Partying Around the Planet: The Best Nightlife Trips To Take In Your Twenties

We’ve all seen it, rolled our eyes on it, or pressed “like” on it, depending on our perspectives – a Facebook photos of a youthful person playing a board game or cooking dinner or doing crafts on their couch on a Friday night with the caption “LOL, I’m so old!”

First of all – crafts are for people of all ages and for all days of the week. Let’s just get that out of the way first. But my love of hot glue guns aside, the idea that wild weekends with friends are something reserved for those born before a certain date just irks me. I’ve been blessed to spend much of my life surrounded by friends of all decades who are always having a blast and reminding me that joie de vivre knows no age.

That said, for the first time ever, as I stare down twenty-eight candles on my next birthday cake, I have started to have some creeping quarter-life-crisis-y thoughts conjuring in the dark corners of my subconscious.

This season of The Bachelor – when did they start picking such young things for this show? Whoa Alex they have always been this age just when you started watching you were young than them. A working holiday visa in Australia – man do I still want to do that? Because, wow I really only have two years left until I age out, where does the time go?! Hm, I wonder if it is still cute to sweet talk taxi drivers into taking you through the drive through and ordering a hundred dollars worth of fast food to bring to a late-night post-club-closing after party when you’re leaning a little closer to thirty than twenty. OMG FULL MENTAL BREAKDOWN I’M ALMOST THIRTY.

Speaking of that big birthday, there are some crazy trips I want to do before I turn the big 3-0 – an age at which I am well aware I won’t spontaneously die (…right?) But in my current state of party panic, here are all the trips I’m going to do my best to cram into the next few years of my carefree twenties – and a few I’m proud to have already ticked off. Honestly, the vast majority of these you could do at any age, which is really more about how you feel, right? Whatever that means for you, these really are the perfect trips for when you’re living young, and wild, and free.

Yacht Week in Croatia

A fleet of yachts filled with bikini-clad, swan-float toting bronzed beauties from around the world? There’s a reason that these epic sailing trips along the Croatian coast top the list.

These infamous flotillas sail from Split to Dubrovnik and back, stopping along for way for wine tasting, sailing, stand up paddleboarding – and yes, a good dose of partying, too. Highlights include Dubrovnik, Hvar, and Mljet National Park, each of which my daily Instagram scrolls assure me are almost surreally beautiful destinations.

Yacht Week skyrocketed to the top of my list as soon as I caught wind of the world’s first underwater winery, which recently opened in Drače. Scuba diving for wine and party sailing? Europe, here I come!

A Hangover-Style Weekend in Vegas

For this one, I am proud to say check, check and CHECK. I have done Las Vegas and I have done it well, not once but five times.

Why? Well, I think Thrillist said it best when they described Vegas as one of those undeniable party cities – those “burn-the-world-down, no-sleep-till-Brooklyn — or ever, actually — ripped-to-the-nines, no-one-here-is-wearing-underwear, life-is-a-Mase-video, straight-up BEST PARTY CITIES ON PLANET EARTH.”

Personally, Vegas is my favorite. It’s an anything-goes place where almost everyone you bump into has come specifically to get loose and have a good time. There are lots of fun party vibes floating in the air, and all you have to do is let them carry you away! There’s nothing I love more than dancing to overplayed pop music till I feel like my feet are about to fall off.

A few other infamous party capitals I’d love to track down in the next few years? Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, and Ibiza – which technically I have already been to, though when I was too skint (ah, youth is wasted on the young) to go too wild.

Jumping in Carnival in Trinidad

Now, I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at attending the Rio de Janiero version, either. But my experience jumping in the Cayman Island’s Batabano was one of the most fun local festival experiences of my life, and I’d love to graduate now to the biggest and baddest in the Caribbean! And no, I am not ashamed to admit that I basically put this item on my bucket list thanks to a Nicki Minaj music video. Not one bit.

A few other local celebrations I think should be on every party person’s must-rage list? Don’t dare miss Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Songkran in Thailand, or Ecuador’s very unique (and fiery!) New Year’s Eve.

An All-Inclusive Week in Mexico

I never did the typical high school or college spring break trip to an all-inclusive in Mexico. (I have been to low-key all-inclusives in Bali, Aruba, and Jamaica, all of which left me wanting more.)

What a better time to remedy that than a ten year high school reunion, or a five year college one?! I love the idea of this type of trip because once everyone has agreed on the destination and flights, you never have to negotiate or split a bill again – everyone just meets on the beach for sunset, Mai Tai in hand. This isn’t the kind of trip where you try to see all the sights or try every new restaurants; rather, it’s all about bonding with your nearest and dearest – and the bartender at the swim-up bar, duh. Talk about a seriously stress-free vacation!

An Insane Summer Music Festival in The UK

No secret here – I’ve got festival fever. In the past few years, I’ve ticked off music festivals like Tomorrowland in Belgium, Tomorrowland in Brazil, Bonnaroo in Tennessee, Wonderfruit in Thailand, one night flings like Sunjam in Honduras and the Full Moon Party in Thailand, and art-focused events like Equillibrio in El Salvador and Burning Man in Black Rock City.

Yes, you can attend festivals at any age – heck, I took my mom to Bonnaroo this summer! But there are definitely some that I think probably just aren’t as entertaining once you reach parenthood – yes, I’m looking at you, Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

I’ve currently got my eye on whatever the next Secret Garden Party is in the UK (2017 was the last edition, and I was thisclose to booking a last minute ticket to go) and AfrikaBurn in South Africa for my next land-based festival adventures.

A Summer Bartending in Greece

It’s always been a dream of mine to spend a summer slinging drinks somewhere in the sun. Now that I have a pretty busy and fairly lucrative full-time job – ahem, blogging – this might seem quite frankly crazy to some. But the heart wants what it wants – and it appears that what I want is to spend a high season pouring ouzo directly into the mouths of party-hardy visitors to the isle of Ios, Greece.

I have many friends I’ve met on the road who have financed their travels via gigs like this, and their hilarious tales of life behind the bar, camaraderie with their coworkers and days off spent on the beach have left me googling “how to get a job in Greece” many a late night since my own wild tour through the islands a few years back as a customer. Want to be on the customer side of the bar with a built in crew of the best party mates you’ve ever known? Take the Contiki tour. Trust me!

A Festival At Sea from Singapore

And here’s where I announce my next big thrill! Once I return to Thailand a week from today — gulp — it’s going to be pretty low-key until November. I’ve got an insane amount of work to catch up on, and plus, fall television will really be popping off (hahaha except guys I’m not kidding I really love TV.)

But for my birthday, I decided to treat myself to two insane back-to-back dream trips! The first I think I’ve decided to keep a secret till I’m on the plane, but the second? It’s The Ship, Asia’s largest party cruise! I’m taking my love of festivals and my love of the ocean and mashing them together for one big four-day dance fest at sea. I love that it’s going to be a full on festival with the creature comforts of a plush cruise cabin to return to – plus, tickets include all meals and almost all onboard activities. It’s been ages since I’ve been on a cruise ship!

My friend Katie will be my partner-in-crime and we’re already planning crazy costumes, late-night bowling adventures, sunrise dance parties and beyond. I’m also be spending three nights in Singapore pre-and post-cruise, and I’m looking forward to taking a longer look at a country I’ve only glanced at in the past.

The best part? You can come with me! I arranged 10% off all cabins for Alex in Wanderland readers, using code ITS2017xAlexandraB (Valid till 30 September).

So now it’s your turn to tell me – what’s been the craziest party trip of your life? What do I need to add to my bender bucket list?

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Note: I swear, I’m really not trying to be age-ist in this post. I’m just being real about grappling with my own personal fears of getting older and losing my love of a night out on the town! Most of these trips have no hard and fast age limits. Feel free to assuage me with stories of how fun and fabulous your life is post-thirty.