“I will make my money back!”
I’m really having to think about this article written recently by the Wall Street Journal titled, “Why work when you can play? Young travelers say they’ll live now, make money later.” This article looks at Gen Z’s going on lavish vacations for weeks. What makes it worse is when videos of their vacation are posted on social media. One person in a TikTok video states that she’ll “make my money back, but I’ll never be 20 scootering around Paris at night again.”
Wall Street Journal article from 8/19/2022
You have to feel for these people. They have a point. Why not live it up when you’re young? They’ll be memories of it. It’s not like you can go back and change your mind.
This isn’t a generational issue. A good majority of us were like this at one point in our lives. But, as research and surveys have shown, the amount spent on these vacations have increased to all time highs eventually “crimping” on their bank accounts and debt or loans needed to be paid off.
Is the “play now, pay later” motto a good idea for young people aged 18-30?? Probably not especially if we’re not living within our own means. But that’s easy for us older people to say since we weren’t young facing a recent pandemic that put us out of vacations for a few years.
I’m not knocking on the idea of spending on lavish vacations when you’re young is a bad idea. In fact, it’s ok if you’re able to budget correctly. I also partly don’t blame those that want to post their vacations on social media. They’re trying to make money, but their values need to be in check. I do, however, blame it on the big social media companies like Tik Tok that pay them big dollars. This is an argument to be made at another time.
This is one of the reasons why it’s been difficult for me to convince a lot of people under 30 to focus on their oral health now. It lacks the “glitz and glamour” a nice vacation can provide. It’s not high on their priority. I talked about this in one my blogs a couple of weeks ago where we saw this age range likely not to value preventative measures as much. Why should I focus on my daily oral hygiene if I think everything feels great???
But it should be HIGH on everyone’s list no matter the age range. Most don’t realize how destructive gum disease, for instance, is. Until it’s too late and we start suffering from tooth loss. The “play now, pay later” motto could end up being a big regret. A regret that can’t be recovered or turned back upon. That surely can’t be changed…Unless you act now especially when you’re young.