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Staying in another country for a substantial amount of time, on the other hand, is of course an entirely different matter but travelling for the sake of travelling, while pleasurable in and of itself, does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure about the places you're visiting.
“I don’t have money to travel.” Fair enough if it’s true, but for many people who say this, it would be better to say, “I’ve chosen to spend money on a lot of other things, so now I don’t have money to travel.” Shall we never forget the lovely Victorian ethic that the poor have only themselves to blame.
I don't see how this Victorian ethic applies. He's not talking about the poor, but rather those who have "chosen to spend money on a lot of other things", i.e. the middle-class.
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With an emphasis on : "how do I get money to travel if I'm not in the US visiting poor countries but I'm in a poor country and I want to travel"
Its relatively cheap to travel abroad, especially if you're willing to live simply while you're there. If you plan significantly far in advance, you can usually find airfare for $500-750 round trip, or cheaper, depending on where you want to go. Then if you plan it out, you can usually stay wherever you are for I'm not sure about where you are, but even someone in the US, working full time at McDonalds, making $6 an…
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By prioritising it higher than any other non-essential cost you have. I know people who have saved up for 6 month round the world trips while working in various menial low paying jobs. The question is, like for most things, is how badly do you want it. Of course it helps if you don't have a family to support.
..or I could work hard, get my startup to exit, and travel as much as I want for the many years in life afterward. Why does travel have to be done when I'm in my 20s/30s/etc.?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how this Victorian ethic applies. He's not talking about the poor, but rather those who have "chosen to spend money on a lot of other things", i.e. the middle-class.
The argument suggests that your net worth is mostly your own choice and has little to with circumstances. My point is that this flawed notion is responsible for other, more noticeably flawed notions.
It's possible to travel and live in many countries around the world for How will I pay for it? Well, the little on-the-side web hosting company I started 5 years ago, which I haven't put any effort into growing, is already close to providing me enough monthly income to live comfortably in many third-world countries.
But I won't be a tourist. I want spend anywhere from 3 - 12 months in an area, learning the culture, the language, the local customs, and meeting and making new friends. I want share my knowledge (mostly technical) and use my skills (technical and carpentry) to help the community where I can. Since I enjoy writing, I plan to maintain a blog about my experiences with the hope that it will help others gain new insights and see that the world is a much bigger place than the 1500sq mile box that most of us live in.
Why? Because I just feel it's what I need to do next in my life to continue growing. I've been living in the same area (Northeastern United States, Boston, MA area) for the past 27 years. Science has proven that the best way to stimulate new growth in the brain is to expose it to new and unfamiliar things. My brain is entering the age where many brains begin to settle into a rut... and it feels like my brain is beginning to atrophy.