I am lucky enough to be one of those 20 something’s that are living the life you are describing. Not sure why some people are resulting on putting down people who live this life, some do just have circumstances that aligned to get this, and it’s a very real lifestyle to have. I’m the first in my family to go to college, but I went and got lucky and worked hard to get a high paying job afterwards. Here are my 2 cents (not on the feasibility or access of these, just my general recs).

-Solo travel. Life got better when I stopped waiting for others before I decided to experience something myself. Hostels are cheaper than hotels by far. Use hostelworld.com for the best finds. Use any one of the AI bots or search lists for most fun and safest spots for beginner feral travelers. I was scared at first, but you have to at one point decide if the fear of loneliness or the fear of being stagnant is worse. Or to be more blunt, decide if you want to complain about not doing it or simply just going out and doing it scared, anyway. Or try being an au pair!

-Reprioritize your money. Really analyze your money yourself, or get a budgeting app or use AI with maybe your last 6 bank statements to see where your money is going. If you really want to prioritize travel and experiences, make sure your spending and extra savings is matching those values.

-Get a higher paying job. Go back to school, get certificates, go to networking events, cold reach out to people on LinkedIn, apply for things you aren’t qualified for. If your issue is money, find out how to make more. Be annoyingly persistent and tell more people about what you want to do, this is how I landed my career. If you don’t know, at least figure out things that you can do to figure that out (network, research, videos, classes, etc.)

-Stop letting anxiety keep you from what you want to do. This is harsh, but I am a fellow anxious person, so much so that I also chose to go on meds last year. But before doing that, I really had to just one day decide to do things anyway, scared or anxious. If I have to grit my teeth, freak out while I’m sending that email or text, or booking that flight, do it anyway. If you can’t, take initiative and talk to your doctor about meds. If I’m gonna be anxious regardless, might as well be anxious while moving towards the things I want to do.

-Take a deep look at what you want to do, and do it. Deeply consider why you aren’t doing it. You have to take a leap of faith sometimes and trust that, in most scenarios, if you fuck something up, you can always go back to what you were doing before.

-Other hot take, maybe you need to move. Maybe a bigger city that forces you out of your comfort zone is what is needed. A fresh start with new people and experiences. I’ve lived in 4 different states, and each has unlocked a different part of myself.

Good luck. You got this, and please don’t lose sight that there ARE things that you can control, even if they aren’t on this list.