As I was scrolling through my feed this morning, I saw a post that ended with the quote:
“Experience is far more valuable than money ever will be.”
It was for a magazine and it was encouraging young people to travel and telling them “Do not worry about money, just make it work.”
Wow.
Well, I definitely AGREE that experience is far more valuable than money. However, pleasant experiences will NOT pay your bills. And the rather cavalier attitude regarding money and just “making it work” may work in other countries that have good public education, healthcare and unemployment benefits; but here in the Philippines?
That post really bugged me because I get sooooo many stories from people who wished they had spent their younger years better. That instead of carousing in many places, they had PREPARED better for things like CHILDHOOD EDUCATION and RETIREMENT. Because if you just try to “make it work” in your 20’s or early 30’s, you WILL have problems in your 40’s and beyond.
However, before you all say I’m just an old scrooge, I believe it does NOT have to be an either / or proposition. 
Yes, you CAN travel and do all of that when young but you should do so AFTER you have put your finances in order.
Invest earlier and use THOSE earnings to fund your travels.
YUN ang masaya.:)
After all, the BEST experiences are those you do NOT regret when the bills come due.;)
thank you for this article!
it made me realize more that even tohugh i wanted to travel so much now… it is not yet the right time for me. i know, because i haven’t put yet my finances in order. i love to plan and budget, but somehow, i can’t execute them well. so for now, i have to put my finances in order first. i believe that if i do that first, traveling later on will be so much better since i don’t have to worry about not having enough money after i spend it all on my travels. After all, the BEST experiences are those you do NOT regret when the bills come due.
thank u for diz article.!! it made me understand that how are investing so important than travelling!!!
but i love travelling…
so anu ang pipiliin ko?? ang mag invest o mag travel??
Understand what you read…pag may time!
In my opinion, you can do both traveling and investing at the same time as long as you know how to budget your income properly. Sometimes you need to unwind and escape so you can take away those stress and renew yourself to be able to become more productive.
You work hard + invest + travel. Sounds great right?
I agree with Charie, you can both travel and start investing at your 20’s and 30’s. Balance is the key. You need money to finance your travels but you should also consider that it is during your youthful days where travelling/experiences are at its peak and enjoyed the most. Let’s keep it this way, you wanted to go to places with your mom/dad, but you placed all your hard earned money on investments (stocks, mutual funds, mlm etc.) and is waiting until you have everything settled already (matured accounts, house, car, businesses, etc). However, on the course while waiting for your investments to boom, your mom/dad have left you already (maybe due to old age or sickness, etc) and did not lived long enough to see the beauty of the world and you were not able to fulfill your promise to bring them to Japan or any other destination. I’m not praying for this to happen but let’s be realistic and this is a possibility. You yourself will start to feel the wrath of aging and will not be fit to swim the seas, climb the mountains or travel on a plane for hours. Your activities will be very limited and your momentum for adventure have already depleted. So balance maybe balance between the two is the best option.
I saw the same quote once but the only difference is the explanation after. The meaning of the said quote is for the newly graduates. Most of them are searching for large amounts of money as their initial job’s salaries ending up working in a far different field than what they studied for. What they don’t understand is that every person needs experience to gain skills. Once you have more than enough skills through experiences, you can now chase for your dream salary.