Recent research out of Booking.com has revealed that Gen Z (aka, 18-24 year olds, aka, us) have the most travel-related regrets out of any other generation. The biggest one? That we don’t travel more often.

Regret is something we all want to avoid. Why do you think FOMO is such a thing? We’re scared of missing out and then having hectic regret about it for the rest of our lives.

Booking.com conducted a survey of over 20,500 global travellers in order to find out what they considered “missed travel opportunities”. These are the things they said they wished they did more of.

Go Off The Beaten Track

According to the study, 38 per cent of Australian 18-24-year-olds surveyed regretted that they didn’t “travel without limits”. As a whole, 25 per cent of global respondents regretted that they didn’t go to more “far-flung” or “adventurous” travel destinations.

Maybe you’re opting to go on a fast-paced tour? Maybe you stick to the main tourist attractions and don’t go any further? The survey shows that we need to be a little more adventurous with our travel choices.

You never really know a place until you speak to the locals. Get off the well-worn tourist trail and look for local haunts — restaurants, bookshops, community halls — anywhere that echoes the real heart of the city. You won’t be sorry.

Do It More

It’s pretty insane but according to Booking.com‘s research, 82 per cent of us don’t feel like we travel enough. We have two huge breaks during the uni year, and — if you’re a casual — a really flexible work schedule. We really have no excuses.

Money is always a factor, but if you can scrounge together enough coin, travel should be the first on your to-do list. The study noted that 41 per cent of respondents got increased life confidence from travel. 40 per cent got a sense of personal achievement. But most importantly, 71 per cent of 18-24 year olds surveyed reckoned that going on holiday “inspired significant life changes”.

So we’re not just gaining experiences, we’re gaining full-on, life-altering information that has the ability to change our path.

Inspired yet?