plan to leave on the third or second last bus, so I have multiple chances to grab the bus if anything happens.

Have a long-distance Relationship

After having an intermittent long-distance relationship for three years, I know I wouldn’t do it again.

I don’t regret it at all. Actually being apart from my partner made our relationship as strong as it is now.

Having a love distance relationship requires the best of you and a little bit more. Like any other relationship you have to be committed to making the relationship work, otherwise is a waste of time for both parties. The difference here is that you blindly trust your loved one.

Long-distance- relationships defeat each other’s loyalty.

This kind of relationship also requires a big sum of patience to deal with the unpredictable.

It is just exhausting for me even to think about everything that comes included with this adventure. For example:

Arrange online dating
Match both schedules and time zones
Keeping track of each other’s routine
Deal with the internet connection
Plus, to cope- with the uncontrollable urge to have your loved one in your lap
Keep your nerves and anxiety low to make communication flow

Long-distance relationships are a high-maintain way to love I am not willing to face again.

Although I am proud to tell you that we succeed to be together after uncountable blue days and now we see our faces every morning, honestly I wouldn’t do it again.

I will write about long-distance relationships soon, subscribe to my newsletter to stay tuned. Meanwhile, you can read when I wished I had a long-distance relationship.

Trust a Guy who Invites Me to His Room to Drink Wine

Yep, silly m. Probably I was very a very innocent girl at my 21 years old.

We were young in France and this guy I just met invited me to his room in the residence to drink wine. He also told me he would help me to get familiarized with the city. Instead, he wanted to have an affair with me by making me drunk.

I believed him, I thought he wanted to be friends with me.

This terrible experience made me beware of people’s intentions and follow my instincts.

For long I questioned myself and felt guilty for putting my life in danger but then I learned that: It wasn’t my fault, not where I was, not how I was dressed.

I feel blessed to tell that this was just an awful experience and it didn’t go beyond. Fro where I learned to don’t trust those who seem friendly because they could be wolves customized as sheep.

Work for Free for Gaining Experience

When I started my freelance journey I accidentally let employers take advantage of me. I accepted low-budget proposals in promises of an increase for the next order, which never happened.

In order to increase my experience working online, I would do anything, for any budget.

I was used to receiving orders from my employers rather than offering solutions. Now I know this is one of the most common mistakes when pitching clients.

All these details I learned through the freelance journey. Now I know that my time, my experience and my services are worth it. They always were, I just didn’t value myself nor my work and time.

Wrapping it up

Certainly, the twenties is an age for learning lessons from wild experiences. Not that you can’t do it later but ageing makes you more conscious about the consequences of your acts, your energy seems affected and you prefer to play it safe.

There are certain experiences that you should have sooner or later. Everybody has different life experiences, these are mine.

Which are yours that even though you feel blessed you went through you wouldn’t like to repeat?