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Do you mean "settle down" as in get marry and have kids? I would like to get marry but not have kids. I am definitely one of those fews who want to travel (before and after marriage). Volunteering overseas and teaching (more like TESOL) is definitely something I would like to do.
I would love to find someone like that. Maybe not constant travelling but living in different places for short periods of time. Hard to find people who have the means and desire to do so...
I would love to find someone like that. Maybe not constant travelling but living in different places for short periods of time. Hard to find people who have the means and desire to do so...
This is what your 20's are supposed to be about. You're supposed to do all this stuff, reflect, soul-search, figure yourself out before you hitch up to someone for life. (Your parents should have gotten the memo. Their generation pretty much wrote that memo.) It's not unusual for couples to backpack around Europe or SE Asia together. The trick is finding someone you get along with who can afford it and has the free time. The other option would be to score a job that gives you a good month vacation/year, and do your travel in 1-month chunks. If you find a gf who has a similar work arrangement, you can do it together.
btw, traveling in challenging conditions is a great way to find out if you get along with someone--how they handle adversity, and all that. You'll either break up afterwards, or you won't.
One month is less than 10% of the year. I'm not sure the OP had in mind suffering more than 90% of his time living a completely different lifestyle than what makes him happy (if I got him correctly).
I don't wanna hijack this thread, but ultimately it does come down to work/life balance questions. Unless you manage to have a job with an international company that has offices all over the world where you can work in a different country each year and use that as a base for exploring those parts of the world.
One thing, though, if I can I hope the spend the next 5 years at least spending as much time as I can travelling or living around the world. Whether that is through my job, or I find ways to work/fund my travels. I want to do some volunteering, some soul-searching, some exploring. No idea about percentages, but I'm wondering how hard it would be find someone who would be open to dating someone like me? Either sharing those experiences or being away for long periods of time? That's why I'm thinking I could be practically single for quite a few years to come.
It will be of course harder than if you were already settled in a city and dating girls from the same city.
However, being yourself and feeling right in your life will make you very attractive and definitely more successful with women. So, ask yourself this: what type of life do you want?
I'm still a relationship virgin, but recently my parents have mentioned the fact that perhaps it's time to find someone to settle down with. To them it means getting married.etc, which I'm not really thinking of right now. If the right one comes along I might marry when I'm in my early 30's, but honestly I don't care if I never do. I daydream about romances but, the idea of 'growing old' with someone has actually never appealed to me. Heck, maybe it's weird of me, but the idea of a romance with an expiry date actually sort of appeals to me more in a way. Of course if I found the one I wouldn't want it to last.
One thing, though, if I can I hope the spend the next 5 years at least spending as much time as I can travelling or living around the world. Whether that is through my job, or I find ways to work/fund my travels. I want to do some volunteering, some soul-searching, some exploring. No idea about percentages, but I'm wondering how hard it would be find someone who would be open to dating someone like me? Either sharing those experiences or being away for long periods of time? That's why I'm thinking I could be practically single for quite a few years to come.
It's your life. Don't live it to your parents standards.
Don't overthink things. If you want your life to be based on being single, experiencing travel, transient living, etc, then do it. Know yourself and act accordingly.
Let the future happen when you are ready. If, down the road, you want a more settled relationship, or family, or whatever, then pursue it at that time.
Part of finding the right relationship with someone (for those who are looking) is not finding someone to "settle down" with into a stereotypical lifestyle. It is about finding a partner who has the same goals, plans, direction, and timeframes for achieving things for their life as you do. Don't let the concept of a relationship be so narrow minded to assume it has to mean one certain thing (such as marriage, house in burbs, 9-5 job, kids, etc). The perfect women for you will compliment you, and be a component in you thriving in what you want in your life, not making you change what you want, or live a lifestyle you do not want to live.
There are plenty of women out there who want to travel, who dont want to get married and have no plans on having children. I am one of them. There are several others on this board alone. They exist yo just have to find them.
Trimac, don't even ask a homebody out for one little date--maybe join one of those meetups for people who like to travel or look up an org called Meet, Plan, Go and you'll meet someone likeminded at home, or go get out there and live abroad and you'll probably meet someone on the road which will be an almost sure guarantee that she'll like to travel too.
Here's some links to feed your dreams. (BTW, loved Oz.)
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