TIME, published a liist called “40 Trips You Should Take Before You Turn 30” and all we at Metro can say is, f–k that. Does TIME think we all happen to work in finance, and or aren’t drowning in student loan debt?
This vacation bucket list is impossible, and extremely blind to the financial struggles of the modern day millennial.
We can prove it:
Let’s make this easy and estimate that the average 25-year-old (the group this article is likely aimed at) makes $50,000 a year (about 36,000 after taxes, and medical insurance), and has an estimated monthly student loan payment of $280 a month. Let’s say this millennial pays let’s say about $1,200 a month for a room in apartment, and spends about $1,000 a month for food, water and other necessities.
Let’s also say that this 25-year-old works for a really nice company that has a generous twenty days of combined PTO and sick days.
This means that our little millennial has:
80 possible vacation days for these 40 trips (2 days per location, one of which is for travel)
$0 for anything else because they had to pay off their student loans, rent for their apartment, oh and food so they stay alive.
Here’s how much it costs for a round-trip ticket departing on June 1 and returning June 2 to each location Time Magazine listed (Note: This does not include ground transportation once you have arrived. All ticket prices found through Kayak are estimates): Patagonia, Argentina: $1,258
Victoria Falls, Zambia: $2,058
Pacific Crest Trail, California: $377
Koh Phangan , Thailand: $1,478
Eil Malk Island in Palau: At least $1,200 for a one way ticket
Cancun, Mexico: $346
“South East Asia:” $1,686
New Orleans, Louisiana: $224
Maui, Hawaii: $798
The Swiss Alps, Switzerland: $1,226
Nagano, Japan: $1,618
Casa del Arbol in Ecuador: $593
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.: $301
To Sua Ocean Trench in Samoa: $2,753
Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, U.S.:$393
Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland:$4,652
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: $936
Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa: $1,620
Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.: $318
Costa Rica: $493
Great Barrier Reef in Australia: $1,869
Machu Picchu in Peru: $999
Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Canada: $397
Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave in Belize: $487
Poison Spider Mesa Trail in Moab, Utah, U.S.: $393
Saint-Michel D’Aiguilhe Chapel in France: $781
Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia: $293
Amazon River in South America: $936
Sahara Desert in Africa: $1,472
Black Rock Desert in Nevada, U.S. (Burning Man): $293
Ibiza: $978
Kenya: $1,446
Queenstown, New Zealand: $1,566
Grand Canyon, U.S. $285
Java, Indonesia: $1,061
Dubai, U.A.E.: $1,092
Plitvice Lakes in Croatia: $1,235
Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt: $1,170
Taktsang Palphug Monastery in Paro Valley, Bhutan: $1,820
Times Square in New York City, U.S.: $5.50
Total amount in budget: Zero dollars
Total PTO days: 80
Total spent: Roughly $42,907
Total PTO used: Way more than 80
Amount in debt: Roughly 42,907
Amount this list make sense: Zero
Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.
F–K Time Magazine’s list of 40 places to travel before you’re 30
